Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888) was born on November 29, 1799 in Wolcott, CT, a small New England farming community. Originally from England, the Alcock family changed the spelling of their name to Alcox; Bronson and his cousin William converted their names to Alcott in the 1820s. Bronson’s father Joseph Alcox was a farmer and craftsman; mother Anna Bronson could read and kept a journal. At her urging, Alcott began writing in a journal at age twelve. Alcott’s cousin William was a close friend and correspondent. The two boys lived close enough to each other to be daily companions in conversation and letter writing; they shared books in a common “Juvenile Library”, as they called it. Among their treasured volumes were the Bible and John Bu

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First published 05 February 2009

Citation: English, Karen. "Amos Bronson Alcott". The Literary Encyclopedia. 5 February 2009.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=61, accessed 21 November 2009.]