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Helen Hunt: Helen Hunt Jackson
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Helen Hunt Jackson was born Helen Maria Fiske during the first term of President Andrew Jackson, a former Indian fighter and advocate of removing Indians living in the eastern United States to the West. The daughter of Nathan Welby and Deborah (Vinal) Fiske, Helen was raised by a father who was a stern Congregational minister, author, and professor of Latin, Greek, and philosophy at Amherst College. Her mother was ... a writer. Undoubtedly, her parents' literary and intellectual interests influenced Jackson's later career, yet she claimed: "I inherited nothing from either of my parents except my mother's gift for cheer." The remainder of her family consisted of two brothers, both of whom died in infancy, and a sister Anne. When Helen was still a youth, her mother died, as did her father three years later, leaving her to be cared for by an aunt.
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Helen Hunt Jackson was born Helen Marie Fiske on October 15, 1830, in Amherst, Mass. Her father taught Latin, Greek, and philosophy at Amherst College. After her mother died of tuberculosis in 1844, an aunt cared for Helen and her younger sister. To recover from his grief and improve his health--he too suffered from tuberculosis--Professor Fiske sailed for the Near East in 1846. He died in Jerusalem in 1847.
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In May 1872, Helen Hunt journeyed to California, whose Indians later would figure prominently in her writing. The winter of 1873-74 found her at Colorado Springs, Colorado, in search of a cure for a respiratory ailment. It was there that she met William Sharpless Jackson, a Pennsylvania Quaker, wealthy banker, and railroad magnate. They were married on October 22, 1875. For the new Mrs. Jackson this was a fortuitous union since it relieved her of financial worries... providing the freedom with her husband's support to pursue her fascination with the American West and its Indians from her home in Colorado.
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Helen Hunt met William Sharpless Jackson in Colorado Springs, and they married in 1875. They made their home at the corner of Kiowa and Weber Streets. Their house was built by Winfield Scott Stratton who worked as a carpenter before he made his fortune in gold mining in Cripple Creek. Mrs. Jackson loved the views of Cheyenne Mountain from her home and continued to employ Mr. Stratton to add on porches to improve the views. Mr. Jackson even had their house turned on its foundation so that she could have a better view.
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Helen Hunt Jackson was born on October 18, 1830 as Helen Maria Fiske. She was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts. Helen Maria Fiske. Helen grew up in a literary atmosphere and she was herself a poet and writer of children’s stories, novels, and essays. She published her work under the pen name of H.H.H. Her poetry was the outflow of deep sympathetic thought on the problem of life’s trials and temptations.
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Part of Helen Hunt Jackson's house is located at the Pioneer's Museum located in Colorado Springs. Three rooms of the original house have been preserved. Today, the Robert M. Isaac Municipal Court building is located on the site where Mrs. Jackson's house once was.
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Helen Hunt Jackson