John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and forceful advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Lovecraft mentions him in passing, "{Tryout Smith} is a monarch in his fair domain ... editing, printing, walking, exploring "Whittierland", stamp collecting, and conversing with his grandson-mascot and playful nine-year-old Thomas cat." **p.291, Collected Essays, Vol. 1, Amateur Journalism, ed. S T Joshi.
Whittier's Birthplace about the time Lovecraft visited Haverhill, though it is uncertain if he stopped to see it. In his 1931 "Description of the Town of Quebec...", he writes that he is well aware of Whittier's poem about, "Baron de St. Castin settled {in a fort} with his Indian wife ... forming a theme for the poetick pens of Whittier and Longfellow...". **
** p.130, Collected Essays, Vol. 4, Travel, ed. S T Joshi.
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