Will Carleton stands with former Hillsdale College President Joseph Mauck. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Library
Few poets can attribute their success to their humble deeds as undergraduate students, but Will Carleton can. As the most famous graduate of Hillsdale College, he should be the next statue on the Liberty Walk.
As a student, Carleton wrote for the Hillsdale Standard Newspaper and was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. But the most worthwhile thing he did was visit the residents at the local poorhouse, which was full of people whose families did not have the means or refused to take care of them. Carleton listened to their stories until he graduated in 1869.
He took inspiration from the residents at the Hillsdale poorhouse to write his most famous poem, “Over the Hill to the Poorhouse.”
The poem comes from the perspective of an old widow whose children declined to care for her, leaving her no option but to live at the poorhouse.
When Carleton returned to his hometown of hudson for a homecoming celebration, he said, “I used to see old people — old women — who had put their property in the hands of their children, passing up the road on their way to the poorhouse on the other side of the hill. I had thought much about the cruelty of children to their parents, and when it came time to write the poem, I may say that it seemed fairly to write itself.”
When the poem was published in 1872, the 27-year-old poet became an American sensation.
“The poem exploded like a bombshell upon the American psyche,” wrote Jerome Fallon, Carleton’s biographer.
Ken Wyatt, reporter for Jackson Citizen Patriot, wrote that timeless themes emerge from the poem.
“It touched a sensitive chord in the 19th-century American conscience,” Wyatt wrote. “Some say it reached well into the 20th century, adding weight to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s push for a Social Security ‘safety net.’”
But Carleton’s greatness did not stop at the poorhouse.
He developed an enduring friendship with the first blind student to attend Hillsdale College, Harvey Austin Fuller.
Carleton learned that his friend was struggling financially in 1892. He organized a lecture in Underwood’s Opera House in Hillsdale to raise support for Fuller. Carleton was famous for not only his poetry, but his orations. When he held lectures, many people were eager to hear him speak.
Before the event, Carelton wrote to Hillsdale College President George Mosher: “I have reason to believe that the only blind alumnus from our college, Mr. H.A. Fuller, is seriously embarrassed, financially, and that he has at times hard work to keep the wolf from the door.”
He sold a few hundred tickets for 50 cents each, with all the proceeds going to his friend. Fuller thanked Carleton in the Hillsdale Standard.
“My heart goes out in gratitude to Mr. Carleton, and to every individual near or remote, who in any way helped,” he wrote.
The Michigan legislature enacted a law in 1919 that required teachers to read one of Carleton’s poems on Oct. 21, the anniversary of his death.
“It shall be the duty of each teacher of any grade above fifth grade to read or cause to be read, to his or her pupils, at least one of the poems of Will Carleton,” according to the document.
The law also designated Oct. 21 as Will Carleton Day in Michigan.
Residents of Railroad Street in Hillsdale petitioned the city council to change the name of their street to Carleton Road in 1926. The Hillsdale County Historical Society renamed the poorhouse the Will Carleton Poorhouse in 1987. There is a charter school in Hillsdale named Will Carleton Academy, and a village called Carleton in Monroe County.
The most famous graduate from Hillsdale College wrote these words inspired by Hillsdale’s own poorhouse:
“Over the hill to the poor-house – my chil-rn dear, good-by!
Many a night I’ve watched you when only God was nigh;
And God’ll judge between us; but I will always pray
That you shall never suffer the half I do to-day.”
Carleton’s humility which led to success is why he should be the next statue on the Liberty Walk.
