Biography of Phyllis Wheatley

Phyllis Wheatley was born circa 1753 in what is known today as Senegal, Africa. She was captured by Africans and sold into slavery at the age of 7. In 1761 she came to Boston, Massachusetts. John Wheatley purchased her and converted her into a Christian.

John Wheatley was a merchant. He had a wholesale business and owned real estate and warehouses and also a schooner called the London Packet. His wife Susannah was a devout Christian. As Phyllis was quite weak and frail in her early years, she was chosen to be a servant to Mrs. Wheatley.

Career and Popularity

John and Susannah educated Phyllis. Her first poem was published in 1767 in the Newport Mercury. In 1773 she published her book of poems titled 'Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral'.

Her poetry had a definitive Christian theme. Several of them were dedicated to famous personalities of the time. Several were also elegies. These poems were based on religious, classical and abstract themes.

In 1772, she was examined by a group of 17 prominent people from Boston because people at the time found it hard to believe that a black woman could be intelligent and write poetry. After the examination, these prominent people of Boston attested to the fact that the poems were really written by Phyllis Wheatley.

Her popularity also helped her to buy her freedom in 1773.

Phyllis Wheatley became popular in both England and in the United States of America. She even read her poems in front of George Washington in 1776.

The death of the Wheatleys effectively managed to cut her ties to the intellectuals in the white society.

Her private life was quite a disaster. After her freedom, she married John Peters who was a free black grocer. They had 3 children out of which 2 died soon after they were born. Then Peters left her and she supported herself and her daughter by working as a scullery maid.

In December 1781, Wheatley died in poverty. She was 31 years old. Her child died a few hours after her death.

It is said that she had written another volume of poetry but it has never been found.