Background
Worcester, Joseph Emerson was born on August 24, 1784 in Bedford, New Hampshire, United States. Son of Jesse and Sarah (Parker) Worcester.
Worcester, Joseph Emerson was born on August 24, 1784 in Bedford, New Hampshire, United States. Son of Jesse and Sarah (Parker) Worcester.
Graduated from Yale, 1811. Honorary Doctor of Laws, Brown University, 1847, Dartmouth, 1856.
Taught at Salem, Massachusetts, 1811-1816 (Nathaniel Hawthorne one of his students) published a Geographical Dictionary or Universal Gazetteer, Ancient and Modern, 1817, A Gazetteer of the United States, 1819, Johnson’s English Dictionary … with Walker’s Pronouncing Dictionary, Combined (contained his permanent contribution to lexicography, “compromise vowel,” new sound attributed to letter “a”), 1828. Editor American Almanac and Repository of Useful Language, 1831-1842. Accused by Noah Webster of plagiarism, 1830, resulted in “War of Dictionaries,” which continued until 1860’s published pamphlet concerning controversy, A Gross Literary Fraud Exposed, 1853.
Published A Dictionary of the English Language (most important work), 1860.
Member Massachusetts History Society, American Academy, Oriental Society, Royal Geography Society England.
Member Massachusetts History Society, American Academy, Oriental Society, Royal Geography Society England.
Married Amy Elizabeth McKean, June 29, 1841.