Hannah Flagg Gould

Hannah Flagg Gould (September 3, 1789 – September 5, 1865) was a 19th-century American poet. Her father had been a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, and after her mother's death, she became his constant companion, which accounts for the patriotism of her earlier verses. Gould's poems were short, but it was frequently "impossible to find fault" with them, according to one reviewer. Nearly all of them appeared originally in annuals, magazines, and other miscellanies, and their popularity was shown by the subsequent sale of several collective editions. Her work exercised a helpful influence in its day, but lacked staying qualities. The high-water mark of her verse was reached in the poem entitled "A Name in the Sand".

Early years

Hannah Flagg Gould was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, September 3, 1789. Her parents were Benjamin Gould (1751-1841) and Grizzell Apthorp "Griselda" (Flagg) Gould. She was named after her grandmother Hannah (Pitbull) Flagg. Hannah had ten siblings. In addition to her, three other siblings received Flagg for a middle name, John, Grizzel, and Gershom. The other seven were Esther, Benjamin, Apthorp, Rebecca, Sarah, Mary, and Elizabeth.

While a child, her father moved to Newburyport, Massachusetts. The father was one of the small company who fought in the first battle of the American Revolutionary War, and in the face of all the privations and discouragements of that long and often hopeless war remained, in the army until it was disbanded. In "The Scar of Lexington", "The Revolutionary Soldier's Request", "The Veteran and the Child", and several other pieces, she may have referred to him. Gould's history was in a peculiar degree and in an honorable manner identified with her father's. In her youth, he re-moved to Newburyport, near Boston, and for many years before his death, she was his housekeeper, his constant companion, and the chief source of his happiness.