Walt Whitman

Alter Whitman
The god of optimism. He was one of the few gods that help Rory

Early Life before becoming a God
Alter Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Town of Huntington, Long Island, to parents with interests in Quaker thought, Walter and Louisa Van Velsor Whitman. The second of nine children,[7] he was immediately nicknamed "Walt" to distinguish him from his father.[8] Walter Whitman Sr. named three of his seven sons after American leaders: Andrew Jackson, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. The oldest was named Jesse and another boy died unnamed at the age of six months. The couple's sixth son, the youngest, was named Edward.[8] At age four, Whitman moved with his family from West Hills to Brooklyn, living in a series of homes, in part due to bad investments.[9] Whitman looked back on his childhood as generally restless and unhappy, given his family's difficult economic status.[10] One happy moment that he later recalled was when he was lifted in the air and kissed on the cheek by the Marquis de Lafayetteduring a celebration in Brooklyn on July 4, 1825.[11]

Civil War years
Walt Whitman, circa 1860, byMathew Brady As the American Civil War was beginning, Whitman published his poem "Beat! Beat! Drums!" as a patriotic rally call for the North.[62] Whitman's brother George had joined the Union army and began sending Whitman several vividly detailed letters of the battle front.[63] On December 16, 1862, a listing of fallen and wounded soldiers in the New York Tribune included "First Lieutenant G. W. Whitmore", which Whitman worried was a reference to his brother George.[64] He made his way south immediately to find him, though his wallet was stolen on the way.[65] "Walking all day and night, unable to ride, trying to get information, trying to get access to big people", Whitman later wrote,[66] he eventually found George alive, with only a superficial wound on his cheek.[64] Whitman, profoundly affected by seeing the wounded soldiers and the heaps of their amputated limbs, left for Washington on December 28, 1862 with the intention of never returning to New York.[65]

After suffering a paralytic stroke in early 1873, Whitman was induced to move from Washington to his brother's--George Washington Whitman, an Engineer--home at 431 Stevens Street in Camden New Jersey where his mother was ill and would die that same year in May. Both events were difficult for Whitman and left him depressed and he would remain at his brothers home until buying his own in 1884. [91] However, before purchasing his own home, he spent the greatest period of his residence in Camden at his brother's home in Stevens Street. While in residence he was very productive publishing three version of Leaves of Grass among other works. He was also last fully physically active in this house, receiving both Oscar Wilde and Thomas Eakins. His other brother, Edward, an "invalid" since birth, also lived in the house.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-91" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[92]