A Nineteenth-century author of dialect works and children's poetry, he is particularly known for poems such as "Little Orphant Annie" and "The Raggedy Man." The former work was the inspiration for the Little Orphan Annie character of comic strip, stage play, and film fame. He ended his schooling after the eighth grade. He began his career as a poet after appealing to the famous Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for literary and publishing advice.
