Will Carleton

William McKendree Carleton, known simply as Will, was born in the wilds of southern Michigan on the edge of Lenawee County on October 21, 1845. As a young lad Will worked hard on the family farm, but his love of learning and quick mind led him to write poetry while attending the district school in Hudson. Will entered Hillsdale College in 1862. Then his brother Henry enlisted in the Union Army to fight in the Civil War, and Will had to return home to help on the farm. He would not be able to return to college for three years. While home, he taught school, working at the same time to increase his own breadth of knowledge .

In September of 1865, Will returned to Hillsdale College to work toward completion of his degree. To support himself, he got a job writing for local newspapers. It was the beginning of his writing career.

In his free time Will liked to take rambles in the country around the college. One day, while walking with his friend Byron Finney, he spied a dwelling located on the edge of town. He and Byron had discovered the County Farm and Poorhouse. Will returned many times, listening to the stories told by the residents. Many of them were old, abandoned by their families who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) care for them at home. Will’s famous poem, “Over the Hill to the Poorhouse,” which he later said almost wrote itself, was the result of those conversations. In all Will wrote twelve books of poetry, prompting Michigan to confer on him the honorary title of Poet Laureate. He died in 1912 as one of the nation’s most respected and widely read writers and lecturers.

Hillsdale didn’t forget Will. In February of 1926 residents of Hillsdale’s Railroad Street petitioned City Council to have the name of their street changed to Carleton Road. In 1987, when the Hillsdale County Historical Society received the deed for the Poorhouse on Wolcott Street from Bob Evans Farms, Inc., they honored Will by naming it the Will Carleton Poorhouse.

Carol A. Lackey