Thomas Thackeray Swinburne

Thomas Thackeray Swinburne (April 21, 1865 – December 17, 1926) was an American poet from Rochester, New York. He has been called "Rochester's poet laureate"[1] He wrote a number of books of verse which he printed himself; one of these—By the Genesee: Rhymes and Verses—contains a version of the poem which, set to music by Herve D. Wilkins, has become the alma mater of the University of Rochester[2] – The Genesee.[3]

Thomas Thackeray Swinburne

Swinburne attended the University of Rochester as a member of the class of 1892, but never graduated.[4] He was a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity.[5]

One critic compared Swinburne and Rochester in Song and Verse to Edgar Lee Masters and his Spoon River Anthology.[6]

In December, 1926, distraught over the death of his sister Rose, to whom he had dedicated By the Genesee and Rochester in Song and Verse, he committed suicide by jumping from a bridge into the Genesee River.[4][7] A body was found in June, 1927 at Forest Lawn, on the shore of Lake Ontario in Webster, New York was identified as Swinburne's by his clothing,[8] however, later some doubt was cast on the identification.[9]

"Swinburne Rock" - memorial to Thomas Thackeray Swinburne

The University of Rochester and the Rochester community honored Swinburne with a memorial, Swinburne Rock, placed "beside the Genesee" near the University's Interfaith Chapel. The memorial, proposed in 1927 and dedicated in 1933, is a 26 ton glacial boulder holding a bronze plaque with verses from The Genesee sculpted by Alphonse A. Kolb.[6][10][11] According to local legend Swinburne's ashes were interred under the rock, but when it was moved in 1968 no remains were found.[12] News reports, however, indicate that the poet's ashes were scattered on the Genesee River in July, following his death.[13]