Co Background information Henry david Thoreau: U.S. thinker, essayist, and naturalist(1817-1862). Born in Concord, Mass. Thoreau graduated from Harvard University and taught school for several years before deciding to become a poet of nature. Back in Concord, he came under the influence of r. w. Emerson and began to publish pieces in the Transcendentalist magazine The Dial In the years 1845-1847, to demonstrate how satisfying a simple life could be, he lived in a hut beside Concord's Walden Pond; essays recording his daily life were assembled for his masterwork, Walden(1854)Background information • Henry David Thoreau: U.S. thinker, essayist, and naturalist (1817—1862). Born in Concord, Mass., Thoreau graduated from Harvard University and taught school for several years before deciding to become a poet of nature. Back in Concord, he came under the influence of R. W. Emerson and began to publish pieces in the Transcendentalist magazine The Dial. In the years 1845—1847, to demonstrate how satisfying a simple life could be, he lived in a hut beside Concord's Walden Pond; essays recording his daily life were assembled for his masterwork, Walden (1854)