One leading figure of Transcendentalism was Ralph Waldo Emerson. His book Nature, gave us our basic structure of Transcendentalism and he became known as the founding father of Transcendentalism. Before Emerson found his happiness in Transcendentalism, his life was plagued by the omnipresent shadow of death beginning with the death of his father when he was eight. After the death of his father, Emerson found refuge in his aunt, Mary Moody Emerson. Later in his life, all three of his brothers died, along with his first wife, who was twenty, and his oldest son, who was five. After the death of his first wife, Emerson married Lydia Jackson to fill the lonely void that had been left. He also sought comfort from fellow Transcendentalists, who would
