Biography

Excerpt: "In 1842 John B. Gough took the pledge in Worcester, Massachusetts and began a career of lecturing against the evils of drink. He frequently drew upon his own experiences. One contemporary called him "the poet of the D.T.s." Over the more than forty years he campaigned against drinking, Gough gave upwards of 9,600 lectures to more than nine million people in America, Canada, and Great Britain. When he died in 1886, the New York Times wrote that he "was probably better known in this country and in Great Britain than any other public speaker." He achieved such renown because of his success in converting drinkers. Hundreds of thousands took the Pledge at the conclusion of one of his speeches... Gough's career coincided with the rise of lecturing as a profession. In the 1840s all across the north and west Americans were organizing lyceums, voluntary associations that sponsored series of lectures..."