Editing Edward Bellamy (section)

===Early life===

Edward Bellamy was born in [[Chicopee, Massachusetts]]. His father was Rufus King Bellamy (1816–1886), a [[Baptist]] minister and a descendant of [[Joseph Bellamy]].<ref name=Quint74>Howard Quint, ''The Forging of American Socialism: Origins of the Modern Movement: The Impact of Socialism on American Thought and Action, 1886–1901.'' Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1953; p. 74.</ref> His mother, Maria Louisa Putnam Bellamy, was a Calvinist.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://spartacus-educational.com/USAbellamy.htm|title=Edward Bellamy|newspaper=Spartacus Educational|access-date=December 15, 2016}}</ref> She was the daughter of a Baptist minister named Benjamin Putnam, who was forced to withdraw from the ministry in [[Salem, Massachusetts]], following objections to his becoming a [[Freemason]].<ref>Joseph Schiffman, "Edward Bellamy's Religious Thought", ''Transactions and Proceedings of the Modern Language Association of America,'' vol. 68, no. 4 (Sep. 1953), p. 716.</ref>

Bellamy attended public school at Chicopee Falls before leaving for [[Union College]] of [[Schenectady, New York]], where he studied for just two semesters.<ref name=Quint74 /> Upon leaving school, he made his way to Europe for a year, spending extensive time in Germany.<ref name=Quint74 /> He briefly studied law but abandoned that field without ever having practiced as a lawyer, instead entering the world of journalism. In this capacity Bellamy briefly served on the staff of the ''[[New York Post]]'' before returning to his native Massachusetts to take a position at the ''Springfield Union''.<ref name=Quint74 />

At the age of 25, Bellamy developed [[tuberculosis]], the disease that would ultimately kill him.<ref name=Quint74 /> He suffered with its effects throughout his adult life. In an effort to regain his health, Bellamy spent a year in the [[Hawaiian Islands]] (1877 to 1878).<ref name=Quint74 /> Returning to the United States, he decided to abandon the daily grind of journalism in favor of literary work, which put fewer demands upon his time and his health.<ref name=Quint74 />

Bellamy married Emma Augusta Sanderson in 1882. The couple had two children.