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Early Years

Daniel Willard Fiske was born in Ellisburg, New York, near Watertown, on November 11, 1831, the son of Daniel H. Fiske and Caroline Willard. Daniel Fiske was a businessman; Caroline Fiske helped to support the family through dressmaking. Willard Fiske attended Cazenovia Seminary and entered Hamilton College in 1847. At Hamilton, Fiske became a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity; he remained an active member throughout his life. In his sophomore year, Fiske was suspended for a student prank. Although he never returned to Hamilton, the college conferred an honorary degree upon him in 1856.

After leaving college, Fiske worked for a short time at the Syracuse Post Office while he studied languages. He became particularly fascinated with Norse cultures, an interest that inspired him to travel. In 1850, he left for England, then lived in Copenhagen and Stockholm, where he attended lectures at the University of Uppsala. Upon his return to the United States, he obtained a position as an assistant librarian at the Astor Library in New York. There, he founded and edited The American Chess Monthly with the famous chess player, Paul Morphy. In 1859, Fiske became General Secretary of the American Geographical Society. Two years later, he obtained an appointment as an attaché with the American Legation in Vienna. He returned to the United States in 1863 to become an editor of the Syracuse Daily Journal, and later joined H. P. Gregory in running a bookstore in Syracuse. Fiske was invited to join the faculty of the newly established Cornell University in 1868 as Professor of North European languages and Librarian of the University Library.

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