Share This Article This poet became known as the Hoosier Poet. Paul Dunbar Edgar Guest Katharine Bates James Whitcomb Riley James Whitcomb Riley. Born in Indiana in 1849, he had been a sign painter and an actor in a medicine show before becoming a poet. His poetry books include The Old Swimmin’ Hole and ’Leven More Poems, Rhymes of Childhood, and Poems Here at Home.
