Sketches from Concord and Appledore: Concord thirty years ago; Nathaniel Hawthorne; Louisa M. Alcott; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Matthew Arnold; David A. Wasson; Wendell Phillips; Appledore and its visitors; John Greenleaf WhittierStearns, Frank Preston
General
Sketches from Concord and Appledore: Concord thirty years ago; Nathaniel Hawthorne; Louisa M. Alcott; Ralph Waldo Emerson; Matthew Arnold; David A. Wasson; Wendell Phillips; Appledore and its visitors; John Greenleaf Whittier
Stearns, Frank Preston
Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888; Arnold, Matthew, 1822-1888; Authors, American -- Homes and haunts -- Massachusetts -- Concord; Concord (Mass.); Concord (Mass.) -- Intellectual life -- 19th century; Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882 -- Homes and haunts -- Massachusetts -- Concord; Hawthorne, Nathaniel,
His adventure with a drunken sea-captain, while crossing from England in
a sailing vessel has become proverbial. He probably saved the ship, and
the lives of all on board, for a terrific storm arose immediately
afterwards, the worst he had ever known, such as only a sober captain
could possibly have weathered. There never was a better seaman when he
was himself, so Wasson said. His judgment in regard to the investment of
money, buying or selling a house, or in most of the small affairs of
life, was excellent, and his advice in more serious matters so good that
wise men might well have gone far to obtain it. Wherever he lived his
house soon became conspicuous among all others for its refined air and
tasteful appearance. In his half acre of a garden, he raised as fine
fruit and vegetables as the most accomplished horticulturist, and even
made wine from his own grapes equal to the best Californian. No man ever
accomplished more with inadequate means. The interior of his house at
West Medford had a pleasant style peculiarly its own. It reminded one of
an old Dutch painting. In one of the last summers of his life he
hybridized a seedling grape of large size and excellent flavor. He hoped
to make a valuable property of this but his strength failed him too
rapidly.
The house in West Medford was the only one he ever owned, and he gave a
number of good reasons for purchasing it. It was cheap, and large enough
for three people; there was a small garden with two fine apple-trees
attached to it, and the salt water came almost to the foot of the
garden. He had noticed also that the streets became dry after a rain
more quickly in that portion of the town than elsewhere and judged from
that it must be a healthy locality. He very quickly remodelled the place
giving it the stamp of his own style and character.
He showed good judgment also in the education of his son George, now a
marine-painter of well recognized merit. The boy inherited his father's
sincerity and artistic feeling but not his intellectual tastes. In many
respects he was more like his mother. He did not take to his studies nor
was he fond of games, but liked bathing and sailing. When he was
thirteen his father remarked that he did not know what he should be able
to do with him. Well-intending friends said, you should get him a place
in a store so that he may be earning something to help his parents, but
Wasson replied: "No! I care too much for my boy to make a drudge of him
for life, if it is possible for him to do better."
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