From collection Creating Acadia National Park: The George B. Dorr Research Archive of Ronald H. Epp

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1864-67
Chron 12/20
1864
1865
-10 Commonwealth Ave. built William Jenes Brayel
Saturday Cleak
Tom ward J.
1866
1867
Mount Deast
13.
The families fall thoboy attending Difwell
School had summer homes to which they moved in spring,
returning in the fall, a custom then of recent origin
made possible by the railroad. Some went to the North
Shore, others to Nahant, reached by steamboat; others
to the South Shore, where there was splendid opportunity
for small-boat sailing. The boys whose homes were by
the sea lived on the water through the summer. Edward
Burgess, the famous yacht and cup-defender builder, was
one of the older boys at Dixwell's when I entered and
got his interest in boats and early training in this way
at Beverly. Charles Francis Adams, the recent Secretary
of the Havy and famous for his skill in sailing cup-
defenders, got his on the South Shore.
Others families moved into the country, to Chest-
nut Hill and Brookline, Milton and beyond, the boys
coming in by train to school, their fathers to business,
and Beacon Hill and the Back Bay were like a deserted
city through the summer.
We went to Canton, an old town on the Boston and
Providence Railroad a few miles beyond Milton and its
Blue Hills, in order to be near my grandmother, who had
14.
the families all thobays attending
a SUMMOR home there and a famous garden, taking many
prises at the Boston about. It came about because
my grandfather, told by his doctor to get himself a
country home, bought an old homestead there of the
Nichols family, relations of his friends the Bow-
ditches, one of whom, Ingersoll Bowditch, had built
himself a country home alongside the Nichols homestead,
which first my uncle, Samuel Gray Ward, on coming from
Lenox, bought and occupied, then we, when business took
him to New York to live.
There, in real country, with woods and a lake for
neighbors, dogs and horses for companions, my brother
and I grow up, springs and falls, till college days.
It was great country for us. Ny brother, a born
sailor by inhoritance from my mother's family, rigged
up a row-boat with a sail, and sailed the lake; I
roamed the woods, meadows and pasture-lands about us,
gathering wild flowers and collecting birds' eggs in
the spring. But when the hot, dry summer came we went
to the seashore for my mother's sake, and it was on one
of these mid-summer trips that we first came to Mount
Desert.
There were few boarding schools in my school-boy
days; Phillips Exeter and Saint Paul's were the only
ones I remember hearing spoken of or which were
represented at Harvard when I was there. Boys
lived at home and went either to the Boston Latin
School or to Dixwell's. Epes Dixwell, the son of
an old Boston merchant engaged, I think, in the
China trade, had been head master at the Latin
School and then, with reputation gained as a teacher,
had set up his own private school which quickly
took the lead in Boston, having practically all its
old families represented in it at one time or
another, relatively small though the school was for
it never had more than fifty odd boys, divided into
six classes, from the last of which they entered
Harvard.
The school had its football team -- playing the
old-fashioned open game; baseball as an organized
sport was just beginning and tennis and other sports
of the present day did not exist, save rowing, which
2.
one took up first at Harvard. The only teams
with whom Dixwell's played in set matches were
the Boston Latin School, or, more seldom, its
chief rival, the Roxbury Latin, also a big school
of high standing and sending boys to college.
Groton and the other schools which came so much
to the front in later years were not in existence.
School hours were from nine till two with a
recess of half an hour from half past eleven to
twelve, when, if it were spring or fall, we went
out and played football on the Common. There
was no choice of studies; all was definite and
fixed and the goal was Harvard.
When spring came, the parents of most of our
school-mates moved out to homes in the country,
whence both fathers and sons came in by train, the
boys returning in the early afternoon, giving
abundant leisure in the long spring days for play
at home. Many went to the North Shore where they
could go out to row or sail and lived much upon the
water, laying the foundation for yachting in later
years. It was there that Edward Burgess, the
3.
famous cup-designer, an older pupil still at
Dixwell in my time, got his first experience and
his love of sailing. Many, too, went to the
South Shore on Buzzards Bay where the winds were
steady and the water warm for bathing. There it
was that Charles Francis Adams, the younger, the
recent Secretary of the Navy, and a famous skipper
in the International Cup Series, got his experience.
Other families still went to Chestnut Hills or
Milton.
Our own home in spring and fall was the
town of Canton, beyond the Blue Hills, which we reached
by the Providence Railroad, where we went to be near
my grandmother. My grandfather Ward had bought an
old farm there on which to spend his summers, by
his doctor's advice, a few years before his death.
It was delightfully wild there at that time, with
a big pond to sail on and old roads and woods-roads
over which to ride with scarce a house upon them;
and it was a wonderful place for birds, whose eggs,
like all the boys of my time who had the chance,
collected.
But it was hot in summer and, school
closed, my mother and father would presently pack up
4.
and go off to the seashore, or to Lenox, real
county then, where my mother had stayed with my
uncle and, as a girl, ridden over the whole
region -- the most fearless horsewoman, Mr. Curtis
the old inn keeper at Lenox, told me in later years,
that he had ever known save Fanny Kemble. There
we spent delightful summers, driving about the country
or exploring it -- my brother and I -- on horseback
or on foot. This migratory habit of the family was
to prove important afterward in leading us to Bar
Harbor.
B. Bunting Houges + Bos fon's Bach Bay 1967.
Appendix
COMMONWEALTH AVENUE, ARLINGTON TO BERKELEY STREETS
NORTH SIDE
SOUTH SIDE
I
1861
Samuel Ward
2
1864
James Little (2)
3
1861
B. S. Rotch (2)
4
1864
William Brown (2)
5
1861
Abbott Lawrence (4)
6
1864
A. Abbe
1912
Walter Baylies
Parker, Thomas, Rice
(William Weld) (6)
7
1861
Samuel Johnson (6)
8
1864
Erastus Bigelow (1)
R. Greenleaf
IO
1864
Thomas Appleton (1)
9
1861
(O. Norcross) (8)
I2
1870
Samuel Gookin
4-unit apartment
14
1871
Charles Kirby
Charles Kirby
1937
II
1868
F. Bradlee
N.J. Bradlee
1927
40-unit apartment
G. N. Jacobs
(E. Abbott) (4)
16
1864
Charles Woodbury (2)
1868
F. Bradlee (2)
N. J. Bradlee
18
1864
Samuel Ward
13
1907
Anna Nowell
Parker, Thomas, Rice
(C. Dorr) (6)
1861
Samuel Ward
Bryant, Gilman
I5
1867
William Pickman (2)
Snell, Gregerson
20
17
1866
William Gardiner (1)
22
1861
Edward Motley (9)
Bryant, Gilman
19
1867
T. C. Amory (2)
24
1861
E. E. Snelling (2)
Bryant, Gilman
21
1868
J. A. Burnham (5)
26
1861
H. Saltonstahl (3)
Bryant, Gilman
1868
Daniel Spooner (1)
28
1861
G. T. Bigelow (1)
Bryant, Gilman
23
30
1861
Jonas Fitch (2)
Bryant, Gilman
25
1861
Samuel Hooper (1)
27
1861
Samuel Hooper
32
1861
Miles Standish (3)
Bryant, Gilman
(Thornton Lothrop) (9)
34
1861
M. A. Edwards (2)
Bryant, Gilman
36
1861
Ezra Lincoln (1)
Bryant, Gilman
38
1862
Nathan Gibbs (1)
40
1862
John Sharp (1)
42
1864
F. W. Sayles (1)
44
1864
R. E. Robbins (7)
46
1864
Samuel Gookin
48
1864
William Chadbourne
After his mother's death (June 15, 1866) Charles
Sumner felt for the first time that he had the means
and was at liberty to get married. He had been meeting
for some time in Washington, at the home of Samuel Hoopery
a Member of Congress from Boston, the widow of his son.
She was formerly Miss Alice Mason, of Boston, a niece of
Jeremiah Mason, Daniel Webster's old competitor at the
bar.
She was a beautiful and attractive young woman,
of slender and stately form, highbred manner and aristocrati
reserve, one of the noticeably fascinating women in Washington
society; but somewhat spoiled by the homage she had received
had an extremely variable disposition which she could show in
teasing or in temper, and she was fond of society and was
ambitious, with the disposition to rule the circle in which
she moved. She was the mother of one child, a daughter
of
eight years. In the September following the death
of his mother, their engagement was announced. She was
then but twenty-eight years of age; while he was fifty-five.
On the seventeenth day of October, 1866, they were
married. The intervening weeks before the opening of
Congress, they spent at Newport and at his old home at Boston
#Samuel Hooper was in the firm of William Appleton Company,
Boston.
At the opening session in December, they took a house
in Washington, bought a team, rented a pew in church and
settled down to housekeeping there.
H18 health was
now fully restored and he was rejoicing in the bright
anticipation of happiness in this new relation. He
felt the inspiration of the high place he held in public
life and though accompanied with added labor he tubned
to the work of the session with renewed ardor.
But the sequel of their married life was a sad
one. one. She was not happy and as he predicted
there could, therefore, be no happiness in the union for
him.
The first winter passed in the routine of
Washington life and without incident, 80 far as the
public kniw. After the close of the session in Washington,
they returned in June to their home in Boston. During the
same month she went to Lenox -- and so they parted
never to meet again. The friends of both parties continued
to hope, for some time, that a reconciliation would be had,
but it never came. Some years later he procured a divorce.
Those in position best able to know the facts acquitted him
of any fault.
Mr. Hooper, at whose house they had men, and
who had stood towards her as a father, continued Sumber's friend
to the end, was present with kind offices at his last sickness
and death, and to him were addressed in friendly recognition
his last words.
copl
Fall
LED
tyle.
THE BRITISH ACADEMY . PILGRIM EDITION
The Letters of
Charles Dickens
GENERAL EDITORS
t
Madeline House Graham Storey Kathleen Tillotson
Volume Twelve
1868-1870
EDITED BY
Graham Storey
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Margaret Brown
CONSULTANT
Kathleen Tillotson
Charles Dickens in 1867, photograph by Ben Gurney.
CLARENDON PRESS . OXFORD
516
19 Dec 1867
22 Dec 1867
517
mistake but an intention and design! Of course I write by this post to Dr.
fascinated by the study of a horrible photograph-book of thieves' portraits that
Palfrey' himself, and, equally of course, I tell him that I shall express my regret
I couldn't shut it up.
to him personally on Sunday.
With my love to Mrs. Fields Always Yours affectionately
A good specimen of the sort of newspaper you and I know something of, came
CD.
out in Boston here this morning. The editor had applied for our advertisements,
saying that "it was at Mr. D.'s disposal for paragraphs." The advertisements
S. I don't know Dr. Palfrey's exact address. Pray send the note I have written
were not sent; Dolby did not enrich its columns paragraphically; and among its
him, straight on for me.
news to-day is the item that "this chap calling himself Dolby got drunk down
town last night, and was taken to the police station for fighting an Irishman"!!
To DR J. G. PALFREY, 19 DECEMBER 1867
I am sorry to say that I don't find anybody to be much shocked by this liveliness.
Mention in last. Date: written same day.
Saying that Dolby's original plan was that CD should read in New York every week.
But I say No. By the 10th of January I shall have read to 35,000 people in that
city alone. Put the readings out of the reach of all the people behind them, for
To JOHN FORSTER, [22 DECEMBER 1867]
the time. It is that one of the popular peculiarities which I most particularly
Extracts in F, x, i, 771-72. Date: first three extracts 22 Dec 67, according to Forster; last
notice, that they must not have a thing too easily. Nothing in the country lasts
extract probably part of same long letter, written from Boston.
long; and a thing is prized the more, the less easy it is made. Reflecting therefore
The railways are truly alarming. Much worse (because more worn I suppose)
that I shall want to close, in April, with farewell readings here and in New York, I
than when I was here before. We were beaten about yesterday, as if we had been
am convinced that the crush and pressure upon these necessary to their ade-
aboard the Cuba. Two rivers have to be crossed, and each time the whole train is
quate success is only to be got by absence; and that the best thing I can do is not
banged aboard a big steamer. The steamer rises and falls with the river, which
to give either city as much reading as it wants now, but to be independent of
the railroad don't do; and the train is either banged up hill or banged down hill.
both while both are most enthusiastic. I have therefore resolved presently to
In coming off the steamer at one of these crossings yesterday, we were banged up
announce in New York so many readings (I mean a certain number) as the last
such a height that the rope broke, and one carriage rushed back with a run down-
that can be given there, before I travel to promised places; and that we select the
hill into the boat again. I whisked out in a moment, and two or three others after
best places, with the largest halls, on our list. This will include, East here-the
me; but nobody else seemed to care about it. The treatment of the luggage is
two or three best New England towns; South-Baltimore and Washington;
perfectly outrageous. Nearly every case I have is already broken. When we
West-Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and St. Louis; and towards Niagara-
started from Boston yesterday, I beheld, to my unspeakable amazement, Scott,
Cleveland and Buffalo. Philadelphia we are already pledged to, for six nights;
my dresser, leaning a flushed countenance against the wall of the car, and
and the scheme will pretty easily bring us here again twice before the farewells.
weeping bitterly. It was over my smashed writing-desk. Yet the arrangements for
I feel convinced that this is the sound policy. I read here to-morrow and Tues-
luggage are excellent, if the porters would not be beyond description reckless.
day; all tickets being sold to the end of the series, even for subjects not
announced. I have not read a single time at a lower clear profit per night (all
The halls are excellent. Imagine one holding two thousand people, seated
deductions made) than £315. But rely upon it I shall take great care not to read
with exact equality for every one of them, and every one seated separately. I have
oftener than four times a week-after this next week, when I stand committed to
nowhere, at home or abroad, seen so fine a police as the police of New York; and
five. The inevitable tendency of the staff, when these great houses excite them,
their bearing in the streets is above all praise. On the other hand, the laws for
is, in the words of an old friend of ours, to "hurge the hartist hon"; and a night or
regulation of public vehicles, clearing of streets, and removal of obstructions, are
two ago I had to cut away five readings from their list.
wildly outraged by the people for whose benefit they are intended. Yet there is
undoubtedly improvement in every direction, and I am taking time to make up
To MISS GEORGINA HOGARTH, 22 DECEMBER 1867
my mind on things in general. Let me add that I have been tempted out at three
in the morning to visit one of the large police station-houses, and was so
Extract in MDGH, II, 319-21.
Boston, Sunday, Dec. 22nd, 1867.
John Gorham Palfrey (1796-1881; DAB),
hoping to welcome him at Cambridge, before
LLD, St Andrew's College, Scotland; former
he left for England (MS Houghton Library,
Coming here from New York last night (after a detestable journey),
Unitarian minister; historian and liberal poli-
Harvard).
tician: see Vol. VIII, p. 127 and 11. Member of
As Postmaster, his address was 55 State
I was delighted to find your letter of the 6th. I read it at my ten o'clock dinner
Congress 1847-9; Postmaster at Boston
St; his home was in Cambridge.
I
Newspaper not discovered.
1861-7. On 31 Mar 68 Palfrey wrote to CD,
2 Readings at the cities in the West, as well as in Canada, were finally cancelled.
The Letter of Charles Dickens, Vol. 11
AN
To bless Georgina Hogarth, 22 Dec. 1867, Botm.
Ed. Graham storey. 2002.
518
22 Dec 1867
23 Dec 1867
519
with the greatest interest and pleasure, and then we talked of home till we went
Our hotel in New York was on fire again the other night. But fires in this country
to bed.
are quite matters of course. There was a large one there at four this morning, and
"Our tour is now being made out, and I hope to be able to send it in my next
I don't think a single night has passed since I have been under the protection of the
letter home, which will be to Mamie, from whom I have not heard (as you thought
Eagle, but I have heard the fire bells dolefully clanging all over the city.
I had) by the mail that brought out yours. After very careful consideration I have
aDDobb sends his kindest regard. His hair has become quite white, the effect,
reversed Dolby's original plan, and have decided on taking Baltimore, Washing-
I suppose, of the climate. He is so universally hauled over the coals (for no
ton, Cincinnati, Chicago (!), St. Louis, and a few other places nearer here, instead
reason on earth), that I fully expect to hear him, one of these nights, assailed
of staying in New York. My reason is that we are doing immensely, both at New
with a howl when he precedes me to the platform steps. You may conceive what
York and here, and that I am sure it is in the peculiar character of the people to
the low newspapers are here, when one of them yesterday morning had, as an
prize a thing the more the less easily attainable it is made. Therefore, I want, by
item of news, the intelligence: "Dickens's Readings. The chap calling himself
absence, to get the greatest rush and pressure upon the five farewell readings in
Dolby got drunk last night, and was locked up in a police-station for fighting an
New York in April. All our announced readings are already crammed."
Irishman." I don't find that anybody is shocked by this liveliness.
When we got here last Saturday night, we found that Mrs. Fields had not only
My love to all, and to Mrs. Hulkes and the boy. By-the-bye, when we left New
garnished the rooms with flowers, but also with holly (with real red berries) and
York for this place, Dolby called my amazed attention to the circumstance that
festoons of moss dependent from the looking-glasses and picture frames. She is
Scott was leaning his head against the side of the carriage and weeping bitterly.
one of the dearest little women in the world. The homely Christmas look of the
I asked him what was the matter, and he replied: "The owdacious treatment of
place quite affected us. Yesterday we dined at her house and there was a plum-
the luggage, which was more outrageous than a man could bear." I told him not
pudding, brought on blazing, and not to be surpassed in any house in England.
to make a fool of himself; but they do knock it about cruelly. I think every trunk
There is a certain Captain Dolliver,3 belonging to the Boston Custom House,
we have is already broken.
who came off in the little steamer that brought me ashore from the Cuba.4 He
I must leave off, as I am going out for a walk in a bright sunlight and a
took it into his head that he would have a piece of English mistletoe brought out
complete break-up of the frost and snow. I am much better than I have been
in this week's Cunard, which should be laid upon my breakfast-table. And there
during the last week, but have a cold.²
it was this morning. In such affectionate touches as this, these New England
people are especially amiable.
To GEORGE W. CHILDS, 23 DECEMBER 1867*
As a general rule, you may lay it down that whatever you see about me in the
MS Free Library of Philadelphia.
papers is not true. But although my voyage out was of that highly hilarious
description that you first made known to me, you may generally lend a more
Parker House, Boston
believing ear to the Philadelphia correspondent of The Times. I don't know him,
Monday Twenty Third December, 1867
but I know the source from which he derives his information, and it is a very
My Dear Mr. Childs
respectable one.
Again, many thanks. It is extremely kind of you to bear me in mind so
Did I tell you in a former letter from here, to tell Anne, with her old master's
thoughtfully.
love, that I had seen Putnam, my old secretary? Grey, and with several front
Believe
me
always
Faithfully Your friend
teeth out, but I would have known him anywhere. He is coming to "Copper-
George W Childs Esquire
CHARLES DICKENS
field" to-night, accompanied by his wife6 and daughter, and is in the seventh
heaven at having his tickets given him.
To OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, 23 DECEMBER 1867*
MS Library of Congress. Address: Dr. Holmes I 164 Charles Street City.
aa Omitted in CD as Editor and N.
DeWolfe Howe, p. 149).
But see last, fn.
James M. Dolliver, Inspector, Boston
Parker House, Boston
The other guests were James Russell
Custom House.
Tuesday Twenty Third December 1867
Lowell and his daughter Mabel, and Mr and
See To Wills, 21 Nov, fn.
My Dear Dr. Holmes.
Mrs Dorr (not further identified): E. F.
Long, well-informed reports of American
Payne, Dickens Days in Boston, p. 206. Mrs
news alternated with Reuter's telegrams from
Your kind note is exceedingly acceptable and agreeable to me, but I very much
Fields wrongly dates the dinner as 22 Dec.
New York. On 3 Dec The Times reported that
fear that I shall not have one solitary day at my own disposal in Boston. The only
She recorded: "It was really a beautiful
CD had arrived in Boston "and received an
Christmas festival, as we intended it should
enthusiastic ovation". It also gave his pro-
Probably the Eagle Insurance Co., rather
with Authors, p. 166); CD himself referred to
be for the love of this new apostle of Christ-
gramme of readings in Boston and New York.
than the American Eagle.
it as "American catarrh" and Dolby as "an
mas. Mr. Dickens talked all the time, as he
Née Julia Amanda Putnam (b.1813), per-
According to Fields, CD had left Boston
attack of influenza" (CD as I Knew him,
always will do, generously, when the moment
haps a cousin; married Aug 44.
for New York (on 7 Dec), with "a severe
p. 182). See also To Fields, 29 Dec.
comes that he sees it is expected" (given in
catarrh contracted in our climate" (Yesterdays
Diotaphone Record # 2 - Sunday, May 21, 1939.
1866
this
an all-day dusty ride, but ke heard such accounts at the Bangor
hotel of the
food and absence of accommodations at Bar
Harbor that he took us off instead to the White Mountains and
on to Canada from which trip I remember well runining in
steamboat the famouse Lachine Rapids whose name was given them
by Champlain (look up) because he thought on reaching them that
the way up led by the much sought northern route to China. Thence
we went on in some way that I do not now recall to Burlington
on Lake Champlain and up the lake by steamboat next day and into
the Adirondacks, reaching first
where all as yet
was very wild and primitive. What I remember best of the Adirondacks
the guides
is a wonderful canoe trip we made up the Raquette River, carrying
our canoes over from a nearby lake to a forest trail and launching
them /// for a long battle upstream. The river was dark &
full and narrow between wooded banks, We passed no buildings
nor any sign of man. The trees, deciduous trees I remember,
dark evergreens, overhung the banks. Whither we went I do not
now recall nor I/Y/## had I any knowledge even then at the time
silent
where the dark, SALLX stream was flowing to. It stands out a
picture in my mind.
Another memory that comes back to me is that of
paddling out at dusk on some lake and hearing wild laughter of
the loons and the occasional hooting of an owl. These, and
Niagara, which we took in as we passed, are my recollections of
the summer when we aimed at Bar Harbor first but failed to reach it.
The summer when we did come, two years later,
18mg
was the first people began to buy for summer residence, to
secure themselves in the community against a growing future.
All was
then and the cost of land was low, no one
dreaming of the height to which it presently would SOEE. It
was in the later summer that my father bought, then but 6 or 7
sites in all had been taken, barring two or three in the field
opposite the first hotel, the Agamont House, where people previously
had pitched their tents and camped, getting their meals at the
primitive little hotel, as did later those who bought these
lots and had but sleeping rooms and a sitting room in them,
developing from the tent idea. Outside the village,
purchasing the western, cultivated portion of the Henry Higgins
tract, extending down to Compass Harbor, was among the first.
MEMORIAL OF LEA McI. LUQUER
PAUL F. KERR, Columbia University.
In 1658 Jean L' 'Escuyer of Paris landed in America. He settled
on Long Island, and, a few years later, married. He was a respected
citizen, owned and operated a mill, and held a position as elder in
the Dutch Church. His great-grandson, Abraham Luquer, was
the first to adhere to the present spelling of the name in Dr. Lu-
quer's branch of the family. Abraham Luquer owned a farm in
Brooklyn, on Gowanus Bay, and
there Dr. Luquer's father, Rev.
Lea Luquer, was born; and lived,
until his marriage, in 1860. The
Reverend Lea Luquer graduated
from Columbia College in 1852. He
then studied law with the well-
known firm of Kent and Eaton, was
admitted to the bar, and practised
for several years before he decided
to enter the ministry. He was or-
dained in 1863, and took charge of
the organization of the Church of
the Atonement, in Brooklyn. It
was in Brooklyn that Dr. Luquer
Lea Mellvaine Luquer
1864-1930
was born, September 4, 1864. In
1866 the Reverend Lea Luquer's health caused him to give up his
city parish and accept a call to St. Matthew's Church, Bedford,
New York, in which charge he continued until his death in 1919.
Dr. Luquer received his early education from his father. In
1879 he was sent to Trinity Military Institute, at Tivoli-on-the-
Hudson, where he prepared for college. He made a splendid record
at the school, and when he graduated received a special prize for
outstanding excellence in all of his work. In 1885 he entered the
School of Mines, Columbia University, where he made an enviable
record and from which he graduated in 1887, with the degree of
civil engineer. In 1896 he married Anne Low Pierrepont, daughter
of Henry E. Pierrepont, of Brooklyn.
His first experience in teaching was in 1887, under Professor
Munroe, as an assistant in surveying, at the Summer School near
Litchfield, Connecticut. This postponed his attempts to look for
97
JOURNAL MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
99
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Luquer, L. M., Methods of modern petrography. Sch. Mines Quarterly, 13, 357-64,
1892.
Luquer, L. M., and Moses, A. J., Alabandite from Tombstone, Ariz. Wavellite from
Florida. Sch. Mines Quarterly, 13, 236-9, 1892.
Luquer, L. M., Mineralogical notes. Sch. Mines Quarterly, 14, 327-9, 1893.
Luquer, L. M., The optical recognition and economic importance of the common
minerals found in building stones. Sch. Mines Quarterly, 15, 285-336, 1894.
Luquer, L. M., and Moses, A.J., Index to mineralogical literature. Sch. Mines Quar-
terly, 15, 163-79, 1894.
Luquer, L. M. and Volckening, G. J., On three new analyses of sodalite, from three
new localities. Am. Jour. Sci., (3) 49, 465-6, 1895.
Luquer, L. M. and Ries, H., The "augen" gneiss area, pegmatite veins, and diorite
dikes at Bedford, New York. Am. Geol., 18, 239-61, 1896.
Luquer, L. M., The minerals of the pegmatite veins at Bedford, New York. Am.
Geol., 18, 259-61, 1896.
Luquer, L. M., Optical mineralogy. Sch. Mines Quarterly, 17, 435-69, 1896.
Luquer, L. M., Optical scheme. Sch. Mines Quarterly, 19, 93-6, 1897.
Luquer, L. M., Minerals in rock sections. 1898; 2nd edition, 1905; 3rd edition, 1908;
4th edition, 1913.
Luquer, L. M., On the determination of relative refractive indices of minerals in
rock sections by the Becke method. Sch. Mines Quarterly, 23, 127-33, 1902.
Abst. Science, (ns) 15, 867.
Luquer, L. M., Ramosite not a mineral. Am. J. Sci., (4) 17, 93-4, 1904.
Luquer, L. M., Bedford Cyrtolite. Am. Geol., 33, 17-19, 1904.
Luquer, L. M., Fusion table of minerals in the oxy-gas blowpipe flame. Sch. Mines
Quarterly, 29, 179-182, 1908.
Brazil through the Eyes of
William James
Letters, Diaries, and Drawings, 1865-1866
Departing 4/1/1865
Returning hate Dec. 1865
Bilingual Edition/Edição Bilíngüe
Edited by Maria Helena P. T. Machado
Translated by John M. Monteiro
Published by Harvard University
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Distributed by Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
2006
The picnic image might seem a little out of place for an expedition
that had covered thousands of kilometers, navigating winding rivers,
stopping off in remote villages inhabited by populations with only a
slight hint of European influence, camping on the shores of streams that
cut through the dense forest, and relying on a repetitive diet of dried pi-
rarucu fish and manioc flour. At the same time, the Thayer Expedition
from the outset also exhibited a sort of officialesque-if not social and
diplomatic-character, aspects that did not escape James's pointed criti-
cal perception.8 Although the expedition possessed scientific aims, its
broader significance can be appreciated more fully if we take its less ap-
parent aspects into account. In addition to being the official scientific
traveler, Louis Agassiz also served American commercial and geopoliti-
cal interests in the Amazon, which included two lines of diplomatic ac-
tion and involved various interest groups. First, the expedition coincided
with U.S. pressures on the Brazilian imperial government to open the
Amazon to free navigation; second, it took place at a time when some
American diplomats and entrepreneurs entertained the idea of resettling re-
Jacques Burkhardt, sketch by William
cently freed slaves as colonists or apprentices in the Amazon. Not that Agassiz
James, 1865.
personally arranged the journey as a cover for a diplomatic mission to promote
American interests in the Amazon: rather, he was not one to miss the opportu-
nity to wield his influence, especially over Emperor Pedro II, with whom Agassiz
had been in correspondence since 1863.9 Indeed, the elegant soirées attended by
Professor and Mrs. Agassiz at the Imperial Palace caused some commotion
among the expedition members as their leader gained the status of international
celebrity.
The idea of the expedition grew out of a lecture series presented by Agassiz
at the Lowell Institute during the winter of 1864-65. At that time, Agassiz had
emphasized the need to study glacial action in South America as proof of his cre-
8. For greater details, see Maria Helena P. T.
ationist and catastrophist theory. The project captured the enthusiasm of
Machado, Brasil a Vapor. Raça, Ciência e
Nathaniel Thayer, a prominent Boston entrepreneur, who offered to fund Agas-
Viagem no Século XIX, unpublished Livre-
Docência thesis, FFLCH-USP, 2005, part I.
siz along with a team of assistant naturalists. All of the assistants recruited for the
undertaking came from the Museum of Comparative Zoology, confirming the
9. David James, "O Imperador do Brasil e seus
scientific profile of the expedition: ornithologist Joel Asaph Allen (Assistant Cu-
Amigos da Nova Inglaterra, "Anuário do Museu
rator of Birds at the Museum), conchologist John Gould Anthony (Assistant Cu-
Imperial, 13 (1952), entire issue, and Nícia
Vilela Luz, A Amazônia para os Negros Norte-
rator of Mollusks), paleontologist Orestes St. John, artist Jacques Burkhardt,
Americanos (Rio de Janeiro: Saga, 1968).
who had accompanied Agassiz since the beginning of his career in the Swiss can-
ton of Neuchâtel, specimen preparator George Sceva, and geologist Charles
IO. Edward Lurie, Louis Agassiz: A Life in Sci-
ence (paperback edition; Baltimore: Johns
Frederick Hartt, who later was to become one of Brazil's most important natural
Hopkins Press, 1988), pp. 344-345; Gay Wil-
scientists.¹0 But the journey soon took on an additional, less scientific demeanor,
son Allen, William James: A Biography (New
that of a social and diplomatic enterprise whose scope and scale promoted
York: Viking Press, 1967), pp. IOI-IO3; and
Agassiz's interests.
H. Higuchi, An updated list of ichthyological col-
lecting stations of the Thayer Expedition to Brazil.
From the outset, Agassiz planned to include his wife, Elizabeth Cary Agas-
Electronic version (1996): http://www.oeb.
siz, and his brother-in-law, Thomas G. Cary, among the expedition members.
harvard.edu/thayer.htm.
Introduction
13
55
[ Dexter 1?]
ABOVE, LEFT: Walter Hunnewell, sketch by
When the professor announced that he wished to enlist six student volunteers as
William James, 1865.
collectors provided they fund their own trips, a number of Harvard students
jumped at the opportunity to take part in what appeared to be a social and educa-
ABOVE, RIGHT: Profile of Newton Dexter,
tional enterprise. All of the students engaged in the expedition hailed from pres-
sketch by William James, 1865.
tigious and wealthy New England families, beginning with Stephen V.R.
Thayer, son of the expedition's main financial backer. Thomas Ward, one of
James's best friends, was the son of Samuel Gray Ward, a Baring Brothers agent
and financial representative of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, which in
turn subsidized the travel expenses of the expedition's professional staff on the
steamer Colorado, which regularly plied the route to California around Cape
Horn. Ward, a trustee of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, also handled the
James family's financial interests. But his main objective with regard to the
Thayer Expedition was to counter his son Tom's obsessive desire to settle in the
West The young man had hoped to become involved in real estate linked to rail-
road expansion there, a plan which met with his father's stern opposition because
of Tom's frail health. As a sort of consolation prize, Ward agreed to send young
Tom off on the Agassiz adventure, which seemed to provide a more controlled
environment to simulate the coveted male frontier experience.11
Other volunteers-Walter Hunnewell, Edward Copeland, and Newton
Dexter-also came from wealthy, prestigious families. Dexter stood out as a dis-
tinguished hunter, the very image of the young millionaire who set out on jour-
II. Margaret Snyder, "The Other Side of the
River (Thomas Wren Ward, 1844-1940),"
neys to wild territories-like the West-in order to enhance his masculine
New England Quarterly, 14:3 (1941), pp.
attributes of resolve, courage, and bravery. In his diary James drew a caricature of
423-436.
Dexter as a hard-drinking, exotic treasure hunter and described him in similar
terms: "There is a sunburnt & big jawed devil named Dexter from Providence
12. William James to Mary Robertson Walsh
James, Steamer Colorado, probably 3I March
with us, who is a crack shot & has hunted all over the U.S. I dare say he will do
1865.
good service, though I don't know much of him personally. He is rich." ¹ James
14
Brazil through the Eyes of William James
Despite all the publicity surrounding the expedition and the promise of a
revolutionary study of creation of the natural world, Agassiz never published any
significant work resulting from his trip to Brazil. Elizabeth Cary Agassiz, on the
other hand, who had served as a sort of chronicler of the expedition, assembled
her notes and integrated them into a narrative entitled A Journey in Brazil. First
published in 1868, the book achieved notable success among the general public
and was reprinted eight times by 1869, although it lost much of its readership in
the years that followed. Written in a colloquial tone, it is mainly a travel narra-
tive, with abundant descriptions of the landscape and of local customs. Elizabeth
Cary's approach seems consistent with what one would expect from a well-
educated and, to a degree, liberal, bourgeois woman of New England. Her de-
scription of life in the tropics shows an adventurous spirit, a picturesque style,
and polite discretion. At the same time, however, the book serves as a vehicle for
her husband's highly reactionary viewpoints, which makes him, in that sense, the
true author of the book. Interspersed among narrative descriptions is evidence of
the constant intervention of Louis Agassiz in footnotes, addenda, and appen-
dices, seeking to consolidate the superiority of masculine and scientific concerns
(science, politics, diplomacy) over the "unpretentious" account written by his
wife. Hence A Journey in Brazil should be analyzed as a work in which Elizabeth
actively promotes her husband's voice, while hiding her own.
William James's ideological position, as it appears in his writings, clearly col-
lides with the one evident in the Agassizes' book. Of course, since James was just
a student and volunteer collector, he was more free to write what he was think-
ing, without any great concern for the possible repercussions of his opinions,
which in principle were to remain within restricted and familiar confines of his
correspondents. Thus it would be naive to compare the respective journeys in
simple, mechanical terms, since they were experienced from radically distinct
perspectives. Nevertheless, although James occasionally allowed himself to be
seduced by the picturesque of a tropical voyage, and as a result repeated familiar
formulas within the travel narrative genre, he broke through the formulaic ap-
proach in some of the more reflective and spontaneous passages of his writings.
Such passages show his capacity to allow himself to be captivated by the excur-
sion, surrendering to his experiences no matter how challenging or uncomfort-
able they may have seemed.
Thus, for example, although during the trip James clearly empathized with
Elizabeth Agassiz-whose sociable attributes of New England's upper crust he
not only shared but also admired-as he forged a friendly relationship with this
polished and polite woman, he nonetheless adopted a critical distance from what
he considered to be Elizabeth's excessively conventional and artificial view of the
journey.
From Coutinho's I went to Mrs Agassiz's room. The excellent but infatuated
woman will look at every thing in such an unnatural romantic light that she
don't seem to walk upon the solid earth. She seems to fancy that we are mere
20
Brazil through the Eyes of William James
initial stage, while Professor and Mrs. Agassiz met with the emperor in pleasant
social gatherings, received honors from the foreign community, attended ban-
quets offered by the elite, and visited outlying coffee plantations, William James
remained in Rio collecting and preparing mollusks, but also recovering from a
bout with smallpox, which nearly killed him.
For the next stage, the expedition split up into three groups, with Hartt and
Copeland heading up the coast for Northeastern Brazil, in what was to be an in-
dependent and very productive research endeavor. A second group, involving
St. John, Allen, Ward, and Sceva, also went to the Northeast, exploring the inte-
rior. The main group, led by Agassiz and including William James, left for Belém
(Pará), at the mouth of the Amazon, on July 25, stopping off in several cities in
the Northeast along the way, including Salvador and Maceió. There the expedi-
tion acquired some new members: D. Bourget, a French naturalist residing in
Rio, and Major João Martins da Silva Coutinho, a Brazilian army engineer. The
emperor, Dom Pedro II, had designated Coutinho to serve as guide to the expe-
dition, since he had experience as a geologist and naturalist in his explorations of
the Purus River, in the Amazon. In Pará, Talismã Figueiredo de Vasconcelos, an
official from the Amazonian Steamship Company, joined the crew, later becom-
ing James's lone companion on more than one solitary collecting expedition on
the upper Amazon. From Pará, the steamer Icamiaba, which the emperor himself
placed at the expedition's disposal, transported the group to Manaus, exploring
parts of the Amazon basin along the way. At Manaus the expedition transferred
to the steamer Ibicuí, which carried the expedition on further voyages along the
upper Amazon and Negro rivers.
James joined various collecting expeditions, either with other members of
the expedition or alone with local guides. Paddling up Amazon tributaries in
dugout canoes, he undertook adventurous side trips during which he had to
adapt to local conditions and to establish direct contact with the riverside popu-
lations. James described these collecting forays as the best and perhaps only part
of the journey that truly interested him, in spite of the drudgery of collecting and
the many inconveniences and dangers involved.
On a first expedition, in August-September of 1865, James accompanied
Newton Dexter and Talismã on an eight-day exploration of the Tapajós River,
beginning at Santarém. In September-October, the young adventurer went on
a second collecting trip. The party set out from the river town of Tabatinga, on
the left bank of the Solimões River (upper Amazon) and near the current border
between Brazil, Peru, and Colombia, over 1,600 kilometers upriver from Man-
aus, capital of the Province of Amazonas. In São Paulo de Olivença, Louis Agas-
siz, along with part of the expedition (including James), established a base
camp. A few days later, James set out once again with Talismã on a collecting
venture, exploring the Içá and Jutaí rivers for three weeks, before meeting with
38. On Frederick Hartt, see Marcus Vinícius
the main body of the expedition in the town of Tefé. Finally, on a third collect-
de Freitas, Hartt: Expedições pelo Brasil Imperial
1865-1878/Expeditions in Imperial Brazil (São
ing expedition, James set out from Manaus in November in the company of Sr.
Paulo: Metalivros, 2001), pp. 52-117.
Urbano. This expedition, which explored the left bank of the Solimões river
24
Brazil through the Eyes of William James
1
Seid of study and a possible specialization that not only
the job market but would also meet his father's standards.
let him to enroll in Harvard's Lawrence School.
William James made steady efforts to map his vocational future,
achulars who studied the life and works of the founder of Pragma-
the main challenge of his life lay in defining his own professional
strong pressures to meet his father's idealized expectations, even
man himself was not a good model of professional success,
himself for years, facing vocational uncertainties, bouts of
health problems well into his thirties. And although he received
he never intended to practice, since he was more inclined
lessphy of science than towards the practice of science.58
to note that Agassiz's approach to science actually corre-
Sc's precepts in a general way, in joining scientific beliefs with
Furthermore, by the mid-1860s, Henry James Sr. had be-
member of the Saturday Club, popularly known as "Agassiz's
to its guiding preceptor. The group included some of New
prominent intellectuals, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson,
and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, among others, all of
the most pressing issues of their times over dinner.59
faced the problem of defining the boundaries between science
as a science student at the Lawrence School, where, besides
ered scientists promoting different perspectives, such as Jef-
taught comparative anatomy and maintained an open dia-
doctrine of transformationism." In 1861, when James enrolled in
School, evolutionism was emerging as the most important topic of
at the same time, he participated in the lectures where
Louis Agassiz asserted the principles of creationism, and also heard a series on
statute in September of 1861.
61 Although he admired Agassiz's talents, especially
his rhetorical verve, his charming European accent, his encyclopedic knowledge,
and his professional success, James identified with evolutionism from the start.
His journal entries for 1863 are filled with observations that show a commitment
58. Bjork, William James, p. 86.
to an empirical, materialistic approach to reality and deny the idealist beliefs in
God's hand as the only explanation for nature. In 1865, he published a review of
59. Menand, The Metaphysical Club, p. 99.
an article by Alfred Wallace, in which he clearly demonstrates his sympathy to-
60. Allen, William James: A Biograpby, p. 83.
wards the idea of natural selection.6²
Their divergent conceptions of science placed father and son on opposite
61. Croce, Science and Religion, pp. 120-121.
sides in an arena in which the finalistic idealism of a pre-positivist science was
62. Bjork, William James, p. 51; William
pitted against the materialist and empiricist science of Darwin and his succes-
James, review of "The Origin of Human
sors. This conflict constitutes one of the classic themes of William James's biog-
Races," by Alfred Wallace, in James, Manu-
raphers as well as of scholars studying the intellectual history of the period.6
script Essays, pp. 206-208.
Within an emerging world view based on the materialism of scientific protocol,
63. Daniel Bjork develops this argument in
William sought to explain how the human mind developed emotional mecha-
William James, chapters 4, 5 and 6.
Introduction
3I
worst of all, on both cheeks and one side of neck, by virulent ring-worms which
appeared on board ship & which "still wave" with undiminished fire; great re-
pletion & consequent discomfort produced by the excellent french cooking of
the various restaurants which I have felt it my duty to try, about town before set-
tling down to any one; considerable swipy-ness of evenings there being ab-
solutely no place to sit at the hotel and nothing to do but "go around", &
partake of cooling beverages. (Do not think, I beg, however, that I have ever
been intoxicated) Now I think all that "factitious life" is over for good. We have
a laboratory established over Mr. Davis's store, and we have three bedrooms
just off it, in which 6 of us sleep. Tom Ward is my chum. I wish I had a drawing
or photograph of our premises to send you. They are truly picturesque. The
laboratory surrounds a great well which is covered by a sky light to illuminate
the two lower stories. 4 very wide arched windows without sashes open into our
work shop from the well & give us light [sketch of window in the ms.]. The walls
are all of stone about 3 feet thick covered with rough. All our furniture in our
rooms are our trunks beds, & some nails. In the shop, some barrels, boxes &
planks. Tom has a cot. I have slept in my hammock for the last 2 nights & find it
very agreeable indeed. [sketch of floor plan in the ms.]. Our water is contained in
great red earthen jars & we drink out of earthen beakers such as you see upon
the stage, holding a quart each. Prof. has given me marine critters of the bay (ex-
cept fishes) while I am here, which is delightful, but it will cut me off of most of
the excursions which the other men will make while we are here. You can imag-
ine nothing which will equal the profusion of the lower forms of life here at low
water. I shall keep on now working as steadily as I can, in every way & trying to
be of as much use as I can to the Professor. Altho' several bushels of different
things have already been collected, nothing has been done which could not have
been done just as well by writing from Boston. To morrow, however 3 excur-
sions are going off. Professor is a very interesting man. I don't yet understand
him very well. His charlatanerie is almost as great as his solid worth; and it
seems of an unconscious childish kind than you can't condemn him for as you
would most people. He wishes to be too omniscient. But his personal fascina-
tion is very remarkable. I don't know whether after all, our expedition will ac-
complish as much as it promised to. Prof. himself is a first rate captain to be sure
& can organize splendidly. But of his II assistants, 3 are absolute idiots; Tom
Ward, Dexter & myself know nothing; of the 5 who know something, one is su-
perannuated & one in such feeble condition that the least exertion renders him
unwell. Remain 3 whole men. I don't want to find fault with anyone but merely
show that the real strength of the party is by no means proportioned to its size;
SO that it will not be able to do as much work as many would expect from merely
7. Elizabeth Agassiz, in A Journey in Brazil
(Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1868), p. 59,
hearing the number of people of which it was composed. It is as well however
locates this laboratory on Rua Direita, "the
not to speak of this abroad. It may turn out very well; all I fear is that people are
principal business street of the city."
rather inclined to be too sanguine about it.
58
Brazil through the Eyes of William James
no iraci injo
AGASSIZ' VISIT
Fo Mt. D. I.S.
BAR HARBOR TIMES, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1941
terminal moraines on both sides of
Agassiz's Visit To
the fiord. No doubt they once
stretched across it, and were brok-
en through by the sea. On either
Mount Desert Island
side, to the right and left, in as-
cending the sound, are little val-
leys running down to the water;
Four years ago we reprinted Dr.
cality for glacial tracks. The
and evidently they all have had
Jackson's 1837 account of the
striae are admirably well pre-
their local glaciers, for there are
geology' of Mount Desert as he
served on some ledges at the Mt.
terminal moraines at the mouth of
saw it, a hundred years before.
Desert end of the bridge. The
each one. These facts only con-
Thirty years after Jackson, came
trend of these marks is north-
firmed my anticipations. I had
Professor Louis Agassiz, famous
northeast (we would say, south-
seen, on passing the head of the
as the propounder of the "glacial
southwest), instead of due north
fiord, in our drive of the previous
theory" to explain our travelled
(south) as in most localities; and
day, that it must from its (con)-
boulders and scratched ledges.
here is one of the instances where
formation afford an admirable lo-
this
11
this slight deflection of the lines
cality for glacial remains, unless
shall
Growing up among the Swiss
is evidently due to the lay of the
they had been swept away by the
due
1
mountains, Agassiz saw similar
sea. The small town of Somesville
O
things being done by the Alpine
land. The island is not only high-
S
is beautifully situated at the head
fesso
gletscher, and when, driven to the
est towards the centre, but nar-
rows at its northern end as it sinks
of the sound. Approaching it from
turn
New World by the turmoil of the
tinue
toward the shore, from which it is
the east, I observed that the glacial
Old, he received a chair at Har-
vard, this country became for him
separated on either side by two
marks which had been pointing due
deep fiords running up into the
north began to point west-north-
pecia
and others the proving ground of
t
west, while on the western side of
point
his theory, now so universally ac-
coast of Maine, and known as
few
e
cepted. Maine in particular, and
Frenchman's Bay on the east, and
the settlement they pointed east-
d
Union Bay on the west. It is evi-
northeast. Evidently there is an
a dik
especially Mount Desert, furnished
d
dent that the mass of ice passing
action here similar to that by
paste
clinching evidence.
d
from the mainland over this arm
which the marks are deflected on
yield
d
In 1867, seventy-four years ago,
the northern shore of the island
ploug
of the sea sunk eastward and west-
the Atlantic Monthly published
thus
ward. into these two gorges, ac-
about Frenchman's Bay and Union
Agassiz's account of his travels in
Bay. The mass of ice coming from
the
S
Maine, which we here reproduce
quiring, no doubt, additional thick-
ness thereby, and, in consequence
the north had been gradually sink-
score
in part. It is well to warn the
surfa
of this change in its normal course,
ing into the fiord from opposite
reader, however, that in one in-
d
was slightly deflected from its
sides. Near Somesville church, the
impo
stance the Professor's enthusiasm
marks again run due north.
daily
r
misled him, for more extended ex-
usual direction in working its way
Evid
d
up against the shore of Mt. Desert.
"The extensive surfaces of pol-
amination by later workers fails
been
This is shown by the fact that the
ished and scratched rock in this
to corroborate his supposed local
has
d
glacial marks on the northwest
locality recall" various European
glaciers in the side valleys of
obscu
of
Somes Sound. The great savant
shore bear, as I have already said,
instances, he says, then continues:
same
3.
writes (volume 19, pages 281 to
slightly to the east (of north; we
"From Southwest Harbor we
the
er
would say, to the west of south),
followed the shore to Bass Harbor
287):
a led
:h
while those on the northeast shore
and Seal Cove. There are fre-
"On returning to Bangor, I pro-
glacia
-ceeded at once, according to my
bear slightly to the west' (of
quent indications of glacial action
north
original intention; to Mount De-
north). On approaching the cen-
along this road, and one or two
the S
tre of the island the marks con-
sert.
He states that the
points of special interest. At Bass
have
road crosses three ranges of hills,
verge towards each other, and re-
Harbor there is a large dike of
direct
in coming from Bangor, and that
gain their primitive direction due
green trap running at right angles
the
"the third is the Coast Range it-
north and south, on its more ele-
with the tide current. Though reg-
tonné
t.
self, of which Mount Desert and
vated positions." Here he di-
ularly overflowed at high water,
north
f
gresses to make comparisons with
the action of the sea has not af-
the elevated islands on either side
ton
of it form a part; for all these is-
Switzerland, then resumes:
fected the glacial characters, which
havini
1,
lands, so broken and picturesque
"The morning following my ar-
are peculiarly distinct at this spot.
island
A
1865 r
JOURNEY IN BRAZIL.
BY
PROFESSOR AND MRS. LOUIS AGASSIZ.
And whenever the way seemed long,
Or his heart began to fail,
She would sing a more wonderful song,
Or tell a more marvellous tale.
LONGFELLOW.
BOSTON:
TICKNOR AND FIELDS.
1868.
Pat
vi
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
vii
pect of a visit to Brazil, as a mere vacation it had little
needed, always desiring me to inform him should any
charm for me. Single-handed, I could make slight use
additional expenses occur on closing up the affairs of the
of the opportunities I should have and though the ex-
expedition. It seems to me that the good arising from
cursion might be a pleasant one for myself, it would
the knowledge of such facts justifies me in speaking here
have no important result for science. I could not forget
of these generous deeds, accomplished so unostentatiously
that, had I only the necessary means, I might make col-
that they might otherwise pass unnoticed.
lections on this journey which, whenever our building
All obstacles thus removed from my path, I made my
could be so enlarged as to give room for their exhi-
preparations for departure as rapidly as possible. The
bition, would place the Museum in Cambridge on a level
assistants I selected to accompany me were Mr. James
with the first institutions of the kind. But for this a
Burkhardt as artist, Mr. John G. Anthony as conchologist,
working force would be needed, and I saw no possibil-
Mr. Frederick C. Hartt and Mr. Orestes St. John as geolo-
ity of providing for such an undertaking. While I was
gists, Mr. John A. Allen as ornithologist, and Mr. George
brooding over these thoughts I chanced to meet Mr. Na-
Sceva as preparator. Beside these, my party was enlarged
thaniel Thayer, whom I have ever found a generous friend
by several volunteers, to whom I was indebted for assist-
to science. The idea of appealing to him for a scheme
ance as untiring and efficient as if they had been en-
of this magnitude had not, however, occurred to me
gaged for the purpose. These were Mr. Newton Dexter,
but he introduced the subject, and, after expressing his
Mr. William James. Mr. Edward Copeland, Mr. Thomas
interest in my proposed journey, added, "You wish, of
Ward, Mr. Walter Hunnewell, and Mr. S. V. R. Thayer.
course, to give it a scientific character take six assist-
I
should not omit to mention my brother-in-law, Mr.
ants with you, and I will be responsible for all their
Thomas G. Cary, as one of my aids; for, though not nom-
expenses, personal and scientific." It was so simply said,
Inally connected with the expedition, he made collections
and seemed to me so great a boon, that at first I hardly
for me at Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, and other places.
believed I had heard him rightly. In the end, I had
I was also joined by my friends Dr. and Mrs. Cotting.
cause to see in how large and liberal a sense he proffered
Dr. Cotting, like myself, was in need of a vacation, and
his support to the expedition, which, as is usual in such
it was his intention to remain with us for as long a
cases, "proved longer and more costly than was at first
time as he could spare from his professional practice.
anticipated. Not only did he provide most liberally for
But the climate proved unfavorable to his health, and
assistants, but, until the last specimen was stored in the
after passing a couple of months in Rio, and sharing
Museum, he continued to advance whatever sums were
with us all our excursions in that neighborhood, he
Jean Strouse. Alice James. 1980.
COPS
1965
94
Bostonians
95
A FEMININE AGE
A different kind of love from that between friends now also made its ap.
Barlow's engagement to Nelly Shaw, sister of Robert Gould Shaw and
pearance on the horizon of Alice's life. She turned eighteen in 1866, and
Josephine Shaw Lowell: "It gives one a shiver, does it not? Do you know
her friends had begun to pair off. She, too, was expected to do "the usual
General Barlow? I don't, but I have a sort of prejudice against him, it
thing" (as Dr. Sloper says of his daughter, Catherine, in Henry's novel
does not seem to be nice for a sweet young girl like Nelly to marry a wid-
Washington Square) - to marry.
lower does it?'
In March of 1865, Emerson's second daughter, Edith, had announced
A photograph from this period shows Alice (see picture following
her engagement to William Hathaway Forbes, the oldest son of John
page 80) as a serious, plain-featured young woman with a clear, intent
Murray Forbes (who had made a fortune earlier in the century in the
gaze. She was not beautiful, and her face shows none of the then-fashion-
China trade and railroads). Henry James, Sr., wrote Emerson a letter of
able delicacy that had begun to mar her health. Her hair, pulled
2/4/66
hearty congratulation: "Marriage is a sacrament which women interpret
straight back to coil around her head in a braid, reveals a high, broad,
in so much more celestial a sense than men,* that it is somewhat to a
Jamesian brow. She looks older than her years, bearing a strong resem-
AJIO
father to find his daughter coveted by a man who doesn't deserve to be
blance to her mother and Henry Jr.
Of her own social life, she reported to Fanny.
have
been
to
one
or
shot outright for his presumption. How great your felicity then in being
Firth
able to bestow your rose-bud upon so sincere and manly a bosom as
two parties since you left but nothing very exciting The Wards have
Willy Forbes! Happy father, first in the possession of such children, and
been in town for the last fortnight, staying at Mrs. Dorr's She had one of
now above all in the clear foresight of his child's happiness! Ah well! per-
the Ladies Social Clubs, to which she asked me I suppose on Bessy's ac-
haps my poor little bird will find as tender a nest."
count. Mr. Dorr and Mrs. Hunt acted a charade that was rather funny,
WARDS
His poor little bird wrote her friend Fanny about the celestial sacra-
but as Mr. Dwight* had asked me to go the opera to hear Fidelio with
ment of marriage: "I suppose you have heard of Jenny Watson's engage-
him, & as I had to go to Mrs. Dorr's instead, the charade perhaps did not
ment to Ned Perkins. Is it not funny, he is more than five years younger;
seem as funny to me as it might otherwise have done."
MSWI
can you possibly imagine marrying a boy [the word man was crossed
Since Mr. Dwight was fifty-three, Alice was probably annoyed at miss-
out] so much younger than yourself? It would not be so strange if Ned
ing the pleasure of his distinguished company and the opportunity to
Perkins were not SO very immature, but he always seemed to me a perfect
hear Fidelio - not at missing a romantic encounter. Besides, her letters to
infant."
Fanny show her devoting greater interest to women during this period
If marrying younger men seemed questionable, older ones were no
than to men. She had recently met Clover Hooper (the future Mrs.
better. A few months later, Alice wrote to Fanny about General Francis
Henry Adams, whose Christian name was Marian) and her sister, Ellen,
and wrote to Fanny in June:
even in marriage maintained the primacy of their female friendships. A visiting friend
or sister would sometimes displace a husband from the conjugal bed so that the two
Now my dear I am going to tell you something pretty fine. Miss Ellen Hooper
women could be together all night, sharing stored-up confidences and affection.
is going to ask Mary and me to spend next Sunday with her at Beverly. Did
Alice's closeness with Henry crossed the nineteenth century's sexual frontier in many
ways, but it consisted primarily of intellectual and abstract sympathies, not of the
you ever hear anything quite so splendid as that?
traded secrets and shared domestic activities that made up the fabric of intimate
You see, Miss, that although we poor folks don't go to Europe and see pic-
friendships between girls. Female friendships provided women with networks and ties
tures and climb mountains and sich like, we do have a little amusement as we
that revolved around their own spheres of interest - books, marriage, health, work,
go along. If you crow too much when you get back I shall begin to talk of my
travel. When Fanny traveled, Alice took up with her cousin as a means of maintaining
the connection. When Alice went away, Fanny would come to the James house with
her sewing to sit with Mrs. James, talking and working and then both Fanny and
John Sullivan Dwight (1813-1893), a former Brook Farmer and contributor to
Mrs. James would write to Alice about their time together.
The Harbinger and The Dial, and Boston's foremost music critic. He ran the Harvard
It is difficult to imagine anyone interpreting marriage in a more celestial sense
Music Association, published the Journal of Music, and established the first professor-
than Henry James, Sr., did.
ship of music at Harvard. His wife had died in 1860.
House of Wits, Paul Fisher.
FRM Francis Rollins Moore
(N.Y.Henry Holt, 2008.)
2/19
1864
Chapter XI for The Earl your of the
Saturday Cliff
Lourll assemer editorship of North Aneucan Review
when actually R.E.Norton assessed role.
Hawthorne's views on aging + future politication.
Club activities, esp. OWN.
Covil War news.
Hawthorses death on May 19. Endogies.
gov. John Albean Gurdrew elected to Club.
(1818-67)
married Brimmerstrice
Essayon Martin Brenner (1829- ). see Chaption's
essaym MB. Whote notable article in 1880 on
MFA.
(1816-1881)
Essay M Jases Thruse fields ad the importure of
Yorthdays c authors, dedicated to S.C. members (1871).
Edetor of atlantic Monthly (1861-71). Sundieres +
founda of has wife, annee Laredar charles
Street for 60 years.
Easy ~ Someel Workester Rouse, Moene artist
here in 1826, come to borton in the 1850s. Close
friend Channey Wright.
Charle Frances Adams (CFA) Grandson of garlen adove
Haward, '25, a fee months ofta J.Q Adur becan
U.S President,leved in White House, Pitted by
inheritance, early association, ad twenty to play
a freet part IA public life (p 485)
1865
Chapta 12 of the Early years of the Structury Club
War news and Lee's surrender
Events associated 10 600th annioeragy Dantes bai the
in Floreace
agassizis exploretia A brazil William in Jenes
and T.W.Comes Ch. were "helpers." OWH
Uroti "A Foreevell to agassing has departure,
here prented after the Club gethering to
wish ham well.
July commencements of Curil Word Howard aleams.
1866
Chapter 13 of the Early year of the Satsing Clebs.
more me governor andrews
Yourll ad Dova in after moth of CovilWar.
In July, agassy returns for Brazil success
account of by llrs. Fields.
much detail.
Emerson finisles to 'natural us try of reason.
Essay An new member, Jeffrees Wymen, boen
in Chelmsford, 1814, later student at Howard
I John Callins Warren, M.D before becomey
Curator of the Lovell fasts tate Later Havoud
medical School prof. of Customy Inter actid
ADK
c Heny I Bounditeh in the Saladac Wildo, "will
known to Everson + St thream also colleager
of Weer Mitchell Died in 1874
1867
Chapter XIV The Early years of the Saturday Cleb
R.H. Dana appointed U.S. cousel in the tried
of Jafferson Davis for high treason.
R.W. Even gives - after a half certagy
the anval Q PK Deation.
Support fe gov andrews M VP candedate but
he deed for a stroke Memorial commants at
let.
Longfellow's governel records thet on Nav. 20th
he denid c OWA ad stopped at Parker Hros
to see (harter D tcheves justarried for England,
whole had out sea in 25 years. Next day
denied I Fields - a denrer to welcame C.P,
who "com out tro a guiet forey denner "n fr
Thanks giving(28").
Lycense septem works.
egg new member: Ephacion Whitmak Gurney (1829-86)
Prof if Latin at Houseal (1827
In the expensive of the college of CWE, gueney
"was consellor ad a helpu, "as Asst. Prof
of 0 Leering Peer. Hill's tell hut beca Profit
History under ewe! later Dean when be
enjoyed strong student support.
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1864-67
Series | File Name | Item | Page | Type | Title | Date | Source | Other notes |
I | 1864-67 | 1 | 1 | File folder | 1864:18 Commonwealth Ave built.1865:William James + Brazil,Saturday Club,Tom Ward Jr. 1866.1867: Mount Desert | Chron 12/20 | Ronald Epp | |
I | 1864-67 | 2 | 2-7 | Manuscript excerpt | Dixwell School days | No date | JML[Jesup Memorial Library]Dorr Papers B1.f.13 Dorr Ms(NEHGS) Charles Hazen Dorr by GBD | Annotated by Ronald Epp |
I | 1864-67 | 3 | 8 | Text appendix | Address directory: Commonwealth Avenue | 1967 | B. Buntin. Houses of Boston's Back Bay.1967.Appendix | Annotated by Ronald Epp |
I | 1864-67 | 4 | 9-10 | Manuscript excerpt | Charles Sumner | No date | Dorr Papers,B2.F2 | |
I | 1864-67 | 5 | 11-13 | Textbook excerpt | The Letters of Charles Dickens: Letter to Miss Georgina Hogarth | 2002 | Ed.Graham Storey. The Letters of Charles Dickens,Vol. II 2002.516-19 | Annotated by Ronald Epp |
I | 1864-67 | 6 | 14-15 | Manuscript excerpt | Family vacation in Adirondacks; Mount Desert Island | May 21,1939 | JML 2,f.3 | Annotated by Ronald Epp |
I | 1864-67 | 7 | 16-17 | Journal article | Memorial of Lea McI Luquer re:HCTPR founder | 1/20/14 | Journal Mineralogical Society of America | Annotated by Ronald Epp |
I | 1864-67 | 8 | 18-24 | Textbook excerpt | Brazil through the Eyes of William James: Letters, Diaries, and Drawings 1865-66; Tom Ward and Agassiz | 2006 | Ed.Maria Machado.Cambridge:Harvard University | Annotated by Ronald Epp |
I | 1864-67 | 9 | 25 | Newspaper article | Agassiz's Visit to Mount Desert Island | September 18,1942 | Bar harbor Times | Annotated by Ronald Epp |
I | 1864-67 | 10 | 26-28 | Textbook excerpt | AJourney in Brazil by Professor and Mrs. Louis Agassiz | 1868 | Boston:Ticknor and Fields | Annotated by Ronald Epp |
I | 1864-67 | 11 | 29-32 | Notes | Chronology and Timeline Notes: 1864-1867 | No date | Compiled by Ronald Epp |
Details
1864 - 1867