circa 1880Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine in 1807. He became a national literary figure by the 1850s, and a world-famous personality by the time of his death in 1882. He was a traveler, a linguist, and a romantic who identified with the great traditions of European literature and thought. At the same time, he was rooted in American life and history, which charged his imagination with untried themes and made him ambitious for success.
circa 1901Last summer, we visited his childhood home. It was built by Henry's maternal grandfather in 1785-1786. Henry's younger sister, Anne Longfellow Pierce, was widowed at an early age and lived in the home (mostly alone) until her death in 1901. At that time, in accordance with a deed she executed in 1895, the house passed to the Maine Historical Society to be preserved as a memorial to her famous brother and their family. What is unique to this home is that virtually all the furnishings belonged to the Wadsworth and Longfellow families. 
Today
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