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 T II E 
 
 CRAIG IE HOUSE, 
 
 CAMB R IDG E , 
 
 DURING ITS OCCUPANCY BY ANDREW CRAIG1E AND 
 
 ins widow. 
 
 SAMUEL SWETT GREEN. 
 
 From Proceedings <>k thk American Antiquarian Society, \t the 
 Semi-Annual Meeting', April 25, 1900. 
 
 Wovccjsitrv, *te$., HI. £. ^. 
 
 PRESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON, 
 311 MAIN STREET. 
 
 1 'J On.
 
 
 Til K GEAIGIE HOUSE, CAMBRIDGE, 
 
 DURING ITS OCCUPANCY 11Y AND1IKW CKAKilK AM) HIS Wlln»\V 
 
 [Full titles of l ks referred to in the Notes will be found in ;i list at the 
 
 end of the paper! j 
 
 Samuel Foster Haven, for so many years our accom- 
 plished librarian, gave to this Society several packages <■! 
 papers which are known in our library as the Craigie 
 manuscripts. They consist mainly of business letters from 
 the correspondents of Andrew Craigie, the buyer and 
 occupant of the house in Cambridge which hears his name. 
 
 Mr. Haven's mother was the daughter of Andrew 
 Craigie's sister, Mrs. Bossenger Foster. Her children 
 were heirs of Mr. Craigie and the papers which Mr. 
 Haven gave to this Society naturally fell into the hands of 
 his father, the late Judge Samuel Haven of Dedham, 
 and afterwards came into "his possession. It appeared 
 probable that an examination of the Craigie manuscripts 
 might bring to light some interesting facts in regard to the 
 famous house owned by Mr. Craigie. I have gone through 
 them to see what could be found. 
 
 While it has been plea-ant to look over the letters and 
 accounts, very little material has been secured on the 
 subject in which I had an especial present interest. I shall 
 give in this paper most of the items found, and add 
 anecdotes gleaned from the literary productions of well- 
 known authors who have written about the Craigie House, 
 confining myself, however, mainly to such remark- as 
 relate to the history of the house while occupied by Mr. 
 ( Jraiffie and his family.
 
 When Andrew Craigie bought the estate on which the 
 Craigie House stands, it comprised between one and two 
 hundred acres, probably more than one hundred and fifty 
 acres, 1 and included the celebrated Batchelder House 2 on 
 Brattle Street, nearly opposite Mason Street. The latter 
 house was the first residence in Cambridge of the elder 
 Colonel John Vassall, the first of the family of that name 
 to live in Cambridge. 
 
 He bought the house from Merc}', widow of John Friz- 
 zle, Jr., July 26, 1736. 3 Our late associate, Mr. George 
 Dexter, and others, have thought that Mr. Vassall built 
 the house. 4 That is a mistake. There is no evidence, even, 
 that it was built by the Frizzles. It appears that they left 
 the old house standing, but much enlarged, altered and 
 modernized it. In fact, this house seems to be one of the 
 most ancient, if not the oldest house existing in Cam- 
 bridge. 5 
 
 Colonel Vassall sold the Batchelder house in 1741 to his 
 younger brother, Major Henry Vassall. 6 The latter died 
 there in 1709, but his widow continued to occupy the 
 house until the Revolution. The house had an interesting 
 history during the Revolution. It was not confiscated, 7 
 however, and after passing through other hands came into 
 the possession of Andrew Craigie in 17i>2. 8 
 
 The house now becomes of especial interest to us, for 
 soon after its purchase by Mr. Craigie, the grandfather of 
 Mr. Samuel F. Haven, Mr. Bossenger Foster, moved from 
 Boston and lived there with his family. 9 
 
 Mr. Foster was a merchant in Boston, a patriot during 
 our war for independence, and, it will be remembered, a 
 brother-in-law of Mr. Craigie. 10 After the latter's death, 
 
 1 S. Longfellow in Life of H. W. Longfellow, v. 1., p. 259; Curtis in Homes, 
 p. 177; Drake, p. 291. 
 
 2 Mrs. Isabella James in " Cambridge of 1776," p. 101. 
 
 3 Isabella James, p. 97. 
 
 4 Harvard Book, v. 2, p. 427; I. James, p. 98. 
 
 » I. James, p. 93. ,; Il»,/., p. 99. » Ibid., p. 100. 8 Ibid., p. 101. 8 Ibid. 
 10 N. Paine, " Sketch," p. 39.
 
 5 
 
 in 1819 or 1821, "on the division of his estate that was 
 not subject to dower lot No. L, the seven acres of Major 
 Henry Vassal I, and his house, fell to Elizabeth Foster," 
 Mr. Haven's mother, " then the wife," as intimated before, 
 "of Judge Samuel Haven 1 of whom" Samuel Batch- 
 elder " purchased it in 1841. " 8 
 
 The first Colonel John Vassall, several years alter he 
 sold the Batchelder house and grounds to his brother, 
 bought the land on which the Craigie House stands, 3 and 
 his son, the second Colonel John Vassall, built the house. 
 "A strong belief prevails in Cambridge," writes Mrs. 
 Isabella James, " that a subterranean passage connects" the 
 Batchelder House with the Craigie House, 4 "and that it 
 was constructed to enable the two Vassall families to visit 
 each other without exposure to the outside world." Mrs. 
 James, after having made a progress, with other explorers, 
 through the cellars of the two houses in search of enlight- 
 enment, discredits the belief. 
 
 All visitors to Cambridge are familiar with the Craigie 
 House. Painted in yellow and white, and built in the 
 style of an English country house of a hundred and fifty 
 years ago, it stands in quiet dignity and respectability far 
 back from Brattle Street, on the right as one goes from 
 Harvard Square to Mount Auburn. This house has, per- 
 haps, more historic interest than any other house in New 
 England ; and with the exception of Mount Vernon is very 
 likely the best known residence in our country. 
 
 The poet Longfellow, who lived there so many years in 
 recent times, playfully claims great antiquity for the 
 house. In writing to his friend George W. Greene, he 
 says: " If you have forgotten it, you will be pleased to be 
 reminded that Horace mentions the Craigie House in Ode 
 XXI. of the First Book. He speaks of it as the Yiridis 
 (Vagi in which Diana, takes delight, — that is, on which the 
 
 1 Married May 6, 1799. 
 
 4 1. James, p. 101. a Ibid., p. 98, » Jbid., p. 100,
 
 6 
 
 moonlight lingers." ' The common opinion, however, is 
 that the mansion was erected in 17.">!i by, as stated before, 
 the second Colonel John Vassall. George William Curtis 
 supposes it to have been built earlier and by the first 
 hearer of that name and title. He writes : "This Colonel 
 John Vassal]." meaning the one who died in 1747. "is 
 supposed to have built the house towards the close of the 
 first half of the last centuiw. Upon an iron in the hack of 
 one of the chimneys, there is the date 17">H — which 
 probably commemorates no more than the fact of its own 
 insertion at that period, inasmuch as the builder of the 
 house would hardly commit the authentic witness of its 
 erection to the mercies of smoke and soot. History 
 capitulates before the exact date of the building of the 
 Craigie House as completely as before that of the founda- 
 tion of Thebes. But the house was evidently generously 
 built." 2 
 
 Drake's mind, or that of his editor, seems to have been 
 in a state of confusion. He writes: "The house was 
 probably erected in 17.">H by Colonel John Vassall, the 
 same at whose tomb we have paid a passing visit." 3 The 
 torn)) referred to, as evidently appears from the connection, 
 is that of the first Colonel Vassall, who died in 1747, and 
 consequently could not have built a house in 1759. Drake 
 mixes up the two colonels in other ways in the paragraphs 
 in which he speaks of the Vassalls. 
 
 Reverend Samuel Longfellow is right when he says that 
 "the accepted date is 1759," 4 and Mr. George Dexter is 
 probably correct when he states that the house was bin It 
 by the John Vassall who graduated from Harvard College 
 in 17f>7. 5 In corroboration of the statements of Long- 
 fellow and Dexter, our late associate, Mr. Justin Winsor, 
 
 1 S. Longfellow's Final Memorials of It. W. Longfellow, p. 193. 
 - Curtis, pp. 273, 274. 
 
 Drake, \>. 292. 
 4 s. Longfellow's Life of 11. W. Longfellow, v. l.. \<. 259. 
 3 Harvard Hook. vol. 2, p. 427.
 
 writes: "It is thought thai the house was erected by 
 
 Colonel John Vassal) in 1759." J 
 
 The Vassalls were an important family in Old England 
 early connected with the settlement of New England. In 
 (he early pail ot" the eighteenth century a John Vassal! 
 had emigrated to the West Indies, where the family owned 
 large estates from which they derived great wealth. The 
 social position of the family, which can be easily shown 
 in other ways, was indicated by the positions of the names 
 of the three .sons of Leonard Vassal! — Lewis, John and 
 William — who graduated respectively in 172S, L732 and 
 17.">;>, in the Triennial Catalogue of Harvard College. 2 
 The Vassalls also owned several fine estates in Boston and 
 its vicinity. Members of the family resided in Cambridge 
 less than forty years, hut the impression they made upon 
 the age yet survives. 3 
 
 The Vassall (or Craigie) House was in Tory row. The 
 proprietors of the estates on which these houses stood 
 "were aristocratic in their hnbit and manner of living and 
 were nearly all Churchmen. * * * Most of them were 
 forced to leave the country when the Revolution ap- 
 proached. John Vassall was among the most prominent 
 and hitter of the dwellers in Tory row against the Whigs." 
 "He is said to have carried his loyalty to the King so far 
 as to refuse to use the family motto: ' Sffipe pro rege, 
 semper pro republica.' " 4 
 
 Curtis says that after Wassail withdrew from Cambridge 
 and from his country, the estate was purchased by the 
 provincial government. 5 This was not the ease. It was 
 taken possession of by the government, however, and at a 
 later period confiscated. 
 
 Drake learns " from the records of the Provincial Con- 
 gress * that Joseph Smith was the custodian of the 
 
 1 Winsor'a Mem. Hist, of Huston, v. ;s, p. 113. 
 
 ■' Harv. Book, v. 2, p. 4-_'T. ' Harvard Book, \ . 2, p. 428. 
 
 3 1. James, pp. 9s, yy. •'■ Curtis, In HomeB, p. 274,
 
 8 
 
 Vassal) farm, which furnished considerable supplies of 
 forage for our army." * 
 
 "The mansion house," writes Mr. Dexter, " was occupied 
 by Colonel John Glover's Marblehead regiment, when 
 Cambridge became a cam}). The house was assigned to 
 the use of the Committee of Safety in the Spring of 177"), 
 and on the 26th of May it was ordered to be cleared of the 
 ' souldiers now lodged there.' There is no evidence, how- 
 ever, that the committee ever occupied the house. It was 
 certainly not thoroughly cleansed, for Washington himself 
 paid in duly for cleaning it. 3 * * * After a short stay 
 in the President's (also called the Wads worth) house, the 
 Vassall house was prepared for him. It remained the 
 headquarters of the army for eight or nine months. 
 
 "Mrs. Washington came to Cambridge in December, 
 and many other ladies of the families of the Continental 
 officers joined the camp." 3 
 
 " If tradition is trustworthy," writes Samuel Longfellow, 
 the drawing-room "remembers the gayety of a Twelfth- 
 night partv given by" Mrs. Washington. 4 Miss Alice 
 M. Longfellow is quoted as saving that Washington, while 
 occupying the Craigie House, very seldom "allowed any 
 merriment at headquarters, or took any part in revelry 
 himself. * * * * * Mrs. Washington," she adds, 
 "came to visit her husband during his residence in" Cam- 
 bridge. "She arrived in great ceremony with a coach and 
 four black horses, with postillions and servants in scarlet 
 livery. During her visit she and her husband celebrated 
 their wedding anniversary, though the general had to be 
 much persuaded by his 'aides. " 5 
 
 The southeastern room, afterwards Longfellow's study, 
 was used as an office by Washington, and "according to 
 the testimony of one of" Washington's "aides, as the dining- 
 
 1 Drake, i>. 294. 
 
 - Harvard Book, v. 2, p. 42*. s //,;,/., p. 429. 
 
 4 s. Longfellow's Life of H. W. Longfellow, v. l, p. 2t;o. 
 
 5 The Cambridge Tribune, April 21, 190U, p. 4, " The Craigie House,"
 
 room." 1 The northeastern room was occupied by the 
 General's "family" or aides. The chamber over the office 
 was "Washington's private room. 
 
 • Yes, within this very room. 
 Sat he in those hours of gloom, 
 Weary hoth in heart and head,' — 
 
 wrote the poet when he had made thai chamber his (first) 
 study. Vet, serious as were those days and often wean 
 with the weight of cares, we are glad to know that they 
 were not without their enlivenment. Among the tradi- 
 tions of the house are two stories of ' Washington's 
 laughter.' " 2 
 
 General Washington left Cambridge in April, 1776. 3 
 
 " We have not been able," writes Mr. Dexter, "to dis- 
 cover what use, if any, was made of the mansion during 
 the years immediately after his departure." 4 
 
 Several years after Washington removed from the 
 Vassall house it was confiscated. It " was sold by the 
 Commonwealth for £42(>4 and passed into the possession 
 of Nathaniel Tracy of Newburyport, 28th June, 1781." 5 
 In that seaport he and his brother "had carried on, under 
 the firm name of Tracy, Jackson and Tracy, an immense 
 business in privateering. Martin Brimmer was their agenl 
 in Boston." 6 "The first privateer fitted out in the United 
 States," it is stated, " sailed from" Newburyport, " and was 
 owned by Nathaniel Tracy, Esq." 7 
 
 The numerous armed vessels owned wholly or principally 
 by Mr. Tracy took vessels which "with their cargoes," 
 writes Mrs. K. Yale Smith, in her History of Newbury- 
 port, "sold for three million, nine hundred uml fifty 
 thousand specie dollars (one hundred and sixty-seven 
 thousand two hundred and nineteen dollars, Mr. Tracy 
 
 1 S. Lonu-fellcnv's Life of II. W. Longfellow, v. 1, p. 260. 
 - [bid., iiji. 260, -'til. 
 
 3 Harvard Book, v. 2, p. 4.".i. '//-,«/. 'Ibid. 
 
 ' Drake, p. 308. 
 
 ' E. Vale .Smith, Hist., p. 106.
 
 10 
 
 devoted to the array and other public demands) ; and with 
 these prizes were taken 2,225 men prisoners of war." 1 
 
 Mr. Tracy enlarged the Vassall estate, "notably by the 
 purchase of Henry Vassall's, on the opposite side of " the 
 Watertown road, that is to say on Brattle street. " He is 
 said to have built a summer-house on the summit of the 
 hill where the observatory now stands." 2 
 
 Of Mr. Tracy's " wealtk and luxury there are fabulous 
 tales." 3 
 
 "The Marquis of Chastellux visited Newburvport in 
 1782," before Mr. Tracy occupied the Vassall house, and 
 with his party "was entertained by" him. He lived there 
 "in great stvle. " 4 
 
 " Mr. Tracy also exercised large hospitality in his house 
 at Cambridge." 5 
 
 "He carried himself " there, says Mr. Curtis, "with a 
 rare lavishness." 6 
 
 In 1789 we find him again an entertainer in Newburv- 
 port. There "he received Washington, then on his 
 triumphal tour : and in 1824 Lafayette, following in the 
 footsteps of his illustrious commander, slept in the same 
 apartment he had occupied." 7 
 
 "In 17<sii, the" Vassall "estate was sold to Thomas 
 Russell, a rich merchant of Boston, afterwards the first 
 President of the United States Branch Bank. He resided 
 in Boston and, we presume, used the Vassall house as a 
 summer seat." 8 
 
 This merchant prince was "accredited by the vulgar with 
 having once eaten for his breakfast a sandwich made of a 
 hundred dollar note and two slices of bread." 9 
 
 1 E. Vale Smith, Hist., p. 107. 
 
 2 Harvard Book, v. '2, p. 430. 
 
 • S. Longfellow's Life of H. W. L.. v. 1. pp. 260, -'til. 
 
 * Harvard Book, v. 2, p. 430. ■■ Ibid. 
 6 Curtis, in Homes, p. - _'70. 
 
 ' Drake, p. 309. 
 
 8 Harvard Book, v. 2, p. 430. 
 
 » Drake, p. 309.
 
 1 1 
 
 Thomas Russell, writes Mr. George Dexter, sold the 
 Vassal! house, "1st January, 1792, to A.ndrew Craigie, 
 from whom the mansion gets the title, Craigie House, by 
 which it lias since been known. For the whole 
 
 estate, about one hundred and fifty acres, Including the 
 Henry Vassal] house, he is said to have paid !".">, 7<><i lawful 
 money." ' 
 
 Our late associate, Dr. Lucius R. Paige, gives the same 
 date for the transfer of the house. 2 
 
 Drake states that the sale of the estate occurred in 
 March, 1791 3 . 
 
 Justin Winsor writes that the house became the property 
 Of Dr. Andrew Craigie in 1791. 4 
 
 Samuel Longfellow, in the life of his brother, the poet, 
 says that Mr. Craigie purchased the house and grounds on 
 the first of January, 1793. 5 
 
 A few extracts from the Craigie papers will throw some 
 light upon the date. 
 
 Under date of June 30, L791, Bossenger Foster writes 
 
 from Boston to Andrew Craigie in New York : — 
 
 "My Dr. Bro r ., * * * Mr. Lowell has not yet rec d an 
 answer from Mr. Lane respecting the Vassal) house. I told him 
 a day or two since the £500 stlg was ready for him." 
 
 duly 17, 171)1, Mr. Foster writes to Mr. Craigie : — 
 
 " * * * Mr. Lowell yesterday shew me a Ltr from Mr. 
 
 Lane; he says, 'have applied repeatedly to Mr. respecting 
 
 the Yassall house, but to no purpose. So there remains do 
 impediment to that part of Mr. C's purchase — So I shall say 
 nothing further to Mr. ('oilman on the subject, nor to Mr. 
 Lowell — have paid him the £500 stlg., but was obliged to go 
 to koxbury to do it, having ottered it to him again and again in 
 Boston — to no purpose." 
 
 October 1-S, in a letter written from Boston to Mr. 
 Craigie, apparently by Mr. Foster: — 
 
 "Have begun to wash and paint — hope tomorrow to he able to 
 
 1 Harvard Book, \. 2, pp. 430, 431. 
 
 - Paige, Hist., p. 183. Note. 
 
 1 Drake, p. .nil. 
 
 * Memorial Hist, of Boston, vol. n, p. 113. 
 
 5 S, Lonn'felluw's Lite of H. W. L., V. 1., ]>i>. 261, J0-J.
 
 12 
 
 be there, & that what may be done will please you on your 
 return." 
 
 Oct. 24, Mr. Craigie writes to Mr. Foster from Phila- 
 delphia : — 
 
 "My Dear Brother, * * * I shall be pleased on my 
 return to find the House at Cambridge painted &c." 
 
 November 30, Mr. Foster writes to Mr. Craigie: — 
 
 u* * * Sarah Gooch at Cambridge — the house sweetening 
 inside." 
 
 It will appear later that things needed in housekeeping 
 were stored at the house in Cambridge in the latter part of 
 the year 1791. Indeed, we find in a letter of Aaron 
 Dexter, Boston, to Andrew Craigie, dated May 4, J 791, 
 the following passage : — 
 
 " * * * I was last week at Cambridge. Your Paradise 
 looks delightfully." 
 
 It would appear from the passages quoted from the 
 Craigie manuscripts that July 17, 1791, it was practically 
 settled that Mr. Craigie was to have the Vassall house, and 
 that arrangements were so far completed that his brother- 
 in-law, in the later months of the year made preparations 
 for the occupancy of the house by the new owner. It 
 would appear also that Mr. Craigie had had his eye upon 
 the house at an earlier date than June 30. Perhaps he had 
 it in mind to buy the estate as early as May 4, 1791, or 
 at an earlier date. The date of purchase given by Drake 
 seems to be too early ; that of Mr. Longfellow too late. 
 Very likely the date given by Paige and Dexter is correct, 
 namely, January 1, 1792, although the possession of the 
 house was evidently practically assured to Mr. Craigie 
 soon alter the middle of 1791. 
 
 At that time, too, Mr. Craigie visited Boston. June 28, 
 1791, he had written to Mr. Foster from New York : — 
 
 k ' * * * I am really very anxious to return, and shall 
 certain!}' be on my way home by the middle of July." 

 
 13 
 
 .Inly 21. Messrs. Horace and Seth Johnson, \<-w York 
 agents for Mr. Craigie, write to Mr. Foster: — 
 
 •• Mr. Craigie will leave Town tomorrow for Boston either l»y 
 land or by way of Providence." 
 
 They write again, .Inly 24, to Mr. Foster: — 
 
 " * * Mr. Craigie left town yesterday lor Boston by 
 
 way of Providence." 
 
 Mr. Craigie had been urged to come to Boston owing to 
 
 the serious illness of " Mania" Craigie. Very likely, also, 
 he was glad to Ite there at the time when the negotiations 
 were closing for the purchase of the Vassall estate. 
 
 Early in WJ2 he shows eagerness to be in Cambridge. 
 
 January 16, he writes to Mr. Poster from Philadelphia: 
 
 " * * * I am determined in future to employ agents and 
 not make the sacrifice I must do by being absent from my friends 
 aud from Cambridge." 
 
 January 2!>, Mr. Foster writes : — 
 
 " * * * we are all pretty well & hope to see you by the 
 middle of Feb y — we have had the severest winter I ever knew; 
 the frost has ravaged our Cellars both here and at Cambridge, 
 notwithstanding keeping a tire in both." 
 
 Mr. Foster to Mr. Craigie: — 
 
 k ' * * * Expect you daily * * hope * * that 
 nothing will hinder your being in Cambridge before this lias time 
 to reach you." 
 
 It has been generally stated that Andrew Craigie was 
 
 Apothecary-txeneral of the Continental Army. lie was 
 
 certainly A.pothecary-General of the Northern Department 
 
 of the Revolutionary Army, September 5, 1777, when the 
 
 Council of Massachusetts granted him supplies tor the 
 
 General Hospital. 1 lie was at the Battle of Bunker Hill, 
 
 "and assisted in the care of the wounded there. He was al 
 Cambridge during the siege of Boston * * * lb' was with 
 the Northern Army, under General Gates, in 1777 and 177s. and 
 was the confidant of Wilkinson, Gates's adjutant-general, in his 
 correspondence with Lord Sterling, growing out of the Conway 
 imbroglio." 2 
 
 i Paige, p. is;;. Note. 
 2 Drake, p. 310.
 
 1 1 
 
 In his service in the army Mr. Craigie is said to have 
 acquired a large fortune Josiah Quincy, son of President 
 Quincy, says that "he had made a large fortune by buying 
 up government promises, and by other speculations during 
 
 the Revolution." 1 
 
 There is a long and continuous series of letters in the 
 Craigie papers which show that Mr. Craigie dealt con- 
 stantly in government securities about the time he went to 
 Cambridge to live and after he had removed to that place. 
 He was a member of the Ohio Company and, as will appear 
 later, was largely engaged in speculations in lands at Lech- 
 mere Point, now East Cambridge. lie was also a director 
 and large proprietor in the company which built (anal 
 ( usually known as Craigie's or Craigie) bridge, between 
 Boston and East Cambridge. 
 
 Mr. Craigie is said to have made important additions to 
 the Vas.sall hou.se. " It is believed," writes Mr. Samuel 
 Longfellow, that he "built the western wing of the house, 
 with its kitchen and dependences ; and being a giver of 
 dinners, enlarged the square northeastern room to its 
 present spacious dimensions, and adorned it with columns, 
 to serve as a grand dining-room.'" 2 
 
 ''Cambridge was celebrated for her gardens and the orna- 
 mental culture of her grounds even before the beginning of the 
 present century. Andrew Craigie * * * laid out the grounds 
 around his house in the taste of" the "period. On the western 
 side of" the " mansion, the tall hedges and clumps of lilacs are all 
 that remain of this early garden. Mr. Craigie had a greenhouse 
 on the grounds, where the dormitory of the P^piscopal Seminary 
 now stands. This structure was burned about 1840." 3 
 
 Mr. Craigie relied on his Philadelphia correspondents to 
 procure a gardener for him. Nalbro' and Jn° Frazier 
 write to Andrew Craigie, Xew York, June 14, '92 : "Have 
 not yet seen the Gardner." 
 
 Aug. 28 they write to Mr. Craigie, Boston : " The 
 
 1 Figures of the Cast, p. '-'5. 
 
 - Life of II. W. Longfellow, v. 1, p. 262. 
 
 '■' Winsor's Memorial Hist., v. 4, p. 62".
 
 15 
 
 Gardner has not yet called to execute the agreement, as 
 
 soon as lie does we will inform von.** 
 
 Sept. 27, the correspondents write: — 
 
 " We have omitted mentioning to you that the Gardner will 
 probably be with yon in about 8 <>r 1° days from this time, 
 
 enclosed we send the agreement made with him by us on your 
 behalf. We could not get him to come on earlier, and he will 
 now be in time to make the arrangements which may lie necessary 
 for the ensuing Spring." 
 
 Late in 179] there is a letter regarding an ice-house. 
 Bossenger Foster writes \h>c. 1* to Andrew Craigie, New 
 York :— 
 
 , k * * * i shall not make a new Ice house, hut as soon as 
 can get the hoards up to Cam: shall repair the old one, which is 
 in fact build 8 a new house on the old Cellar — it will hold a good 
 many Tons, and if proves right will be all sufficient for this 
 year — believe I have wrote you of my recv- everything you 
 have sent from Phila." 
 
 Mr. Craigie, says the late Marshall 1\ Wilder, 
 quoting another writer, "had an ice-house, an almost 
 unknown luxury in those days. 
 
 Some people thought a judgment would befall one who would 
 thus attempt to thwart the designs of Providence by raising 
 flowers under glass in winter, and keeping ice under ground to 
 cool the heat of summer; which now seem to have been the 
 forerunners of two great institutions in Cambridge — ice in sum- 
 mer and flowers in winter." "■ 
 
 Mr. Craigie wished his correspondents in Philadelphia, 
 the Messrs. Frazier, to get him a plan for a malthouse. 
 This reminds us that Harvard College had a Brewhouse. 
 Mr. Samuel A. Fliot gives in an " Explanation of Plan of 
 the College Enclosure " : — 
 
 " 6, is what was called the Brew House in the early part of the 
 last century. It was afterwards included in the College Wood 
 Yard." 2 
 
 Our late associate, Thomas C. Aniorv. writes: — 
 
 "Behind Harvard and Stoughton" — old Stoughton — " iv:i> the 
 brewery; beer in those benighted days, when tea anil coffee were 
 not known, certainly at Cambridge, being regarded as a whole- 
 some beverage." 3 
 
 1 Winsor's Memorial Hist., v. 4, pp. 627, 628. 
 
 2 Sketch of the Hist, of Harvard College, p. 190, • old Cambridge and New, p. 15
 
 16 
 
 Mr. Craigie had bought a house; he must furnish it. 
 Much correspondence took place. 
 
 July 2<)/i)l, Nalbro' Frazier writes to Andrew Craigie, 
 Boston : — 
 
 " * * * Inclos'd you will find a Bill of the China, the 
 amount of which my Brother will thank you to send on as soon 
 as convenient, it will be ship'd on board the Brig' Maria, Capt. 
 Hopkins, who will leave this on Thursday next, 28th instant." 
 
 Aug. 2<s/i)l, Seth Johnson writes to Andrew Craigie, 
 Boston : 
 
 " You may expect your Sofa &c. by the first vessel." 
 Sept. 3/91, X. & J. Frazier to Andrew Craigie : — 
 
 " Inclosed you will find Bill of lading for 2 doz. arm Cane 
 Back Chairs, which we hope are finished in that way as will be 
 approved by you. Our J. Frazier has received the amount of 
 the China sold you, for which he Returns you his Thanks. The 
 Bill of the Chairs you have inclosed. They came a little higher 
 than was mentioned to you when here, owing to the manner of 
 their being finished. We presume the trifling amount over what 
 you expected they would come to, you will not object to — We 
 shall pay this Bill which, with some other little Things that Ave 
 have paid for your account, we shall call upon Doct. Caldwell 
 for, agreeably to your Directions given us, the particulars of 
 which we shall furnish you." 
 
 Plate was needed in a "princely establishment." 
 Oct. 18/! II :— 
 
 «c * * * jj a ve purchased the plate of Mr. Cabot Lawful 
 
 for Sterling — the looking glasses have bot also. They are safe 
 
 at Cambridge."* 
 
 * tk Weight of Plate bout for And. Craigie. Esq r — : 
 
 a Bread Basket of Deverell, 
 
 an Epergne Stand, | 
 
 the Baskett, ! T . ., „ , 
 
 ., t, , > Doct 1 Howard, 
 
 the Branches, 
 
 the Plates, J 
 
 ( a Tankard, 
 
 5 2 pair Sauce Boats, 
 
 2 2 pr. Candle Sticks, 
 
 ■{ 2 pr. Salts, 
 
 Snuffers pan, 
 
 Mustard Pott, ladle & salt ladles. 
 
 Silver mounted Snuffers. 
 
 21oz. 
 
 L8dwt 
 
 59 " 
 
 3 " 
 
 26 - 
 
 5 " 
 
 12 " 
 
 4 » 
 
 23 » 
 
 5 » 
 
 29 " 
 
 18 " 
 
 51 tl 
 
 3 " 
 
 43 " 
 
 2 " 
 
 9 " 
 
 18 » 
 
 3 kk 
 
 18 "
 
 17 
 
 12 Table Spoons, 28oz. L5dwt. 
 
 ' a Soup ladle, 6 " I tl 
 
 I 12 Desert Spoons, 13 " 6 •• 
 
 I 12 Tea Spoons, 7 •■ 1 7 •• 
 
 Dec. L4/91. Bossenger Foster to Mr. Craigie: — 
 
 u * • « — have also received the blue [taper, 1(1 Rolls — " 
 
 Mch. 7/92. X. & J. Frazier to A. C, Boston :— 
 
 •• When you was here, you talk'd of having a carpet made a I 
 the Carpet Manufactory at this place, a set <>f Furniture for a 
 Room," &c, "but for neither of these did you leave any direc- 
 tions." 
 
 June 14/ 92. X. & J. F. to ('. :— 
 
 •• Maps not yet ready to be dl' 1 ; expect them this day or to- 
 morrow." 
 
 June 16/92. N. F., Phila., to C. : 
 
 " Inclosed is the Small Map ; the large one shall lie sent you 
 as soon as it can be procured." 
 
 Juno 19/92. X. & J. F. to A. C. :— 
 
 " Our Fr'd Cutting left this place yesterday morning for New 
 
 York; by him we wrote you and sent you the Small Map. The 
 large one not being yet out we were prevented from sending it." 
 
 July 5/92. S. J. to A. C, Boston :— 
 
 u * * Mr. Trumbull has selected from Barrow's prints 
 
 a few for you, which, I have no doubt, will not" only "please 
 you, but every one who may see them." 
 
 July N/'.i2. Seth Johnson to Andrew Craigie: — 
 
 "Your prints I shall send by first good opportunity, they 
 consist of 
 
 1 Shipwrecked Sailor Boy, cost £2. 2. 
 
 2 from Shakespear's Much ado about nothing, 4. 10 
 2 Dancing Dogs & Guinea pigs, 3. 
 2 farmer's visit to his Daughter & return. 1. 16 
 2 Angry farmer, — & Boys robbing an orchard. 1. 16 
 2 Henery & Emma & Angelica & Sacriponte, I. 1<> 
 
 2 going to School & returning, " 16 — 
 
 2 first Bite and just breeched, " 12 — 
 
 1 Thoughts on Matrimony, " 6 
 
 £16. 1.0 
 They are really a very handsome collection of prints. Mr. 
 Atkinson will go in a day or two, and by him, if possible. I will 
 send them." 
 •>
 
 18 
 
 Aug. 28/92. N. & J. F. to A. ('., Boston :— 
 
 "Enclosed you will find receipt for the large Map which you 
 left us a mem of." 
 
 Under date of July 9/93, there i.s an account of 
 Nalbro' & JnS Frazier against Andrew Craigie, Esq, r , which 
 is endorsed: "Bill of furniture of Mr. Craigie's Drawing 
 Room, $1034.14, beside the carpet." 
 
 The items are as folloAvs*: — 
 
 "Dr. 
 
 1793. 
 
 Jany. 9th. To amont of G. B 's 1 Bill for Furniture made 
 
 for you," Craigie, " viz : — 
 
 4 Window Curtains, as per particulars renS you at 
 
 £34. 3. 4 each, £136. 13. 4 $364.45 
 
 lb 
 
 12 Arm Chairs, 88. 18 237.07 
 
 2 Settees, 40. 6. 10 107.58 
 
 82 yds. green & white Damask, 96. 7 256.93 
 
 Boards for making boxes, 6. 10 
 32 lbs nails, 1. 12 
 
 Making 10 Boxes, 3. 15 
 
 8 yds coarse linen to 
 
 pack the window 
 
 curtains in 12 
 
 12. 9 33.20 
 To 56 yds fancy Chintz Furniture for 
 
 coverings for the Settees & Chairs, 12. 12 33.60 
 
 PorterS of Furniture to Vessel, /10 1.32 
 
 £387. 16. 2 $1034.14 
 
 Philadelphia, July 9, 1793, 
 
 Errors Excepted, 
 
 NALBRO' & JN9 FRAZIER." 
 
 Under date of January 4/93, N. & J. F. had written 
 to Mr. Craigie, Boston : — 
 
 " We wrote you 20th ult and advised you your furniture was 
 finished. We have at last met with an opportunity of sending it 
 to you, &c." Shipd on a vessel going to Boston. 
 
 July 5/93, four days before the date of the account 
 copied above, the same firm writes that it encloses " Bill 
 
 1 Could not make out the full surname in MS. — S. S. G.
 
 19 
 
 of Lading of ten boxes containing Furniture" senl l>\ 
 vessel to Boston. 
 
 The profuse hospitality of Mr. Craigie called for the 
 purchase of more plate. 
 
 In a letter from Thos. Mullett iSc Co., London, dated 
 August 14, 17 ( J">, is a copy of an earlier letter of Thos. 
 Mullett to Andrew Craigie: London, May 29/95. 
 
 " * * * Your order for Plate & Glass sent us by Horace 
 & Seth Johnson in theirs of 1 ult" is in Execution and may be 
 accomplished in about a mouth, we hope in time for the earliesl 
 of your fall ships. We have given it all that attention which its 
 variety demands." 
 
 In the letter of August 14, Thos. Mullett & Co. write : — 
 
 u * * * q u1 . c hi e f object in this letter is to inform you 
 that we have ship'd in the Parkman, Dl. C. Deshon, for Boston 
 your order of plate & glass." 
 
 Aug. 1>S, the same firm writes : — 
 
 u * * * -yy" e now enclose you Bill of Lading & Invoice of 
 Plate & Glass to your debit £360. 3. 4. In the execution of this 
 order we natter ourselves we shall afford you entire satisfaction 
 as we have selected of the best; and in taste adhered to that 
 elegance of design as well as in completeness of finish, which 
 we think cannot be excelled by any of our Artists * * * ' 
 
 One of the first things that Bossenger Foster did for his 
 brother-in-law, after the Craigie House had been secured, 
 was to lay in a supply of fuel. Nov. 30/91, he writes to 
 Mr. Craigie, New York :— 
 
 u * * * Outside there is a Wood house and thirty or forty 
 cord of wood in it so that when you return you will have a good 
 fire and your own domestics only — have not yet got Mr. Brattle 
 any wood — altho' have used all my endeavors — it is 2;")/ a Cord 
 here — I got all yours up in Lighters — if you live another year 
 you will not fail to get it up in the summer — to save money & 
 the trouble, which is worse — " 
 
 Dec. 7, Mr. Craigie writes from New York to Mr. 
 Foster : — 
 
 "I am glad to hear of the provision of wood you have made 
 at Cambridge — I hope you will be able to procure some for my 
 friend Brattle as I fear he depended on what I said to him lor 
 his being supplied "
 
 20 
 
 Dec. 17, Mr. Foster writes to Mr. Craigie (care of 
 Messrs. Johnson, New York) : — 
 
 " * * * be tranquil on your Friend Brattle's acct as 
 have procured him one Lighter load of wood with which he is 
 much pleased — believe he will not neglect that matter another 
 year." 
 
 What a flood of pleasant thoughts arise in the memories 
 
 of graduates interested in olden times at Harvard College 
 
 as they read of wood berng brought up the Charles to 
 
 Cambridge. James Russell Lowell writes : — 
 
 " Cambridge has long had its port, but the greater part of its 
 maritime trade was, thirty years ago" (i. e. about the year 1825), 
 " intrusted to a single Argo, the sloop Harvard, which belonged 
 to the College, and made annual voyages to that vague Orient 
 known as Down East, bringing back the wood that, in those 
 days, gave to winter life at Harvard a crackle and a cheerfulness, 
 for the loss of which the greater warmth of anthracite hardly 
 compensates. * * * What a vista of mystery and adven- 
 ture did her sailing open to us ! With what pride did we hail 
 her return ! She was our scholiast on Robinson Crusoe and the 
 Mutiny of the Bounty." 1 
 
 In speaking of the attractions of Commencement at 
 
 Harvard College, many years ago, John Holmes writes : — 
 
 "The College sloop, that shadowy craft which floats in time 
 indefinitely, always arrived in time for the floodtide on Tues- 
 day," 2 so as to be on hand for the festivities of the next day. 
 
 " The Watertown lighter," he writes again, "was uniformly 
 drawn ashore Tuesday evening by the perils of the seas, that is 
 by the strong current that prevailed in the river about Commence- 
 ment time. The Captain and crew, like judicious men, made it 
 a point to improve their minds while detained, and always 
 attended the literary exercises on the Common." 3 
 
 " Our fuel," writes Josiah Quincy of the class of 1821, " was 
 wood, which was furnished by the College ; it being cut from 
 some lands in Maine which were among its possessions, and 
 brought to the wharf in the college sloop the 'Harvard.' This 
 arrangement was supposed to cause a great saving, and the 
 authorities naturally prided themselves upon the sagacity which 
 made this Eastern property so productive. It was not until Dr. 
 Bowditch, the great mathematician, was given a place in the 
 government that this arrangement was quietly abandoned. This 
 eminent gentleman — perhaps from his natural aptitude for 
 
 1 Lowell's Fireside Travels, pp. 40, 41. 
 
 2 In the paper " Harvard Square " in the Harvard Book, v. '_', p. 3t>. 3 Ibid.
 
 21 
 
 figures — succeeded in demonstrating to his associates thai it 
 would be much cheaper for the college to buy wood from the 
 dearest dealer than to cut it on its own lands and transport if in 
 its own sloop." ' 
 
 To show the change that has come about, let me give 
 another quotation from Mr. Quincy : — 
 
 u My classmate, Otis, had ornamented his mantelpiece with 
 two curious black stones, which excited great interest in his 
 visitors. He had made a journey to Washington, to see his 
 father, who was a senator, and had brought these rarities home 
 as special memorials of his travels. He had a strange tale to 
 tell concerning them. It seemed that the people in Baltimore 
 actually burned just such stones as these; and. wonderful to 
 relate, there was no smoke in their chimneys. I believe that 
 these singular minerals have become so popular in Harvard 
 College that they are now brought there in considerable quantities. 
 The only change is that they are no longer displayed on the 
 mantelpiece, but just below r it — in the grate. They will be 
 recognized under the name of anthracite coal." 2 
 
 Mr. Craigie laid in a stoic of wine while making prepar- 
 ations to live in Cambridge and continued to buy it after 
 becoming settled there. 
 
 Aug. 28/91, Seth Johnson writes to Andrew Craigie, 
 Boston : — 
 
 " You may expect your wine * * * by the first vessel. 
 Mr. Jackson arrived here yesterday from Georgia — he says the 
 wine is not yet sold — & that there are many waiting to purchase 
 it — he supposes it will not sell under .'500 Dolls, a pipe — you may 
 be assured he will procure it if possible.' 
 
 Sept. 1/91, Seth Johnson to Andrew Craigie, Boston : — 
 41 By the first vessel you shall receive the wine." 
 
 March 18/92, Seth Johnson to Andrew Craigie. 
 
 Boston : — 
 
 i. * * * jjy Barnard I shall send you a pipe of wine, 
 between 7 & 8 years old, which I am sure will please you. I 
 wish you to examiue the pipe — the Bung is leaded and there is 
 not a spilt hole in the eask — when you receive it you iiiu-t line ii 
 down with a little milk." 
 
 1 Figures of the Past, p. 41. 
 'Ibid., pp. 41,42.
 
 22 
 
 Aug. 23/92, Horace Johnson to Andrew Craigie, 
 
 Boston : — 
 
 " * * * If the wine from Georgia arrives here it shall be 
 shipped to you * * * I shall also send you a box of excel- 
 lent Havannah Segars rec'd a few days since from Charleston." 
 
 Sept. 20/92, Seth Johnson to Andrew Craigie, Boston : 
 
 u * * * py £ a p B ar nard I have sent you 2 pipes wine — a 
 box of Spanish Segars &c." 
 
 March 7/92, Nalbro' and Jn" Frazier, of Philadelphia, 
 write to Andrew Craigie, Boston : — 
 
 " When you were here, you talk'd of * * * speaking to 
 Henry Hill respecting Madeira wine for your own use." 
 
 June 14/92, the same firm writes to Mr. Craigie : — 
 
 41 The Ale, Cyder, &c, will be ready to go with your other 
 Things which will be ship'd tomorrow for Boston." 
 
 dune 1(3/92, Nalbro' Frazier to Mr. Craigie: — 
 
 "P. S. All the Things left in our care were ship'd yesterday, 
 and to the list we have added 4 cases Claret and some best Hav- 
 annah Segars. The Ale and Cyder also was sent from Morris's." 
 
 Mch. 16, 1819. Thomas Parkin, Fayal, to Mr. Andrew 
 
 Craigie : — 
 
 u * # # jj e savs y OU w } sn t have a Sample of our best 
 wine. I send you two bottles by Cap" Shepard who is so kind 
 as to take charge of them. They are prepared exactly in the 
 same manner as such Wines are in Madeira, a very expensive 
 and tedeous process and always picked Wines. I have lately 
 seen Madeira of £60 not so good as ours of £36, say four dollars 
 to the pound strg. I would take American produce in payment, 
 by which means they would become reasonable." 
 
 Mr. Craigie buys horses through his correspondents in 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 duly 2(i, 1791, Nalbro' Frazier writes to Andrew 
 
 ( Yaigie, Boston : — 
 
 " Jo has arrived with the horses in good order. The} 7 appear 
 to be sound and probably will be serviceable horses. * * * 
 Upon the whole, I think you will be pleas'd with them. I have 
 written our Fr. Johnson that they are here and ready to go on by 
 any person he may send for them. Jo will leave this with the 
 other horse sometime today or early tomorrow morning."
 
 23 
 
 Aug. 28/91, Seth Johnson writes to Mr. Craigie from 
 
 New York : — 
 
 " * * * One of them," speaking of the horses, » is an 
 excellent Saddle Horse — and indeed both — I hope they will 
 please you." 
 
 In 1792 there is more correspondence regarding horses. 
 June 14/5)2, N. & J. Frazier write to Mr. Craigie: — 
 
 " Nothing further done about the Horses," (a memorandum 
 had been left with the Fraziers to buy horses it' found good on 
 trial and not too high in price). 
 
 dune 18/92, to Andrew Craigie, New York : — 
 
 "Our. J. Frazier will try the Horses this afternoon with Mr. 
 Lewis." 
 
 June 19. To Andrew Craigie, New York : — 
 
 "Mr. Lewis being engaged yesterday cl'd not go with our 
 J. Frazier to try the Horses, but they intend doing it this after- 
 noon." 
 
 Aug. 28/92. To Andrew Craigie, Boston, Mass. : — 
 
 "As soon as we send forward the * * * Horses to you," 
 &c. 
 
 Sept. 27/92. To Andrew' Craigie, Boston : — 
 
 " The Horses shall be sent you shortly." 
 
 Mr. Craigie buys a stallion and mare. 
 
 May 18/92, John Coles, London, to Mr. Craigie: — 
 
 "I now advise you of my having made a purchase for your 
 account of a Stallion and a Mare, and which will both be shipped 
 * * * for Boston." — William Gibbs, a young man of good 
 character, had been engaged to go with the horses. The pedi- 
 gree of the stallion was enclosed. The mare had a foal. — "I 
 gave one hundred guineas" for the stallion. "I gave the same 
 price for the mare with a foal at her foot six weeks old. My 
 engagement for the passage of the Horses and Mail Servant is 
 forty guineas, but the ship finds nothing but water." 
 
 Following are some extracts from letters regarding 
 carriages owned by Mr. Craigie: — 
 
 Nalbro' Frazier writes to Andrew Craigie, Boston, July 
 
 2(1/91 :— 
 
 " Clarke has not yet quite finished your riding chair; as soon 
 as it is fit to send it shall be sbip'd round to New York. I shall
 
 24 
 
 pay attention to having the Chair finish'd in the neatest manner 
 possible, and sent round to you when done." 
 
 Aug. 28/91, Seth Johnson to Andrew Craigie, Boston : 
 
 " Mr. Frazier informs me your Chair will be shipped by'the 
 Brig Maria, Capt. Hopkins, which was to sail in a few days." 
 
 Sept. 3/91, X. & J. Frazier to Andrew Craigie : — 
 
 "Your riding Chair we ship'd by the Brig 1 Maria, Capt. Hop- 
 kins, who sailed this day wefck." 
 
 Sept. 5. 
 
 "Enclosed you will find Clark's Bill of Chair he has been 
 paid by us, Docf Caldwell being absent at the Time, Hi dollars, 
 and since by Caldwell 84 dolls., which leaves a balance due him 
 of £8.5/ which will be paid him if you approve the Bill — The 
 amount being greater than we expected we shall delay the pay- 
 ment of the Balance till we hear from you." 
 
 July 26/91, Nalbro' Frazier to Andrew Craigie, Boston : 
 
 "Hunter & Caldwell had agreed with Mr. Pemberton for his 
 light waggon at £75, but when they call'd to receive it they 
 found he had taken away the Boot with some other things which 
 belong' d to it, and refused to Deliver them with the waggon, 
 altho' he contracted so to do. They therefore tho't it best to 
 decline the purchase — they are now about the one which } t ou saw 
 belonging to Mr. Pleasants ; he has offer'd it at £100 — at that 
 price I think it is cheap, and in the course of the day I think 
 they will strike with him for it, if they cannot get it under. They 
 have offer'd £90." 
 
 Dec. 17/91, Bossenger Foster writes to Andrew Craigie, 
 
 New York : — 
 
 " * * * In Expectation of a deal of snow and that you 
 would want Convenient Carriage here this winter, I have building 
 for you a pair of runners (which doubt not will please you) on 
 which to hang the Coaches. They will be the thing and will cost 
 you 25 Dollars." 
 
 Jan. 14/K2, X. c<: J. Frazier to Andrew Craigie, New 
 York :— 
 
 " Phaeton not yet finished." 
 
 dan. 18/92, The same firm writes to Mr. Craigie : — 
 
 " When the Phaeton will be finish'd is impossible for us to 
 
 say." 

 
 25 
 
 Jan. 26/92, The same firm to Mr. Graigie : — 
 
 " Your Phaeton will be completed this day. We shall have 
 the same carefully put up & ship it to you by the first oppor- 
 tunity which offers for Boston, unless we receive your directions 
 to the contrary." 
 
 " 1792. 
 
 Andrew Graigie, Esq 1 to Robt. Fielding, Dr. 
 
 To new phaeton & harness, £235.0.6" 
 
 "Tradition avers," writes Mr. Samuel Longfellow, that 
 when the Duke of Kent had left Boston — and of his visit 
 something will be said later — "Mr. Craigie purchased his 
 carriage and horses."' ' 
 
 Speaking of the latter, Mr. Drake states that the Duke 
 of Kent "drove a handsome pair of bays with clipped 
 ears, then an unusual sight in the vicinity of Old Bos- 
 ton." 2 
 
 Mr. Craigie imported fowls from Philadelphia; did his 
 mouth water as he thought of the capons he had eaten in 
 that city? 
 
 November 30/91, Nalbro' & Jn° Frazier to Bossenger 
 
 Foster, Boston : — 
 
 " Inclosed you will find receipt for eight Fowls, say two Cocks 
 and six Hens, which you will please to take charge of for our 
 mutual Fr'd Andrew Craigie, Esq r ." 
 
 Dec. 5/91, X. & J. Frazier to Andrew Craigie, New 
 York :— 
 
 "The Fowls we sent by the Brig' Ceres," which " sail'd last 
 Thursday for Boston. The receipt for them was inclos'd to Mr. 
 B. Foster; we hope they" arrived " there safe." 
 
 Dec. 14/91, Bossenger Foster to Mr. Craigie: — 
 
 "Have received the fowls from Philadelphia, all in good 
 order, except the old Cock — but like to have lost them all by 
 severity of weather — shall take great care of them — they are a 
 fine brood." 
 
 In the middle of 17H2, a cook was engaged for Mr. 
 Craigie in Philadelphia. 
 
 » S. Longfellow's Life of H. W. L., v. 1, p. 262. 
 - Drake, p. 311.
 
 2(5 
 
 Juno 14/92, X. &. J. Frazier write to Mr. Craigie: — 
 
 " * * * We have seen the Cook, who has promised to give 
 us an answer on Saturday. We shall at any rate endeavor to 
 get him on & let him make trial of the place, which if we can 
 persuade him to do, we think he will not be dissatisfied with his 
 Situation, his ostensible reason for not going was that the Wages 
 were too low." 
 
 June 16/92, the cook was not yet engaged. 
 June 18/92. To Andrew Craigie, New York : — 
 
 " The Cook wld not consent to go on unless you wld allow 
 him 15 Dolls pr month which we have assured him he shall 
 receive, and if upon his being with you 6 weeks or two months, 
 and you do not approve of him, you have a right to discharge 
 him, paying him at that rate, he leaves this place this day week, 
 and we shall consign him to our mutual Friends, H. & S. John- 
 son & Co." 
 
 June 26/92, N. & J. Frazier to Mr. Craigie :— 
 
 " The Cook takes this letter to you whom we have engaged 
 shall receive fifteen Dollars p' month * * * P. S. It is 
 also agreed that if the Cook sh'd not continue with you, that 
 expenses to & from Phila shall be allowed exclusive of the 
 fifteen dollars p' month." 
 
 New York, July 7/92, 
 
 "Dear sir, We have advanced the Cook Sixteen Dollai-s. 
 
 H. & S. JOHNSON & CO." 
 
 July 8/92, Seth Johnson to Andrew Craigie, Boston : — 
 
 it * # * Your Cook will leave this on Monday * * * 
 he goes by water to Newport." 
 
 So much as to the preparations for opening the Craigie 
 mansion. But something; more was needed. There was 
 as yet no mistress of the house. 
 
 March 11/92, Seth Johnson writes to Andrew Craigie, 
 Boston : — 
 
 " That you may soon find in some worthy woman that wife 
 whose good qualities will tend to increase your happiness, and 
 make the residue of your days glide smoothly on in uninterrupted 
 felicity is the sincere wish of your affectionate S. JOHNSON." 
 
 Six months later, Sept. 20/92, Mr. Johnson writes to 
 
 Mr. Craigie : — 
 
 kt 'T is said here that Miss F r has dismissed her lover and
 
 27 
 
 that you are to become the happy one! How is it, if I may ask 
 the question — " 
 
 In the previous year, May 31/91, Mr. John Brown 
 Cutting had written from London : — 
 
 " I am still not without hopes of taking you by the hand and 
 felicitating you on your new state of domestication at Cam- 
 bridge — before the Summer closes." ' 
 
 Now, Nov. ll/!>2, Mr. Cutting writes to Mr. Craigie 
 from the "ship Mary, off Boston Light House": — 
 
 " * * * I wish you entirely happy; pray marry and be 
 so, and presenting me most affectionately to Miss Shaw and the 
 whole of your Brother's family accept my adieus and thanks and 
 blessings." 
 
 Matters develop naturally, and .January 21/93, Mr. 
 Horace Johnson is able to write to Mr. Craigie, Boston : — 
 
 ''Permit me to felicitate you on your marriage — and to assure 
 you that no circumstance can afford me more real pleasure than 
 a knowledge of your happiness — that you may ever enjoy it 
 undisturbed is my most fervent prayer. I will thank you to 
 make my congratulations to Mrs. C — -, for whom I feel the 
 highest respect. * * * " 
 
 Mr. Craigie married a daughter of the Reverend Bezaleel 
 Shaw (Harvard College, 17(52) of Nantucket, 2 
 Mr. Samuel Longfellow says : — 
 
 Mr. Craigie's "wealth and style won the hand if not the heart 
 of the beautiful Miss Shaw of Nantucket, whose young lover 
 had gone to seek his fortune on the seas, and came back only to 
 find her married." 3 
 
 Josiah Quincy, whom I have quoted before, tells the 
 following story : — 
 
 Mr. Craigie "kept a princely bachelor's establishment at" his 
 * * * " house, and was in the habit of exercising a generous 
 hospitality. A curious story relating to his marriage was currenl 
 among his contemporaries, and there can be now no harm in 
 giving it as I have heard it from their lips. 
 
 A great garden party had been given by Mr. Craigie, and 
 
 ' June 10, '92, N. & .1. Frazier to Andrew Craigie, New York:— 
 " Our Fr'd Cutting left this place yesterday morning for New York: by him w< 
 w rote you." 
 
 - llarv. Book, v. 2, j». 431. 
 
 ; Lite of H. W. Longfellow, v. 1., )p. 262.
 
 28 
 
 all the fashion and beauty of Boston were assembled in his 
 spacious grounds. The day was perfect, the entertainment was 
 lavish, and the company were bent on enjoying themselves. 
 Smiles and deference met the host upon every side, and new- 
 comers were constantly arriving to pay that homage to wealth 
 and sumptuous liberality which from imperfect mortals they 
 have always elicited. 'Craigie,' exclaimed an intimate friend to 
 the host during one of the pauses of compliment, • what can man 
 desire that you have not got? Here are riches, friends, a scene 
 of enchantment like this, and son the master of them all ! -I 
 am the most miserable of men ! ' was the startling reply. ' If 
 you doubt it, you shall know my secret. Do you see those two 
 young ladies just turning down the walk? Well, the}' are both 
 engaged, and with one of them I am desperately in love.' There 
 was no time for more, for the crowd again surged round the host, 
 and the friend was left to meditate upon the revelation which had 
 been made. One of the ladies who had been pointed out was a 
 great beauty of the time, and it so happened that Mr. Craigie's 
 confidant was on very intimate terms with her family. It was 
 well known that the match she was about to make did not gratify 
 the ambitious views of her relations. Now, whether Mr. Craigie's 
 friend betrayed his secret to the father of this young person 
 cannot certainly be known : but the current report was that he 
 did so. At all events, shortly after the garden party, he broke 
 in upon the Croesus of Cambridge with an exultant air, exclaim- 
 ing. ' Craigie. I have come to tell you glorious news; the coast 
 
 is clear; Miss has broken off her engagement!' -Why, 
 
 what the deuce is that to me?' was the disappointing reply. 
 • Good heavens, man, don't you remember telling me that you 
 were desperately iu love with one of the young ladies you pointed 
 out at the garden party?' 'To be sure, I did,' sighed Mr. 
 Craigie. • but, unfortunately, I referred to the other young lady.' " 
 Now * * * "it happened — or was said to have happened — 
 that -the other young lady' subsequently found good reason to 
 break off her engagement, and. as Mrs. Craigie, came to preside 
 over all future garden parties." 1 
 
 1 Quiney. Figures of the past. pp. 25-27. 
 
 In 7'lif Cambridge Tribuneat April 21, 1900, the following version of thi> Btorj 
 is given as having been in a paper read before the Cantabrigia Club, the day 
 before, bj >I i — Alice M. Longfellow: — 
 
 •• There was a party at " Mr. < Craigie's •■ home one evening, and during the coarse 
 of the merriment, some one asked. • Why don't you jret married. Mr. Craigie?' 
 ■ I would," he replied. ' if I could have one of those young ladies on the sofa.' The 
 young ladies to whom he referred were a Mis~ Foster and a Miss Nancy Shaw. 
 They overheard the remark, and shortly after Miss Foster dismissed her devoted 
 lover in anticipation of the good fortune which seemingly awaited her. But it was 
 Hiss Shaw to whom the happiness came. To make the story more romantic, the 
 joy turned to sorrow. At Miss Shaw's house, where young men were taken into the 
 family and prepared for coUege, there came a young Southerner one day who early 
 began to take an interest in his teacher's (laughter. The interest changed to
 
 29 
 
 "Shortly before her death," says Mr. Henry W. Longfellow, a> 
 quoted by Mr. Samuel Longfellow, Mrs. Craigie " burned a large 
 quantity of papers which she had stowed away in an upper 
 
 chamber, and among them the letters of her young lover." * 
 
 The darts of cupid struck two other persons in whom 
 we have become interested. 
 
 July .V-'-. Seth Johnson writes to Andrew Craigie, 
 Boston : — 
 
 " I have a letter for you from Bossenger, dun'' — which I will 
 seud by some favorable conveyance — poor fellow, I am afraid 
 Miss S's charms have made an impression on him." 
 
 Sept. 23/96. \. & J. Frazier to Mr. Craigie :— 
 
 " * * Our Nalbro' Frazier is happy to announce to you 
 
 his marriage, which took place Saturday evg., 13 ins*. Our 
 respects to Mrs. Craigie. * * * " 
 
 Mr. Craigie, as has already been stated, exercised a 
 generous hospitality at Cambridge. Mr. Amorv says lie 
 was fond of display.- Mr. Curtis, after speaking of the 
 oriental lavishness of Nathaniel Tracy, a former occupant 
 of the Craigie House, as we have seen, writes of Mr. 
 ( Jraigie : — 
 
 " Tradition is hard upon him. It declares that he was a huge 
 man, heavy and dull : and evidently looks upon his career as the 
 high lyric of Thomas Tracy's, 3 muddled into tough prose." 4 
 
 admiration and then to courtship. Mr. Shaw was not ignorant of Cupid's Butter- 
 ings and, consequently, he wrote the young man's father. The boy was called 
 home, the maid put aside her feelings and that was. apparently, the end of it. 
 Then came the marriage with Mr. Craigie, which both families hailed with delight. 
 Several pleasant years followed, until one day Mrs. Craigie received a letter. Upon 
 opening it She found it was from her former lover, for such he had been, stating 
 that his father was now dead and he was free to do as he pleased. He wrote that 
 he was coming north, hoping to find her as faithful as he had always thought her. 
 That was the end of Mrs. Craigie's happiness. From that hour she lived apart 
 from her husband, serving him and managing his household as a faithful wife, but 
 always remote in her thoughts and her feelings. After her husband's death she 
 lived a lonely life, apart from the world, having dismissed all inn two of her twelve 
 servants and living in the rear portion of her house, the front of which she let. " 
 
 it appears from the story told by Miss LongfeUow that it was Miss Foster who 
 was referred to by Seth Johnson in his letter to Mr. Craigie oi Sept. 20, '92, quoted 
 
 above, in which he wrote: •• T is said here that Mis> 1" r has dismissed her 
 
 lover." 
 
 1 Life of H. W. LongfeUow, v. I, p. _v,:,. 
 
 - Amorv. p. _'7. 
 The name is Nathaniel and not Thomas. 
 
 J Curtis, in Homes, p. J7T.
 
 30 
 
 Whatever truth there may he in these statements, Mr. 
 Craigie's hospitality was profuse and seems to have been 
 generally accepted. 
 
 Tradition, says Mr. Curtis, mentions a dinner party as 
 given by him every Saturday. 1 
 
 Mr. Josiah P. Quincy states that he "sometimes enter- 
 tained over a hundred guests at the brilliant Commence- 
 ment festival."' 2 ? 
 
 Samuel Longfellow writes : 
 
 Mr. Craigie " entertained the merchant-princes of Boston ; and 
 once, according to tradition, a prince of diplomats, Talleyrand, 
 with whom Mrs. Craigie, much better educated than her husband, 
 could converse in his native French." 3 
 
 Mr. Curtis's words are : 
 
 "Tradition * * * on one occasion, points out peruked and 
 powdered Talleyrand among the guests. This betrays the 
 presence in the house of the best society then to be had." 4 
 
 Talleyrand, it will be remembered, in 1793, — 
 
 " was ordered by Pitt to quit the island " of Great Britain " in 
 twenty-four hours, and, as he had been proscribed by Robes- 
 pierre, he took refuge in the United States. By the agency of 
 Chenier, he obtained permission to return to France in Septem- 
 ber, 1795." 5 
 
 Prince Edward, afterwards the Duke of Kent, the father 
 
 of Queen Victoria, also visited the Craigies. 
 
 Drake says : — 
 
 "In December, 1794, the Duke of Kent, or Prince Edward, as 
 he was styled, was in Boston, and was received during his 
 sojourn with marked attention. He was then in command of the 
 forces in Canada, but afterwards joined the expedition under Sir 
 Charles Grey, to the French West Indies, where he so greatly 
 distinguished himself by his reckless bravery at the storming of 
 Martinique and Guadaloupe that the flank division which he 
 commanded became the standing toast at the admiral's and 
 commander-in-chief's table * * * The prince was accom- 
 
 1 Curtis, in Homes, p. 277. 
 
 - Winsor's Memorial Hist, of Boston, v. 4. p. 15. 
 
 a Life of H. W. Longfellow, v. 1, p. 262. 
 
 4 Curtis, in Homes, p. 277. 
 
 ■ Thomas, under " TaUeyrand-Pdrigord."
 
 :;i 
 
 panied to Boston by his suite. He was very devoted to the 
 ladies, especially so to Mrs. Thomas Russell," wife, it will be 
 remembered, of a former owner and occupant of Craigie House. 
 "He k attended' her to the Assembly at Concert Hall. He danced 
 four country-dances with her for a companion, but she fainted 
 before finishing the last, and he danced with no one else, :it 
 which every one of the other eighty ladies present was much 
 enraged." l , 
 
 Was it not at the close of the year 1798, or early in 
 1794, that Prince Edward visited Boston? The following 
 passages would seem to make such a correction neces- 
 sary. 
 
 "At Gibraltar" the Duke of Kent "was put in command of the 
 7th regiment of foot (royal fusiliers). He at once showed 
 himself a thorough martinet, and became so unpopular with his 
 men that in May, 1791, he was sent to Canada." Late in 179o he 
 " received, at his own request, orders to join Sir Charles (after- 
 wards Lord) Grey's force in the West Indies. The navigation 
 of the St. Lawrence being interrupted, he travelled by land at 
 considerable risk from Quebec to Boston, and there took ship 
 for Martinique, where he arrived 4 March, 1794. On the close 
 of operations he returned to Canada." 2 
 
 Following are one or two extracts from letters relating 
 to the hospitality of Mr. Craigie. 
 
 Sept. 20/92, Seth Johnson to Andrew Craigie, Boston : 
 
 u * * * Mrs. Sands and family speak highly of your 
 polite attentions to them." 
 
 I have already quoted from a letter of Mr. John Brown 
 Cutting, sending his "adieus and thanks and blessings" in 
 November, 1792. 
 
 1 Drake, p. 310. 
 
 2 The following passage from the Columbian Centinel, Boston, of February 8, 
 1794, given by Or. Samuel A. Green in Groton Historical Series, vol. '_', p. 361, fixes 
 the date of Prince Edward's arrival in Boston as February 6, 1794: — 
 
 " On Thursday last, Prince Edward, son of his Brittanic Majesty, arrived in this 
 town from Quebec We are told that his highness has lately been promoted to the 
 rank of Brigadier-General, and is to have a command in the army in the West- 
 Indies." 
 
 Doctor Green gives (pp. 360, iSOl) in the article quoted, some interesting particu- 
 lars of Prince Edward's journey from Quebec to Boston. 
 
 " Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Stratheiu, prince, fourth son of George 
 III., by CJneen Charlotte, was born on 2 Nov., 1767." (J. M. Rigg).
 
 32 
 
 Julv 2U/\n, William Bennett, after expressing gratitude 
 for courtesies extended during a visit to Mr. Craigie, 
 writes to him : — 
 
 kk On board the Schooner Roebuck, Captain Crowell, bound 
 for Boston, is 2 Mocking Birds, which you will oblige me by 
 presenting with my most respectfull compliments to Mrs. 
 Craigie * * * " 
 
 Mr. Craigie continued active in business after going to 
 Cambridge to live. His name appears in the Philadelphia 
 Directory for 1 793 as a Director of the first Bank of the 
 United States. l The' Craigie manuscripts show 7 that 
 requests were made to Mr. Craiaie by gentlemen living in 
 Boston or the vicinity to secure for them shares in the 
 stock of that bank. 
 
 It will be remembered by persons familiar with the 
 history of Cambridge that at about the time Mr. Craigie 
 took up his residence there, there was a great speculation 
 in lands going on in Cambridgeport. Mr. Craigie soon 
 started another great land movement. 
 
 " While the measures adopted for the improvement of Cam- 
 bridgeport were in the ' full tide of successful experiment.' " 
 writes Dr. Paige, the historian of Cambridge, "a similar enter- 
 prise was undertaken at Lechmere Point, in which the prime 
 mover was Andrew Craigie. The earliest transactions were 
 conducted by Mr. Craigie with much skill and secrecy. His 
 name does not appear in the records until the whole scheme was 
 accomplished." 2 
 
 In purchases and other transactions the familiar names 
 of Seth Johnson, Bossenger and Mrs. Foster and Samuel 
 Haven appear. Purchases began as early as January 
 31, 1795, and lasted, certainly, to May 5, 1807. At the 
 latter date Mr. Craigie — 
 
 " owned about three hundred acres of land in two parcels nearly 
 adjoining each other; the easterly parcel included almost the 
 whole of East Cambridge." 3 
 
 May 12, 1808, the Governor of Massachusetts signed 
 
 ' Letter of James G. Barnwell to Samuel S. Green. 
 •-' Fai^e, p. 183. :; Ibid., pp. 183, 184.
 
 iin act which completed the legislation sought by Mr. 
 Craisrie and his associates in enabling them to build Canal 
 (or Craigie) Bridge from Lechmere Point to Boston. 1 
 
 "As nearly as can be ascertained from the records, Mr. 
 Craigie paid less than twenty thousand dollars for the whole 
 estate. Reserving sufficient land and flats for the construction 
 of the bridge and the location of a toll-house, he put the remain- 
 der on the market at the price of three hundred and sixty 
 thousand dollars. * * * The bridge was completed in ISO!) 
 and roads were opened to Cambridge Common, to Medford and 
 elsewhere, to attract travel from the country to Boston over this 
 avenue." 2 
 
 Mr. Craigie and his associates were incorporated March 
 3, 1810, by the General Court, as the Lechmere Point 
 Corporation. 3 This corporation laid out streets and lots. 
 But the records show that the sales of lands were few. 
 " The first deed of a house lot entered on record is dated 
 Aug.. 20, 1810, and conveys to Samuel S. Green the lot on 
 the northwesterly corner of Cambridge and Second streets, 
 where he resided more than three-score } r ears and where he 
 died Sept. 8, 1872." 4 "The records exhibit only ten deeds 
 of lots given by the corporation until Sept. 20, 1813, when 
 a sale of land was made which, March 16, 1814, came 
 into possession of the 'Boston Porcelain and Glass Com- 
 pany.' " 5 
 
 "But the ' crowning mercy' to the whole enterprise was the 
 agreement approved by the corporation Nov. 1, 1813, and by 
 the Court of Sessions at the next December Term," to give land 
 to the County of Middlesex and build a "Court House and jail 
 satisfactory to the Court, at an expense to the Corporation not 
 exceeding twenty-four thousand dollars, on condition that as 
 soon as the edifices were completed they should be used for the 
 purposes designed." 6 That agreement was carried out and the 
 public buildings mentioned still occupy the same grounds. 
 From this time the success of the Craigie land speculation un- 
 assured. 
 
 " Not only the River Street and Western Avenue bridges," 
 writes Dr. Paige, "but most of the thoroughfares through the 
 city" of Cambridge " which were opened during many years, were 
 constructed for the benefit of West Boston or Canal bridge." 7 
 
 Paige, p. 186. * Ibid. * Ibid. * Ibid., p. 187. B Ibid., p. 208. 6 lbid. 'Ibid. 
 3
 
 34 
 
 " When Andrew Craigie had completed his purchase of the 
 Lechmere or Phips' estate, and was ready to bring it into the 
 market by building Canal bridge * * * a sharp rivalry 
 between him and his associates on the one hand, and the pro- 
 prietors of West Boston Bridge and the Cambridge-port residents 
 and landowners on the other, for several years kept the town in 
 constant excitement and turmoil. * * * The severest con- 
 test between the two parties was in regard to Mount Auburn 
 Street and Cambridge Street." ] 
 
 Canal bridge was opened to the public on Commence- 
 ment Day, August 30, 1809. 2 The Commencement fes- 
 tivities at the Craigie Mansion must have been unusually 
 brilliant and the guests jubilant on that occasion. 
 
 Mr. Craigie was a warden at Christ Church, Cambridge, 
 in 1796. 3 
 
 But after a time Andrew Craigie's glory waned and he 
 had to live as well as he could in reduced circumstances. 
 As George William Curtis puts it, his " ' spacious times ' 
 came to an end. A visitor walked with him through his 
 large and handsome rooms and, struck with admiration, 
 exclaimed, f Mr. Craigie, I should think you could lose 
 
 yourself in all this spaciousness.' 'Mr. '(tradition 
 
 has forgotten the name), said the hospitable and ruined 
 host, f I have lost myself in it,' and we do not find him 
 again." 4 
 
 "At the headquarters of Washington once," writes James 
 
 Russell Lowell, in 1855, "and now of the muses, lived C , 
 
 but before the date of these recollections" — about 1825 — "here 
 for seven years (as the law was then) he made his house his 
 castle, sunning himself in his elbow-chair, at the front door, on 
 the seventh day, secure from every arrest but death's." 5 
 
 "Mr. Craigie," says Samuel Longfellow, "having, as he said, 
 ' lost himself ' in his house, its grounds, greenhouses, equipages 
 and hospitalities (not to mention outside speculations, such as 
 the bridge which still bears his name) — departed this world, 
 leaving to his widow a life interest in the estate." 6 
 
 1 Paige, p. 20.3. 
 
 2 Winsor's Memorial Hist., v. 4, p. 27. 
 
 3 Paige, p. 310. 
 
 4 Curtis, in Homes, pp. 277, 278. 
 
 5 Lowell, ]>. 72. 
 
 6 Life of H. W. Longfellow, v. 1, p. 262.
 
 35 
 
 Mr. Craigie died September L9, 1819, writes Dr. 
 Paige; 1 in 1.X21 says Mrs. Isabella James. 2 
 
 He was not the only one of the persons in whom we 
 have become interested in this paper who became pecuni- 
 arily embarrassed. The lavish Mr. Tracy, who bought 
 the Vassall House when sold under the act of confiscation, 
 tradition states, lost most of his property. 
 
 Bossenger Foster writes in August, 1798, from Cam- 
 bridge : — 
 
 " My D r Bro 1 ' * * * I have given security to the bank 
 and that Debt is to lye for 12 ra" Shall be able, I hope, to do 
 the same with the Union bank, but what shall I do for present 
 money ; have not wherewith to send a man & horse any way — 
 the Sheriff is in possession of the furniture, &c. ; believe all will 
 do well at last." 
 
 Mch. 23/99, Tho. Mullett c£ Co., London, write to 
 
 Andrew Craigie : — 
 
 "We were favor 11 with yours of 12th Oct. the last day of 
 November, and were extremely Concerned at your Confirmation 
 of the reports we had heard relative to our friends at New York. 
 Yours was the first positive information we had receiv d " regard- 
 ing, apparently, the embarrassment of the Messrs. Johnson. 
 
 Before we leave Mr. Craigie, a romantic incident 
 connected with his life must he described. It will he 
 remembered that Saxe Holm 3 wrote an interesting little 
 story entitled " Esther Wynn's Love Letters," that " Uncle 
 Jo found these letters on the cellar stairs " and that " mys- 
 terious terrors gathered round them until it was discovered 
 that they slipped through a crack in the upper stairs where 
 they had been nailed" up "for safe-keeping. This is a true 
 anecdote." 4 The letters were discovered by Henry W. 
 Longfellow after he came to live in the Craigie House. 
 
 1 Paige, p. 183. Note. 
 
 2 I. James, p. 101. 
 
 :; In John Foster Kirk's " Supplement to Allibone's Dictionary," vol. II., 
 Pliila., 1891, the following statement is made under the name of Mrs. Helen Maria 
 Fiske Jackson (H. H.): "The stories published under the pseudonvine of 'Saxe 
 Holm' in ' Seribner's Monthly,' and afterwards in book form, were attributed to 
 her pen, but their authorship was never acknowledged." 
 
 * K. H. Stoddard and i there, poets' Homes, pp. 13, 14,
 
 36 
 
 They were written to Mr. Craigie and " placed by him in 
 their hiding-place," for what reason no one knows. "They 
 were not such love letters as Esther Wynn's." It is said 
 that Mr. Longfellow had intended making them the subject 
 of a poem before he was frustrated by Saxe Holm in her 
 story. 1 
 
 Samuel Longfellow, in his biography of his brother, 
 makes the following remarks : — 
 
 " Whether or not" Mrs. Craigie, who occupied the house a 
 number of years after her husband's death, "knew of the letters 
 hidden away in the back staircase, which many years afterwards 
 came mysteriously dropping one hy one upon the cellar stairs 
 below, history does not record. These proved to be letters — not 
 of love, but of duty — from a young girl, a ward of Mr. Craigie, 
 absent at school. Why one of the stairs should have been made 
 into a box for holding them, it is not easy to see; probably it 
 was originally constructed for some other purpose." 9 
 
 Mrs. Craigie, as just intimated, long' outlived her hus- 
 band. 
 
 " Left alone in the large house, with a very small income," she 
 " reserved certain rooms for herself and let the others to various 
 occupants." 3 
 
 The distinguished statesman and scholar, Edward 
 Everett, was one of her lodgers. He married in 1822 ; 
 and soon after, while serving as a professor in Harvard 
 College, carried his bride to Mrs. Craigie's mansion to live. 
 We remember Mr. Everett with especial regard in this 
 society, for he was our third president and held the posi- 
 tion for twelve years — from 1841 to 1853. 
 
 President Jared Sparks also earned his bride to Craigie 
 House. "On the Kith of October, l<x;>2," he "married Miss 
 Fiances Anne, daughter of William Allen, Esq., of Hyde 
 Park, X. Y.," 4 and the following spring took up his 
 abode with Mrs. Craigie. 
 
 Following is an extract from his journal : — 
 
 " This day began to occupy Mrs. Craigie's house in Cambridge. 
 
 1 R. H. Stoddard and others. Poets' Homes, pp. 1.'!. 14. 
 
 2 s. Longfellow's Lite of H. W. Longfellow, v. l.. p. 215. '■■ Ibid., pp. 2G2, 263. 
 * Geo. K. Ellis. Memoir of .lured Sparks, p. 50.
 
 37 
 
 It is a singular circumstance that, while I am engaged in prepar- 
 ing for the press the letters of General Washington which he wrote 
 at Cambridge after taking command of the American army, I 
 should occupy the rooms that he did at that time." ' 
 
 Mr. Sparks was for nearly twenty years the Secretary 
 tor Foreign Correspondence of this Society, and was loved 
 and revered by the members who were his contemporaries. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Sparks, came Henry W. Longfellow. 
 lie shall talk to us about Mrs. Craigie : — 
 
 "'The first time that I was in the Craigie House," he writes, 
 '• was on a beautiful summer afternoon in the year 1837. I 
 came to see Mr. McLane, a law student, who occupied the south 
 eastern chamber." * * * He " left Cambridge in August, and 
 I took possession of his room, making use of it as a library or 
 study, and having the adjoining chamber for my bedroom. At 
 first Mrs. Craigie declined to let me have rooms. I remember 
 how she looked as she stood, in her white turban, with her hands 
 crossed behind her, snapping her grey eyes. She had resolved, 
 she said, to take no more students into the house. But her 
 manner changed when 1 told her who I was. She said that she 
 had read ' Ontre-Mer,' one number of which was lying on her 
 sideboard. She then took me all over the house and showed me 
 every room in it, saying as we went into each, that I could not 
 have that one. She finally consented to my taking the rooms 
 mentioned above, on condition that the door leading into the back 
 entry should be locked on the outside." 2 As cold weather came 
 on kk I remained alone with the widow in her castle. The back part 
 of the house was occupied, however, by her farmer. * * * 
 The winter was a rather solitary one and the house very still. I 
 used to hear Mrs. Craigie go down to breakfast at nine or ten in 
 the morning and go up to bed at eleven at night. During the 
 day she seldom left her parlor, where she sat reading the news- 
 papers and the magazines — occasionally a volume of Voltaire. 
 She read also the English Annuals, of which she had a large 
 collection. Occasionally, the sound of voices announced :i 
 visitor; and she sometimes enlivened the long evenings with a 
 half-forgotten tune upon an old piano-forte. During the follow- 
 ing summer the line old elms in front of the house were attacked 
 by canker-worms, which, after having devoured the leaves, came 
 spinning down in myriads. Mrs. Craigie used to sit by the open 
 windows and let them crawl over her white turban unmolested. 
 She would have nothing done to protect the trees from these 
 worms ; she used to say, l Why, sir, they are our fellow-worms ; 
 they have as good a right to live as we have.' " 
 
 ' Geo. E. Ellis. Memoir of Jared Sparks, i>. 51. 
 2 S. Longfellow's Life of H. W. Longfellow, v. 1, pp. '203- '.'05. 
 *3
 
 38 
 
 "Mrs. Craigie was eccentric to the last. In matters of relig- 
 ion she was a ' free-thinker.' She used to say that she saw God 
 in nature, and wanted no Mediator to come between Him and her. 
 She had a passion for flowers and for cats, and in general for all 
 living creatures. * * * She had a great hatred for the Jews ; 
 and when Miss Lowell said to her, 'Why, Mrs. Craigie, our 
 Saviour was a Jew ! ' she answered, ' I can't help it, ma'am.' " ] 
 
 In reading this account of Mrs. Craigie, one cannot 
 help thinking how ordinary were the views of canker- 
 worms held by Oliver Wendell Holmes, compared with 
 those of this sympathetic woman. Says Dr. Holmes, in 
 an account of the Gambrel-roofed House in which he was 
 born : — 
 
 " The soil of the university town is divided into patches of 
 sandy and of clayey ground. The Common and the College 
 green, near which the old house stands, are on one of the sandy 
 patches. Four curses are the local inheritance: droughts, dust, 
 mud, and canker-worms. I cannot but think that all the charac-. 
 ters of a region help to modify the children born in it. I am 
 fond of making apologies for human nature, and I think I could 
 find an excuse for myself if I, too, were dry and barren, and 
 muddy-witted and ' cantankerous,' — disposed to get my back up, 
 like those other natives of the soil." 2 
 
 Lowell remembers Mrs. Craigie : — 
 
 the " turbaned widow, studious only of Spinoza, and refusing to 
 molest the canker-worms that annually disleaved her elms, 
 because we were all vermicular alike. She had been a famous 
 beauty once, but the canker years had left her leafless, too, and 
 I used to wonder, as I saw her sitting always alone at her accus- 
 tomed window, whether she were ever visited by the reproachful 
 shade of him who (in spite of Rosalind) died broken-hearted for 
 her in her radiant youth." 3 
 
 Reverend Samuel Longfellow knew 7 Mrs. Craigie : — 
 
 He " remembers very well visiting " her " in his early college 
 days, to beg some autograph letters of Revolutionary personages, 
 of which she had a store. She sat in her southeastern 4 parlor, 
 in white muslin turban and gray silk gown, with the sun shining 
 among her window-plants and singing-birds ; and as often as he 
 took his leave she said, 'Be good; I want you to be good.' 
 
 ' S. Longfellow's Life of H. W. Longfellow, v. 1, pp. 263-265. 
 
 J The Poet at the Breakfast-table, pp. 23, 24. 
 
 ;i Firesule Travels, p. 73. 
 
 * A mistake for " southwestern," is it not?
 
 39 
 
 There was an awful whisper in Cambridge circles that she read 
 Voltaire in the original. At any rate, her copy of his works 
 remained in the library of Craigie House." ' 
 
 I fear that these dreadful suspicions were well founded. 
 
 I find in the Craigie manuscripts, Nalbro' and Jno. 
 Frazier writing to Mr. Craigie July 21/94, when speaking 
 of a third party, 
 
 "that he had not received the remaining numbers of the 
 Encyclopaedia in French. We pray you to make our respectful 
 compliments to Mrs. Craigie * * * ." 
 
 Mr. Henry W. Longfellow speaks of Mrs. Craigie's " old 
 piano-forte." 
 
 In the manuscripts, August 4/tll, John Coles, London, 
 writes to Andrew Craigie, New York : — 
 
 tt * * * w \\\ w ith muc h pleasure attend to your request 
 respecting the purchase of the most approved musical instru- 
 ment." 
 
 Here is an agreement, dated at Cambridge, Dee. 6/92 : 
 
 "The Subscriber contracts to give Eight Lessons on the 
 piano-forte to the Ladies in Mr. Craigie's family — two Lessons 
 each week — for which Lessons is to be paid three pounds twelve 
 shillings * * * — the half of which £o. 12 has been paid 
 this day to Hans Gram." 
 
 A day or two before her death, Mrs. Craigie said to 
 Mr. H. W. Longfellow :— 
 
 " You'll never be married again; because you see how ugly 
 an old woman looks in bed.'" 2 
 
 This pathetic little scene has great dramatic possibilities 
 in it. See what a little rhetoric will do for it. Mr. 
 George William Curtis thus described it nearly fifty years 
 ago, in his days of comparative exuberance. Speaking of 
 Mr. Longfellow, he says : — 
 
 "as he entered her room, and advancing to her bedside, saw her 
 lying stretched at length and clutching the clothes closely around 
 her neck, so that only her sharply-featured and shrunken face 
 was visible — the fading eye opened upon him for a moment and 
 
 1 S. Longfellow's Life of H. W. Longfellow, v. 1, p. '263. 
 3 Ibid., p. 265.
 
 40 
 
 he heard from the withered lips this stern whisper of farewell — 
 ' Young man, never marry, for beauty comes to this.' " ' 
 
 The eminent lexicographer, Joseph Emerson Worcester, 
 was one of the well-known personages who occupied rooms 
 in Mrs. Craigie's house. Just before her death he bought 
 the property. 
 
 The poet Longfellow, as has appeared in a statement 
 by himself, quoted a few pages back, first went to live in 
 Craigie House in the summer of 1837, sixty-three years 
 ago. He afterwards " shared the house with Dr. Worces- 
 ter, and, finally, in 1843 became the owner of the mansion 
 and the adjacent land.'' 2 
 
 " The one hundred and lifty or two hundred acres of Andrew 
 Craigie had shrunken to eight. But the meadow land in front, 
 sloping to the river, was secured by the Poet, who thereby 
 secured also the wide and winning prospect, the broad green 
 reaches and the gentle Milton Hills." 3 
 
 Several of the beautiful elm trees which stood in front 
 of the house when Longfellow first went there to live have 
 disappeared. 
 
 As our associate, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, has 
 stated, Longfellow wrote in 1839 of "ten magnificent 
 elms.** 4 But, as Mr. Higginson also tells us: the Poet 
 "greatly improved the appearance of the grounds by the 
 low-fenced terrace." 5 
 
 It is not my purpose, however, to speak of the Craigie 
 House during its occupancy by Mr. Longfellow, or as the 
 present home of a member of his family. Enough to say 
 that it has continually grown more famous since the emi- 
 nent and kind-hearted poet took up his residence in it, and 
 is still an object of interest to an army of visitors, largely 
 because it was his dwelling-place. 
 
 In conclusion, let Mr. Higginson discourse to us about 
 this matter : — 
 
 " Craigie House," he says, " has played a much larger part in 
 
 1 Curtis, in Homes, p. 272. 
 
 - Harvard Book, v. 2, p. 431. 
 
 :i Curtis, in Homes, p. 283. 
 
 4 " Old Cambridge," p. 125. s Ibid. 

 
 41 
 
 Cambridge tradition than the houses which were also the birth- 
 places of Holmes and Lowell. Those who have spent summers 
 in Cambridge during the last ten years must know well — such is 
 certainly my own experience — that twice as many strangers 
 inquired the way to Craigie House as to Elm wood and the 'Gram- 
 brel-roofed House' put together; and though this might be partly 
 due to associations with Washington, yet I am confident that 
 these made but a small portion of the whole interest in the abode. 
 1 have seldom felt so keenly the real worth of popular fame as 
 when, one summer day, in passing Craigie House, I found a 
 young man, of somewhat rustic appearance and sunburned look, 
 eagerly questioning two other youths as to the whereabouts of 
 the ' Spreading Chestnut Tree ' mentioned in ' The Village Black- 
 smith.' Coming to their relief I explained to him that the tree 
 in question was never at that point and had now vanished 
 altogether, but offered to show him where it once was, and where 
 the blacksmith shop of Dexter Pratt had stood. Walking down 
 the street with him, I won his confidence by telling him that 1 was 
 one of the Cambridge-bred boys who had ' looked in at the open 
 door'; that the blacksmith's wife, Rowena Pratt, had been my 
 nurse, and that I had, in later life, heard her daughter sing. He 
 told me, in return, that he was a young Irishman, arrived in the 
 country but the day before, that the first poetry he had ever quite 
 learned by heart at school was ' The Village Blacksmith ' ; and 
 that he had resolved that his first act on reaching Boston should 
 be to visit the Chestnut Tree. 'This,' I said to myself, 'is 
 fame.' " l 
 
 Following is a list of the principal books which, in 
 addition to the Craigie manuscripts, have been used in 
 preparing this paper : — 
 
 Allibone's Dictionary, Supplement, Phila., 1891, by John Foster Kirk, 
 2 v., for article 'Jackson, Mrs. Helen Maria Fiske (H. H.)" 
 
 Amory, Thomas C. Old Cambridge and New, Boston, 1871 (reprinted 
 from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register for .Inly, 
 1871. With additions.) 
 
 Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. II., New York, 
 1887, article on Edward Everett by S. Austin Allibone. Also article 
 on Henry W. Longfellow, by Charles Eliot Norton. 
 
 Chastellux, Marquis De. Travels in North America, London, 1787. 
 
 Curtis, George William. Paper on "Henry W. Longfellow" in Homes 
 of American Authors, New York, 1857 (copyright 1852). 
 
 Drake, Samuel A. Historic Mansions and Highways Around Boston, 
 being a new and revised edition of "Old Landmarks and Historic 
 Fields of Middlesex." Boston, 1899. 
 
 " Old Cambridge," pp. 125-127.
 
 42 
 
 Directories of New York, 1792-1798. 
 
 Directory of Philadelphia for 1793. 
 
 Eliot, Samuel A. A sketch of the history of Harvard College and its 
 present state. Boston, 1848. 
 
 Ellis, George E. Memoir of Jared Sparks, Cambridge, 1869 (reprinted 
 from Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society for May, 
 1868). 
 
 Foote, Henry Wilder. Annals of King's Chapel, Boston. Little, Brown 
 & Co., vol. I., 1882; vol. II., 1890. (See index for " Vassall, 
 John.") i 
 
 Green, Samuel Abbott. Groton Historical Series, 4v., Groton, 1887- 
 1899. 
 
 Harvard Book. See Vaille and Clark. 
 
 Iligginson, Thomas W. Old Cambridge, New York, 1899. 
 
 Holm, Saxe. Esther Wynn's Love-letters, in Scribner's Monthly, De- 
 cember, 1871, pp. 164-176. Reprinted in Saxe Holm's Stories, New 
 York, 1874. 
 
 Holmes, Oliver Wendell. The Poet at the Breakfast-table. Boston 
 
 1883. 
 
 James, Isabella. The Cambridge of 1776. Cambridge, 1876. Paper, 
 " The Batchelder house and its owners." 
 
 Longfellow, Alice M. " Longfellow in home life"; paper in the Cam- 
 bridge Magazine, March, 1896. Report of a paper on " The Craigie 
 House" in the Cambridge Tribune, Saturday, April 21, 1900, p. 4. 
 This paper was read to the Cantabrigia Club, April 20. Perhaps it 
 is the same paper which Miss Longfellow read to the ladies who 
 attended the meetings of the American Historical Association held 
 in Boston a few months before. 
 
 Longfellow, Samuel, Editor. Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 
 2 v., Boston, 1886. Final Memorials of Henry Wadsworth Longfel- 
 low, Boston, 1887. 
 
 Lowell, James Russell. Fireside travels, eighth edition, Boston, 1883 
 (copyright 1864); paper, " Cambridge thirty years ago." This paper 
 was originally published in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, vol. III., pp. 
 379 and 473. 
 
 Paige, Lucius R. History of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Boston : 
 
 1877. 
 
 Paine, Nathaniel. " Sketch of Samuel Foster Haven " in Reminiscences 
 and biographical notices of twenty-one members of the Worcester 
 Fire Society, Worcester, 1899. 
 
 Quincy, Josiah. Figures of the past. Boston, 1883. 
 
 Smith, Mrs. E. Vale. History of Newburyport. Newburyport, 1854. 
 
 Stoddard, R. II., and others. Poets' homes. Boston (copyright 1877) : 
 Paper " Henry Wadsworth Longfellow." This paper, in skeleton, 
 appeared in one of the earliest numbers of Wide Awake, where it 
 was attributed to Hezekiah Butterworth. 
 
 Rigg, J. M. Article, "Kent and Stratham, Edward Augustus, Duke 
 of," in Dictionary of National Biography, v. 31, Loudon, 1892.
 
 13 
 
 Thomas, Joseph. Universal pronouncing dictionary of biography and 
 mythology, Phila., 1886: Article, "Talleyrand." 
 
 Vaille, F O. and Clark, II. A., Collectors and Publishers. The Harvard 
 book, 2 v., Cambridge, 1875 : Paper, " The Craigie House," by George 
 Dexter, and other papers. 
 
 Winsor, Justin, Editor. Memorial history of Boston, 4 v., Boston, 
 1880-1 : Paper by Marshall Piuckney Wilder on "The horticulture of 
 Boston and vicinity," and other papers.
 
 
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