William Cullen Bryant, Cummington, MA

William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878) was not only a famous poet but also the editor and publisher of the New York Evening Post for 50 years. His maternal grandfather Ebenezer Snell built this home in 1783, and Bryant spent his childhood and adolescence here. Bryant re-bought the property (which had been sold in 1835) in 1865 and made extensive alterations that essentially transformed it into a Victorian house. It was his summer home until his death.

The red barn is a distinctive feature of the property.

The Bryant Cemetery is a short distance away. Bryant himself was buried in Roslyn, New York, although his closest relative who lies here is his father, Dr Peter Bryant:

'Peter Bryant,

studious and skillful

Physician and Surgeon

and for sometime a member

of the State Senate.

Born at North Bridgwater

August 12, 1767.

Died March 19, 1820.'

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The Sedgwick Pie, Stockbridge, MA

The remarkable 'Sedgwick Pie' is in Stockbridge Cemetery, Massachusetts, and is very difficult to photograph in its entirety. The lawyer Theodore Sedgwick (1746–1813) and his wife Pamela Sedgwick (1753–1807) are at the center above, with other relatives, servants, and even pets grouped around in concentric circles. Below I include only two more in the pie, although I shall include more in the next few weeks or so.

'CATHARINE M. SEDGWICK

born

Dec. 28, 1789.

dies July 31, 1867.'

Catharine Maria Sedgwick was a very popular author of the day who had for some time been almost forgotten, although attempts to restore her work and spread knowledge of her progressive views (particularly with regard to abolition and female independence) continue to be successful. She wrote nine novels.

'ELIZABETH FREEMAN,

known by the name of

MUMBET

died Dec. 28th 1829.

Her supposed age

was 85 Years.

She was born a slave and

remained a slave for nearly

thirty years. She could nei-

ther read nor write, yet in

her own sphere she had no

superior nor equal. She nei-

ther wasted time' nor property.

She never violated a trust, nor

failed to perform a duty.

In every situation of domes-

tic trial, she was the most effi-

cient helper and the tenderest

friend. Good mother, farewell.'

Mumbet, or Mum Bett, served as a parent – a mother in particular – to the Sedgwick children during their biological mother's illness and the absence to their busy father. Several books have been written about this amazing former slave.

The tribute stones here are evidence of the enduring respect people retain for Mum Bett.

Edna St Vincent Millay, Austerlitz, NY

'EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

NOTED AMERICAN POET, RESIDED

IN THIS HAMLET OF AUSTERLITZ

AT HER HOME "STEEPLETOP"

FROM 1920 UNTIL 1950'

Well, this is mostly true, although there's a slight exaggeration: Steepletop (named after a flower growing there) wasn't bought until 1925.

The sign outside the office, in which there's a collection of Millay's first editions, several paintings by Millay's brother-in-law Charles Ellis (her sister Norma's husband), and where you can watch a thirty-minute DVD about Edna St Vincent Millay (1872 to 1950).

Two shots of the west elevation of Steepletop, the home in which 'Vincent' spent most of the time with her husband Eugen Boissevain from shortly after their marriage in 1923 until their respective deaths in 1949 and 1950.

The original house dates from the year of Millay's birth, and this south elevation underwent considerable alteration after the couple bought it. Our guide (or docent) to this property was the exuberant Carol Derfner, although (as is so depressingly common in authors' houses) no photography is allowed within the building itself.

Martha Raftery, Manager of Visitors' Services, took over on the second (garden) leg of the tour (the visitors of which wonderfully consisted of only me and my partner Penny), and this time I was allowed to take any photos I wished. Above is the site of the bar where Vincent and Eugen and any invited guests took advantage of the rather lax prohibition laws.

The pool, where now the only naked and noisy creatures are the frogs.

An Indian Cupid drawing an arrow from his sheath.

The potting shed with original material inside.

Tins of coffee at the bottom – Eugen was an importer of it – and wine bottles above. They made their own wine, although I don't know where as there's apparently no press on the property.

Millay's little writing cabin.

And the desk on which she did her writing.

The heating system.

The society has remained faithful to the original plants on the property, such as these lupins.

And this rhubarb.

The original ice house.

A few hundred yards from the office is the Millay Poetry Trail, which visitors can follow for about a mile. Protection from mosquitoes is recommended, as my head still bears the scars.

'Millay

Poetry Trail

Given by the Friends

of the Millay Society

in honor of

Millay's Literary Executor

Elizabeth Barnett

who saved

Steepletop'.

A series of quotations from Millay's poetry punctuate the trail, which is perhaps a mile long. This is the final one, and is appropriately called 'Steepletop' (c. 1953).

At the end two plaques mark the graves which lie there.

'EUGEN JAN BOISSEVAIN

1880–1949'

'EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

1892–1950'

This is a fascinating tour which I thoroughly recommend: well worth going some distance out of the way for.

My other Edna St Vincent Millay posts:
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Nancy Milford: Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St Vincent Millay in Ring's Island, Salisbury

Samuel Harrison in Pittsfield, MA

Samuel Harrison was born in 1818 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to slave parents who were freed three years later. He became a minister and lived at 82 Third Street in Pittsfield, a house which has been restored with a view to turn it into a museum.

Harrison published several works, among them An Appeal of a Colored Man to His Fellow-Citizens of a Fairer Hue, in the United States (1877), and Rev. Samuel Harrison: His Life Story, as Told by Himself (1899).

Harrison was buried in Pittsfield Cemetery:

'REV. SAMUEL HARRISON

April 15, 1818.

Aug. 11. 1900.'

Herman Melville's Moby-Dick in Pittsfield, MA

Herman Melville is big in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he lived with his family in their home Arrowhead a few miles south of Pittsfield itself. This is now an author's home museum dedicated to Melville, who was here from 1850 to 1863 and wrote many of his famous works, including Moby-Dick. But no photography is allowed inside, which can put many people off.

In downtown Pittsfield there are two public sculptures dedicated to the creature.

Donna Dodson's is outside the Berkshire Athenaeum, and titled Moby Dick.

And this non-abstract sculpture is on the lower corner of Maplewood Avenue and North Street.

By C. R. Grey, this work is called The Great White Whale.

Norman Rockwell's Grave, Stockbridge, MA

Norman Rockwell's and his wives' memorial in Stockbridge Cemetery, Massachusetts.

'NORMAN ROCKWELL

FEBRUARY 3. 1894...NOVEMBER 8, 1978

HIS WIFE

MARY RHODES BARSTOW

NOVEMBER 26, 1907... AUGUST 25, 1959

HIS WIFE

MARY PUNDERSON (MOLLY)

SEPTEMBER 15, 1896...JULY 20, 1985.'

The link below is to a post I made a few years ago on my visit to the Norman Rockwell Museum:

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The Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA

Amanda Foster, Sleepy Hollow, NY

Amanda Foster (1806/7–1904) moved from being a household help at eight years of age to stewardess on a Hudson river steamship at fourteen. She obtained 'free negro' papers when traveling south, which she took a great risk in lending to a slave girl to allow her to escape to the north.

After this she re-joined her husband John in Tarrytown: he had a barber's shop there and Amanda opened a confectioner's. John died two years later and Amanda married Henry Foster, who was also a barber. Their two businesses thrived and they adopted two children.

John and Amanda were founding members of the A.M.E. Zion Church in Sleepy Hollow, which had an influx of freshly released slaves. Amanda continued the church work after the death of her second husband and 'Foster Memorial' was added to the church name in recognition of her work.

Madame Restell, Sleepy Hollow, NY

Ann Lohman (1811–78) was better known as Madame Restell, and the 'enhanced map' to Sleepy Hollow cemetery states that she was also called 'The Wickedest Woman in New York'. Lohman was born Ann Trow in Gloucestershire, UK, and married Henry Summer at the age of sixteen. The couple emigrated to the USA in 1831, where Summer died of fever shortly after.

Five years later she married Charles R. Lohman, a radical who with his friend George Matsell had been concerned with the publication of Robert Dale Owen's Moral Physiology: or, a Brief and Plain Treatise on the Population Question (1831) as well as Charles Knowlton's Fruits of Philosophy: or, The Private Companion of Young Married People, which was published the same year. 'Madame Restell' became interested in women's 'concerns' to such an extent that the neologism 'Restellism' became synonymous with abortion. Pressure increased on Restell's illegal activities and in 1878 – rather than face a second term of imprisonment – she died in her bath by slitting her throat. She was buried with her husband in Sleepy Hollow cemetery, upstate New York.

Washington Irving in Tarrytown, Irvington and Sleepy Hollow

In 1835 Washington Irving (1783–1859) bought a small property in Tarrytown, upstate New York, on the banks of the Hudson and expanded it in stages. He was aided by the artist George Harvey and the house displays various interests of Irving's: romanticism, Europe, etc.

The rear elevation with the Spanish Tower on the left that Irving added in 1847, with crow-stepped gables giving a Dutch appearance on the right.

More crow-stepped gables on the west elevation.

But the date '1656' is something of a mystery.

A replica of the original seating at the entrance to Sunnyside.

A replica of the ice house.

There may now be telegraph poles and lines, plus the Tappan Zee Bridge in the distance, but this photo at least gives an idea of what the view must have looked like in Irving's day.

Our informative docent rigged out in the costume of the day.

At the top of the road from Sunnyside (the junction of Broadway and West Sunnyside Lane in Irvington) is the impressive Washington Irving monument.

'WASHINGTON IRVING MONUMENT

WASHINGTON IRVING WAS THE FIRST OF EARLY AMERICA'S GREAT AUTHORS. THIS MONUMENT IS A TESTAMENT NOT ONLY TO IRVING, BUT ALSO TO THE IMAGINATION AND TENACITY OF JENNY PRINCE BLACK, A PROMINENT IRVINGTON CITIZEN, WHO WORKED FOR 18 YEARS TO MAKE IT A REALITY. IT ALSO MANIFESTS THE ARTISTRY OF SCULPTOR DANIEL CHESTER FRENCH, THE CREATOR OF THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL, AMONG OTHER PROMINENT WORKS. THE ARCHITECT FOR THE IRVING MONUMENT WAS FRENCH'S LONGTIME COLABORATOR, CHARLES PLATT ADAMS. THE LAND WAS DONATED BY HENRY GRAVES, JR. MRS. BLACK LED THE FUND-RAISING, WHICH RANGED FROM A GENEROUS CONTRIBUTION BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, JR., TO PENNIES FROM SCHOOL CHILDREN.

THE MONUMENT WAS COMPLETED AND DEDICATED IN 1927. AFTER MORE THAN 50 YEARS OF CORROSION, THE MONUMENT WAS RESTORED BY IRVINGTON LANDMARK PRESERVATION, INC., WITH SUPPORT FROM THE VILLAGE OF IRVINGTON AND FROM SAVE OUTDOOR SCULPTURE OF WASHINGTON, D.C. THE MONUMENT WAS REDEDICATED IN A VILLAGE CEREMONY IN 1998. AS A MASTERPIECE OF DANIEL CHESTER FRENCH, IT IS LISTED ON THE NEW YORK STATE AND NATIONAL REGISTERS OF HISTORIC PLACES.

IRVINGTON LANDMARK PRESERVATIONS, INC.'

'WASHINGTON

IRVING

1783–1859

ESSAYIST POET

HISTORIAN TRAVELLER

DIPLOMATIST SOLDIER

THE FIRST AUTHOR OF

OUR REPUBLIC'

'BOABDIL

THE LAST KING OF GRENADA'

'RIP VAN WINKLE

THE DREAMER OF THE KAATSKILLS'

And a few miles up the road, in Sleepy Hollow cemetery, is the enclosed Irving plot. Washington Irving died at Sunnyside.