I felt here was a man I had been seeking. There was a wonderful charm in his presence his smile, serene eye, his voice, his manner, were all sensed at once by everybody. His smile was as sweet and calm as morning light on mountains. The Emerson/Muir meeting in California was momentous for Muir who wrote of Emerson, that he was "the most serene, majestic, sequoia-like soul I ever met. When he visited he laid flowers on Emerson’s grave and dined with Edward Waldo Emerson. Muir did not get to Concord until June of 1893, 11 years after Emerson had died. John Muir, was one of the most famous and influential naturalist’s and conservationist's, whom Emerson met in California in 1871. Horace Mann, leading public education reformer, teacher and abolitionist, who also was the brother-in-law of Nathaniel Hawthorne. James Russell Lowell, poet, abolitionist and one of the founders of The Atlantic Monthly, along with Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes. He was the father of Lizzy Hoar, an abolitionist and a frequent guest at the Emerson home. Attorney General under President Ulysses S. Judge Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar of Concord, who served as U.S. Emerson referred to her often as “his sister.” “Aunt Lizzie” was part of the Transcendental Circle, and was an important figure in the Emerson family. While not a Transcendentalist, he was an admirer of Emerson, a neighbor and a frequent companion in walks and conversation.Įlizabeth Sherman Hoar, the fiancée of Emerson’s brother Charles (who succumbed to tuberculosis before the wedding). Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer of literary classics including The Scarlet Letter, House of Seven Gables and Blithedale Romance. Margaret Fuller, journalist, writer, Transcendentalist, and women’s rights advocate. French sculpted several likenesses of Emerson, who sat for him in person. Emerson was responsible for French securing his first commission: the Minuteman statue at the Old North Bridge in Concord, commemorating the local militias who fought the British, starting the American Revolution. He encouraged him to “build yourself a hut, and there begin the grand process of devouring yourself alive.”ĭaniel Chester French, an eminent sculptor who created, among other great works, the Lincoln Memorial. William Ellery Channing, poet, writer, editor, Transcendentalist and a powerful influence on Henry David Thoreau. James Elliot Cabot, a lawyer and an indispensable literary assistant to Emerson in his later years, helping to organize his papers, and at the request of the family, writing the first "official" memoir of Emerson. Concord resident Franklin Sanborn was one of Brown's chosen “secret six.” He became a hero to many abolitionists including Emerson and Thoreau. John Brown, an abolitionist who believed that insurrection and violence were the only way to end slavery. Louisa May Alcott, author of the American classic Little Women, who greatly admired Emerson, who let her use his library and encouraged her aspirations as a writer. Emerson’s wife Lidian also actively influenced his thinking on abolition.īronson Alcott, educator, Transcendentalist, writer and the father of Louisa May Alcott. Following is only a partial list, but it indicates the attractive force, at the time, of Emerson's ideas, writings, oratory, and personal magnetism.Ībigail May Alcott, wife of Bronson Alcott and mother of Louisa May Alcott, who was an ardent abolitionist and active in Concord’s Female Anti-Slavery Society. Emerson was a “magnet” who drew literary, philosophical and theological leaders to Concord who wanted an opportunity for conversation and the sharing of ideas with one of the most admired men of the day. While the Emersons lived in Concord, there were many visitors who came to see Ralph Waldo Emerson and/or Lidian. Happy is the house that shelters a friend!
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