The Republican journal., 1877-01-11
The Gov. Langdon Mansion.

III thlo respect, anu lle NlSltOf or tO-uaY
will see much that will interest him, par
tlcularly II ne has an antiquarian turn of
mind. Time and association have given
many Of the buildings significance which
| renders their architecture of secondary i'm
| portahce. But there is a quaintness, an
imposing dignity about many Of there old
| houses which makes them worthy Of atten-
ton even from mechanical point of view
The spacious halls and carven starcases
SO unlike the smaller rooms and upright
ladders Of our modern houses, the absence
OF hewn stone under-pinnings. for in most
cases the brick Or wood work rests direct
| ly upon the solid walls OF the cellars, the
gambreled roofs and lutheran windows.
all speak OF a different epoch from our
own. There are several as fine and sub
stantial samples OF the old colonial archi-
lecture as you will be likely to meet with
anywhere in New England
Let us pause here and concentrate our
attention upon tue Langdon Mansion and
the Langdon family. especially upon GOV
ernoT John Langdon, who with his person.
| al graces, his diverse accomplishments,
and his distinguished career, resembles a
brilliant star set in those early skies Of
New Hampshire history. The home and
Landgon was the beau ideal OF a northern
arlst0crat not so formal, stately, and chiv-
aric as his southern congeners, Washing-
ton, Lee, Mason, Nelson, Randolph and
Bland, perhaps, for diversity of blood, of
climate, of habits, created varying shades
OF character between the \ irginia planter
and the New Hampshire merchants vet
deriving descent from the proudest Of Pur-
han in,
his way as the cavaliers in theirs and
worthy of all honor. He was rich. too,
aud that was something which all Of
those Virginia nobesse were not, though
they dispensed hospitality under the roofs
of houses rs noble As their names. He had
u whole household ot slaves, (Airican
bondage was as fashionable then ut the
North rs at the South.) He had spacious
warehouses crowded with merchandise.
From the windows of his old counting
room near Spring Market, which over
looked the Piscataqua he could see the
whole fleet OF his vessels come into port.
from China, the Indies. and the Mediter-
ranean, bearing the silks and wines, and
the fruits and manufactures of foreign
cllmes. Here in this grand old mansion
which We are about TO glance at the art
Of whose building has been lost this fifty
years, he lived; and perhaps the discolor-
ed walls, the great trees, and the chair he
once sat in, will serve to take rs back to
his times.
Without these adjuncts John Langdon is
indeed mere historic figure, but as we
stand here at the mansion he inhabited |
the same trees over us which often rustled
above his head, he assumes something of
nj an
We can almost imagine him smiling and
boWing before us and bidding US welcome
as he was wont to do in the flesh, in those
tar-away days of the eighteenth century,
The old Langdon mansion in fact, posses
ses this paramount charm, there is moth
ing modern about-it at once lifts You
from the prosaic present and carries you
back TO the picturesque past among the
old forms and faces OF q dead generation.
Standing on the street and gazing on the
ancient homestead-at the walls, windows, |
and carvings, at the little balcony over
the front door, supported by two white
Ionic columns, or wandering in the large
fruit garden attached to the house. where
venerable trees revive memories of the an
cient regime, one cannot help being yisi-
bly, affected. II Is the atmosphere of 111l
rather than that Of Ammo Domino 1876 |
which surrounds you, and YOU are living
in the old days in company with the state
ly and beautiful figure which illustrated
them. Alas dust is all tlat remains of
these figures Of lovely danes and gallant
gentlemen; it is only as you muse with
the murmur of aged trees in your ears,
that you catch Il glimpse of them to-day.
There is not = great deal TO describe in
this old house, which is for the most part
plain, with the exception OF it9 carved
wainscotings, cornices, and mantel-pieces.
he mansion fronts Pleasant street. stand
ing back II decOrous distance from the dust
and turmoil OF its rush and How OF Nle
Grand ems ovcrtop the venerable roof. 4
tesselated marble walk conducts you to
the door through which you enter between
the two slender white pillars which sup
port the gracefully carved balcony. On
entering the hall, which extends through
the mansion and is eahorately carved and
pantled, YOU have on one hand grand re-
| ception rooms heavily wainscoted, with
ornamental corn ices mantcI-pieccs ot con-
siderable elegance for the period, and
other evidences of wealth and taste; and
OF the other, the library and dining rooms
FURNISHED in the same manner. \ broad
staircase in the hall leads to the upper
apartments and nearly the entire mansion
is decorated with the same elegance rs
the lower floor. The porter's lodge and
| the tool house stand ON either side of the
gate--small, square brick buildings, one
story in height, at the distance Of one hun
dred and fifty feet apart
No building in Portsmouth has shelter
ed 50 many people OF eminence as the
Langdon house At the door of the gen
erous drawing room the courtly Langdon
has welcomed many Il great man. AS
member OF the old Congress, Governor of
New Hampshire for many years, and who
might have been President of the United
States if he willed. John Langdon was
one of the foremost men OF his time, and
his associates We're like him. Washington
slept many times under MS roof. Baron
Steuben, when he landed in Portsmouth
in l11T11, though he first took up his lodg-
ings at the Stavers house, was afterwards
the guest of the hospitable langdon. La
Eayette visited there on more than one
occasion. Elbridge Gerry, John Hancock,
the brave John Sullivan, Starks, Rutledge,
and others, warriors and statesmen, So
| lourneu here at various times. Louis Phil
| lipee and his two brothers. when eXiles
| in this country, We're entertained at the
| Languon mansion. The noble Frenchman
never forgot his visit, and forty years af-
terwards, when he occupied the throne of
France, Il Portsmouth lady was presented
at his court, of whom he inquired with
tender emotions if the old mansion of
Governor Langdon was still i'll existence.
The noble Marquis de Chastellux, who
served in Count lie Rochambeau's army
| during the revolution also stopped several
weeks once in 1880 He kept a journal
in which he made pleasant mention of his
host and hostess. He described Governor
Langdon as a handsome man of noble
presence, and a pleasing, refined face.
Mrs. Langdon was considerably younger
than her husband, and quite q beauty in
her day. The Marquis did not possess the
usual gallantry of his race, or he belied
himself, for he says that he conversed
much less with her than with the Cover