The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-08-17
WHERE GENIUS ABIDES.
THE HOMES OF OUR STORY TELL
Frs AND SONG WRITER'S.

i THE HOMES OF OUR STORY TELL
Frs AND SONG WRITER'S.
Boston as n Literary Centre-W riters who
: Enjoy Life In the Metropolis. and Others
who Find Inspiration In Smaller Towns
and Country Places.
To those writers-both men and women
who have gladdened and made better the
world through story and through song a
certain interest attaches which affects us
I pleasantly and deeply. We are ever Curl
Gus to know concerning their habits and
peculiarities, and indeed all that relates to
the lives Of these people who have done and
are doing so much for humanity. And not
the least feature Of this interest is that
which pertains to the hauEts or home places
of these beneiactors of mankind, and to this
subject the present article is devoted.
In the list of places where no inconsider-
able numbC- Of our leading noyelists and
poets continue to reside, Boston occupies
position which, if not so pre-eminent as in
DAYS gone by, makes il still to-day vantage
ground of the highest character. Here, in
this grand old town, which twOscOre and
less years ago may be said 10 have welded
the literary sceptre Of this Western world,
are 10 be found at the present hour certain
of the most eminent of the guild of letters.
proud of the fact that their lot has been cast
amid scenes hallowed by associations such
as will never be forgotten.
THE AUTOCRAr.
Half way down princely Beacon street
| from the Common may be fOunc the home OF
the genial "Autocrat," where, when not so
jOurning at his summer residence, Beverley
Farms, he resides passing his declining
years in the enjoyment OF a roof tree rs
sumptuous and coy as any mortal could
wish.
A little beyond may be seen the house
where, until very few years since, William
Dean IIowells lived. When the novelist be-
came associated with the llarpers and re-
moved to New York, he sold his Beacon
street residence. but since his return 10 BOs-
ton he has occupied house on Common
wealth avenue HOwells has a lovely home |
at Belmont, pretty little suburb Of Boston,
where he has been wont 10 pass the summer
months of late. although the present |
season he is summering IN the region |
Of Lake George. On Beacon street resides |
also Mrs. Fields, the writer Of fine verse. |
and the widow Of James I. Fields. the pub
Usher and lecturer, and poet of no Ordi- |
nary gifts.
ELMWOOD.
When sojourning in Boston, which she |
does most of her time. the author of "Deep |
Haven sketches and other charming New |
England tales, Sarah Orme Jewett, makes |
her home with Mrs Fields. Lowell once
more is "A dweller at his native "ElmwOod,'
IN Cambridge. The splendid old mansion,
with IL lodge. stand, inclosed by several
acres of attractive ground in square
by itself, and j. an inYting enough |
place to visit. The grounds are stud
ded w1sh grand old elm-, in whose
branches the catbird, the robin and the |
81 arrow chat their songs day after day. Ii
is here also that the herOns come and abide
in their season. and of these strange birds
at "E!mwOOd" L0ngfcliOw sings in one of
nis last poems. II j. only "A short walk |
from IOwers home to the old Cragie man
sion. the home OF LOngiellOw for 80 many |
years, hallowed not only by his beautiful |
llfe. but by the majestic presence Of the |
father Of his country long years before the |
poet came TO live under It's roof. When IN
this country Mis-. MOultOn resided at her |
pleasant home on Rutland square, Boston.
and HeZekiah ButterwOrth has hOmelikc |
bachelor quarters on Worcester street. Dr |
Thomas W. Parsons. whose "Ode on Bust |
Of Dante" gave him fame. makes Boston |
his home most of the time; while Mrs. Juia |
Ward Howe. whose battle Hymn of the |
Republic did so much 10 inspire our he
role soldiers during the War Of the Rebel |
lion. comes here during "A portion OF each |
winter. though her real home j, i'm Law
toms Valley. close to Newport. 1t was at |
her home at the latter place tina. Marion |
Crawford, her nephew. wrote his famous |
novel MIR. Isaacs,n and read it 10 his aunt !
chapter by chapter, while at work on II.
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH.
Thomas Bailey Aldrich. who has lately |
resigned the editorship OF the Atlantic |
Monthly. and is now abroad with his family !
OWNS handsome house on Mount Vernon |
street, Boston, not far from the state House.
Aldrich used 10 spend his summers IN lit |
tie village called P0ukapOy, IN the outskirts |
Of the town Of Canton, a short ride from BOs- |
ton. IL was a very plain old-tashIoned house,
similar in appearance To n Ousands OF others |
scattered all over New Englans II was too |
stories in height, and rOOmy, with a lnrge |
pOrticO i'm front. 10 was painted brown |
and almost completely hidden from the |
broad street by belt of trees. The old |
mansion was built in colonial times, and |
was massive in every way. Aldrlchs |
study occupied a room on the second nOOr |
and the view from its windows was lovely |
in the extreme. Lofty hill, meadow. river |
and lake. all were to be seen, and |
the poet never tr Il gazing upon |
the picturesque scene Outspread be-
fore him. Nothing ever came to disturb |
him when at work, unless it was the chat |
ter of winsome brook hard by the house, |
or the continual chirp and song of the null |
titude of birds here id there. Occasion |
ally a carriage or wa CON wOuld pass along /
the road. but this was all that broke the |
sweet stiffness of the retreat where the au- |
thor Of BABY Belr' did some Of his best |
work in literature.
Margaret Deland, a poet, and the author |
Of that powerful story. "John Ward, |
Preacher" resides on Mount Vernon street. |
Miss Nora Perry and Louise Quincy make |
Boston their home. a. d. also Oscar Fay |
Adams and ArlO Bates. the latter being the |
editor of the Courier. Colonel HlggrsOn |
lives in a pretty Queen Anne cottage over |
in Cambridge, not far from Harvard College, |
and J. 4. Trowbridg', who wrote The |
Nagabouds." DARIUS Green and other |
popular ballads, a. well as stories that every |
boy in the land remembers, has coy home |
at Arlington, not far away.
IucV LarcOm one Of the best known of !
American poets, calls Bethel, Maine her
home, and Celia ThaXe whose verse - 50
dear TO all lovers ORE Il poetry, resides most
of the year al her fiy)rltc Isles Of shoals,
which she has 50 often celebrated IN song.
Edmund Clarence Ntcundn lives III NtN
York. and until recently in a house ON east
Twenty-siXth street. He i now at his sum-
mer home OF the New Hampshire coast. Mr..
stedman has in preparation course OF lee
lures on English literature, which he Is to
give at Johns Hopkins University, Balti-
more, the coming autumn.
HARRIET sPOFFORD.
Harriet Prescott SpOhord makes New
buryport her home, as does also James Par
ton, the writer Of interesting biographies
Mrs. DOrr is resident Of ligtland, VT,
where she has a home that Is the envy al
most of all who have seen it.John land Mrs.
;. VI. b. Piatt-husblnd and wife-haye a
pretty home at CleyeS, o., below Cincinnati,
overlooking the Ohio river. Mr.. Piatt is one
of the earliest Of Mr.. Howells' friends during
the years when the latter was an embryo
author in Ohio, and heir first volume was
published conformity. Ii contained some of
/ their best work.
General Lew Wallace has a most delight
| ful home at Charlottesville, Indiana, and so
has Maurice Thompson. Ii was while