Richard Watson Gilder Richard Watson Gilder ( February 8 , 1844 – November 19 , 1909 ) was an American poet and editor . Life and career . Gilder was born at Bordentown , New Jersey . He was the son of Jane ( Nutt ) Gilder and the Rev . William Henry Gilder , and educated at his father ' s seminary in Flushing , Queens . There he learned to set type and published the " St . Thomas Register " . Gilder later studied law at Philadelphia . During the American Civil War , he enlisted in the state ' s Emergency Volunteer Militia as a private in Landis ' Philadelphia Battery at the time of the Robert E . Lee ' s 1863 invasion of Pennsylvania . After the Confederates were defeated in the Battle of Gettysburg , Gilder and his unit were mustered out in August . The death of his father , while serving as chaplain of the Fortieth New York Volunteers , obliged him to give up the study of the law . A little later , he became a reporter on the Newark ( New Jersey ) " Advertiser " , of which he was later editor . With Newton Crane , he founded the Newark " Register " . In 1870 , he became editor of " Hours at Home " , a monthly magazine published by Scribner ' s . It merged with " Scribner ' s Monthly " , which was edited by J . G . Holland . Gilder became managing editor . When Holland died in 1881 , Gilder became editor . In November 1881 , the monthly was renamed as " The Century Magazine " , and Gilder remained its editor until his death . Gilder ' s assistant editor at " Century " was Sophia Bledsoe Herrick . Gilder took an active interest in all public affairs , especially those which tend towards reform and good government , and was a member of many New York clubs . He was one of the founders of the Society of American Architects , of the Authors ' Club , and of the International Copyright League . He was a founder of the Anti - Spoils League and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters . He was a close friend of George MacDonald , Scottish poet , author , and preacher . They collaborated in various ventures such as MacDonald ' s American lecture tour in the ' 70s . Gilder received the degree of LL . D . from Dickinson College in 1883 . Gilder was a member of the Simplified Spelling Board . He was a leader in the organization of the Citizens ' Union , a founder and the first president of the Kindergarten Association , and of the Association for the Blind . Gilder was chairman of the first Tenement House Commission in New York City . During his service on the commission , he arranged to be called whenever there was a fire in a tenement house , and at all hours of the night he risked his health and his life itself to see the perils besetting the dwellers of the tenements , in order to make wise recommendations as to legislation that would minimize these perils . Family . On 3 June 1874 , Gilder married a daughter of Commodore George Coleman De Kay , Helena de Kay ( 1846 – 1916 ) . She was a talented painter and a founder of the Art Students League and Society of American Artists . She also modeled for , and was an unrequited love of , the painter Winslow Homer . Gilder and de Kay were the models for the characters Thomas and Augusta Hudson in Wallace Stegner ' s Pulitzer - prize winning novel , " Angle of Repose " . Their son , Rodman de Kay Gilder ( 1877 – 1953 ) , became an author and married Louise Comfort Tiffany , a daughter of Louis Comfort Tiffany . A celebrated plaster sculpture of the family by Augustus Saint - Gaudens is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art . Gilder ' s sibling s were William Henry Gilder , an explorer ; Jeannette Leonard Gilder , a journalist ; and Joseph Benson Gilder , an editor . Gilder ' s daughter , Rosamond Gilder , edited " Letters of Richard Watson Gilder " , published by Houghton Mifflin Company in 1916 .