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Longfellow Family, 1849 - National Parks Gallery

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Summary

Half-length portrait of the Longfellow family, taken August 1849 in Portland, Maine. Henry and Fanny Longfellow face each other in profile and their sons Charles and Ernest face the camera. This is probably the image about which Henry Longfellow wrote, "Had a daguerreotype of Fanny and myself and the children taken, the two latter very charming, the two former not perfectly satisfactory."

Born in 1844, "Charley" Longfellow was the beloved first child of Henry and Fanny Longfellow. In 1863, he ran off to enlist as a private in the Union Army during the Civil War, and eventually received a commission as a lieutenant in a cavalry regiment. Miraculously, he survived a bout with malaria and what could have been a mortal wound in his back, which he received while on campaign in Virginia. After his wounding, he turned to sail. His 1866 voyage to England on his uncle's yacht the "Alice" set a record for a transatlantic crossing. From there he traveled on to Paris, and then to Russia and back. He accompanied brother Ernest to Europe on his honeymoon in 1868-1869 but soon lost interest in completing the Grand Tour and accepted an invitation to go to India where he stayed for 15 months, traveling around northern India and the Himalayas. He returned home via the newly opened Suez Canal. His Indian experiences are documented in some of the many photo albums he assembled. In 1871 Charley set off for Asia. He lived in Tokyo for almost two years. The furniture, works of art, porcelain, textiles, and books he sent back to 105 Brattle Street were early contributions to what became a "Japan Craze" in the United States. From Japan, Charley went to China and also managed to visit the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand before returning home in 1874. Between 1875 and 1891 he went to Cuba, Mexico, Scotland, Ireland, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Italy, North Africa, Turkey, France, the West Indies, Egypt, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Wales, Colombia, Australia, and returned several times to England and Japan. Unlike other gentlemen travelers of his era, Charley wanted to experience life in his travel destinations, rather than merely observe it.

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longfellow house washington s headquarters national historic site middlesex county massachusetts daguerreotype portrait charles appleton longfellow ernest wadsworth longfellow frances elizabeth appleton longfellow henry wadsworth longfellow long 4807 fanny longfellow face henry longfellow longfellow ernest face two latter half length portrait henry fanny sons charles national parks gallery high resolution portraits cambridge ultra high resolution daguerreotypes
date_range

Date

1849
collections

in collections

Charles Appleton Longfellow

Charles A. Longfellow, son of the poet Henry Longfellow.
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Location

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Source

National Parks Gallery
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Link

https://npgallery.nps.gov/
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Public Domain Dedication

label_outline Explore Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow, Frances Elizabeth Appleton Longfellow, Charles Appleton Longfellow

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longfellow house washington s headquarters national historic site middlesex county massachusetts daguerreotype portrait charles appleton longfellow ernest wadsworth longfellow frances elizabeth appleton longfellow henry wadsworth longfellow long 4807 fanny longfellow face henry longfellow longfellow ernest face two latter half length portrait henry fanny sons charles national parks gallery high resolution portraits cambridge ultra high resolution daguerreotypes