As I planned our trip to Boston, I stumbled upon an opportunity to meet with Nathaniel Hawthorne in Concord because one of his homes is part of Minuteman National Park.
You all know how we like to meet historic people right? We were in for some surprises!
After walking in the footsteps of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, we drove to the historic home of Wayside, located on Battlefield Road in Concord, Massachusetts.
As our van drove by Wayside House, we saw a man in 19th century attire slowly strolling outside while reading a book.
Excitedly we parked the van, and walked toward him, as others followed.
With a teasing smile he announced: You know you are trespassing on private property.
I quickly learned that he’s a bit elusive.
Admitting his shyness, Hawthorne proclaimed that people keep dropping in on him at home!
After a short discussion on his front lawn, he said he needed to attend to some writing.
However, he suggested that we go into the carriage house to sign up for the tour, not that he ever authorized anyone to do this, but he suspected his publisher had something to do with it.
Three famous literary families have lived here.
Louisa May Alcott lived here
While the Alcotts lived here, the called the home, Hillside.
From the age of 13 to 16, Louisa May Alcott lived here with her three sisters.
Performing amateur plays with her sisters under this roof, Louisa included them in her book, Little Women.
Louisa also wrote of their abolitionist actions: fugitive slaves were sheltered under our roof.
Much preferring Boston to Concord, Louisa’s mother talked the family into moving and renting the house.
Nathaniel Hawthorne bought this house from the Alcotts
A few years later, Hawthorne purchased this house from the Alcotts when they moved into Orchard House next door.
Renaming it Wayside, Hawthorne said the new name was more fitting with his personality.
Author of The Five Little Peppers and how they Grew lived here
After his death in 1864, a later author to live in the home was Margaret Sydney, the author of The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew.
We learned about different aspects of the house as it pertained to each author in residence there.
After the tour, we met with Hawthorne again on the porch
Free to ask him questions galore, my daughter and I peppered him with literary questions even though we were desperately trying to remember everything we had studied about him and The Scarlet Letter two years ago!
When he mentioned Poe and Melville, my daughter told him she had read some of their writings, so he talked to her a bit about them.
He liked my son’s question, which asked about what inspires him to write. In essence, he wrote with a purpose, much to Poe’s criticism.
When he didn’t mention his specific inspiration for The Scarlet Letter, I asked him about his preface where he explains that he found an old box of papers and the letter A.
With a smile on his face he said that was actually fictional.
Did I believe it really happened?
When I said yes, he smiled and satisfactorily commented that he had accomplished his purpose!
After he mentioned several of his books that none of us had heard of, he replied that his books need to be better publicized.
Shopping for his books will make Hawthorne’s publisher happy
At the gift shop, my daughter bought a copy of The House of the Seven Gables and she talked me into buying The Blithedale Romance.
The interpreter reminded us of someone
Taken aback at how much his appearance, mannerisms, interpretation, and twinkling teasing of his eye reminded me of my son’s favorite interpreter in Colonial Williamsburg, I thought I was imagining things.
However, my family came to me after the program to tell me he reminded them of the same person! They could pass as brothers. We talked all afternoon about how these look-alikes were so incredibly motivational to the kids, one with history and the other with literature.
