This long-beloved poet, whose first American ancestor arrived from England in 1676, taught modern European languages at Bowdoin College and then at Harvard. While he and his young wife were visiting Europe, she died in Rotterdam. After he returned to Cambridge, he rented lodging at Craigie House, which had been General George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War. Later Henry married Fanny Appleton. Six children were born to them in the Craigie House that had been given to them by Fanny's father, a wealthy Bostonian. Fanny died a tragic death when she burned to death after hot sealing wax ignited her dress.

Resigning his Harvard chair in 1854, Longfellow devoted his life to writing. His literary legacy includes The Song of Hiawatha and The Courtship of Miles Standish, Tales of a Wayside Inn, and Evangeline. He also translated Dante’s Divine Comedy into English.

This American Unitarian poet was honored by Queen Victoria, Oxford University, Cambridge University, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Spanish Academy. His brother Samuel, a Unitarian minister, wrote the authorized biography of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in two volumes.