The Good Boy
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow–the portrait in Bowdoin’s library, the plaque outside of Winthrop Hall, even the name of our playground. Few people are more closely connected to Bowdoin than our resident famous poet. But the story of Longfellow’s time at Bowdoin is not nearly as well known as the campus symbols he has come to represent.
Longfellow was born in 1807 in Portland, Maine. His family was one of the city’s finest. Henry’s grandfather Peleg Wadsworth was a congressman and his father, Stephen, was a prominent judge and Bowdoin Trustee. Henry was the second of eight children and his early life was especially connected to that of his eldest brother Stephen. The younger Longfellow showed exceptional promise at a young age. At the age of three he was already reading and enrolled in school. The Longfellow mansion was next door to the Preble mansion, so growing up Henry was very close to future classmate Edward Deering Preble. Henry also knew his future Bowdoin classmates John Dafforne Kinsman and Patrick Henry Greenleaf, and may also have known fellow Portlander Frederic Mellen. Longfellow spent his summers in Hiram, Maine, helping his grandfather Peleg tend his farm. Henry also took an early interest in poetry. At the age of thirteen he had a poem anonymously published in the Portland Gazette. However, Longfellow’s enthusiasm was dampened when he heard a family member casually critique the poem. The young boy cried himself to sleep that night, but he did not give up his literary dreams.
Longfellow visited Brunswick for the first time in September of 1821. Though just fourteen, he easily passed Bowdoin’s entrance exams and was admitted to college alongside his brother Stephen. Still, since Henry was so young and his brother such a troublemaker, his parents decided to keep them home their first year. Longfellow spent that year living in his childhood house and following the curriculum remotely. He kept pace of the curriculum by exchanging letters with classmate George Washington Pierce, his future brother-in-law.
Sophomore year the Longfellow brothers were finally allowed to move to Brunswick. They lived at the home of Reverend Benjamin Titcomb, in what is today the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. The Reverend was a friend of the Longfellows’ father, but his home was far less comfortable than their Portland mansion. The only heat in the home came from one small fireplace and the Reverend was a strict man who kept a close eye on his tenants. Longfellow also missed his sisters’ baking, imploring on more than one occasion to have them bake and send along a whole parcel of Gingerbread. “P.S. The Gingerbread is of the utmost importance” concluded a February 18, 1823 letter to his father.
Junior year the Longfellow brothers escaped his watchful eye and moved to Winthrop Hall. Winthrop #27, the room they occupied their last two years at Bowdoin still stands as Winthrop #301.
Freed from adult authority, Stephen Longfellow went a bit wild at Bowdoin. Henry, however, continually remained a committed student. Throughout his entire Bowdoin career, he was only fined once by the Executive Government, and it was under unusual circumstances. He garnered the respect of his peers who considered him an expert in Belles Lettres. The Bowdoin librarians knew Longfellow well, due to his habit of diligently researching every topic he was assigned. His professors were also aware of Longfellow’s brilliance. According to John S. C. Abbott, after hearing Longfellow expound on Horace at an examination, a Bowdoin trustee became determined to appoint the boy as a professor. Longfellow also spoke at multiple Class Exhibitions at Bowdoin. In 1823 he took part in a dialogue with James Ware Bradbury entitled, “Between an English and a North American Savage.” Longfellow took the part of a Wampanoag Chief and used the piece to argue that English settlers treated Native Americans unfairly. Still the piece is colored by early nineteenth century attitudes towards indigenous peoples, including the myth of the noble savage. Longfellow would continue to use America’s native peoples as subject material long into his career.
Though he was a committed student, Longfellow did not spend all of time at Bowdoin memorizing his declamations. He loved to walk through Maine’s woods and along the Androscoggin River’s banks. Longfellow also had a bit of musical talent and took up playing the flute. He had a rich social life at Bowdoin, in part because of his association with the Peucinian Society. Longfellow also continued to write and publish poetry. He was a consistent contributor to periodicals throughout Portland as an undergraduate and his work was well-respected. Because of his hard work and promise, Longfellow was awarded the fourth rank at Commencement and gave an oration entitled “Our Native Writers.” He was also part of the inaugural class of Phi Beta Kappa.
However, Longfellow’s connection to Bowdoin did not end after graduation. The college was impressed with what he achieved at just eighteen. They offered him a position as the newly established Professor of Modern Languages and gave him $600 to spend three years in Europe preparing for the role. Longfellow enthusiastically accepted the position. He was uninterested in a life like his brother’s, trapped in Portland working for his father. After travelling throughout Europe and mastering Spanish, French, German, and Italian, Longfellow returned to Brunswick to teach these subjects and serve as the college librarian. In 1829, he married a woman named Mary Potter. Longfellow remained at Bowdoin until 1835, when he accepted an offer from Harvard to become a professor of belles-lettres. He travelled again to Europe to improve his language skills, but tragedy struck when Mary died of a miscarriage in the Netherlands. Longfellow was distraught because of her death, but continued the trip nonetheless. Afterwards, he moved to Cambridge and devoted himself to teaching and the publication of many literary works. He was soon recognized as one of America’s finest poets. In 1843, he married Frances Appleton, a woman whom he had been in love with for years. The pair had six children. Tragedy struck again in 1861, when Frances perished in a fire at the Longfellow’s home. Longfellow returned to Bowdoin in 1875 for his 50th class reunion. There he read an original poem entitled “Morituri Salutamus” or “We Greet Death.” He died just seven years later and left a legacy as one of the finest authors of his time.