#SixDegreesNPS - Lowell connects with Longfellow House - Washingtons Headquarters National Historic Site Just before his wedding to Fanny Appleton in 1843, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had been renting rooms in the Cambridge house that George Washington had made his headquarters in 1775. As wedding gift, Fannys father purchased the house for the couple for $10,000 (a rather huge sum in 1843). He also bought the lot across the street so that the couple could view the Charles River unobstructed. Her father could afford the purchase- he was Nathan Appleton, one of the very successful founders and financiers of the mills at both Waltham and Lowell. He had helped bankroll Francis Cabot Lowells experiments in building the first power loom in America. In Lowell, he owned a significant interest in many of the original factories- the Appleton Mill on Jackson Street was founded and named by his brother Samuel.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 23:35:46 +0000