Of course, on this trip, I have become used to hearing that artistic people of the time were all friends with each other – that the man who sculpted the Lincoln Memorial received his first sculpting lesson from Louisa May Alcott’s sister, that Emily Dickinson’s literary friend was Longfellow’s student, that the Alcott sisters were taught about nature by Henry David Thoreau – but it still surprises me each time.

Our next example to add to the list is the close proximity of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s home and Mark Twain’s not-so-humble abode. Mark Twain’s house was extravagantly decorated, with stenciled-on dark paint and intricate curtains made of fancy materials. He lived there with his wife and three daughters, whom he homeschooled in the nursery upstairs. They became proficient in German because a German woman lived with them for awhile, and she was instructed only to speak with the children in German. It seems Twain had similar education views to many of his innovative contemporaries – very hands-on and equal for boys and girls.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s house was much more modest. I loved her house because there were many small pieces of furniture that had been made to fit Stowe, who was 4’11”. Her tiny desk looked slightly too small for me, and the mirror on her vanity was just big enough to fit my whole frame inside of it. I felt I could’ve lived there and that this furniture could’ve been made for me instead of her. I also didn’t know Stowe had also been an artist. Many pieces of her art hang on the walls inside the home now; she enjoyed painting nature scenes and never once painted a portrait. I love finding out that the authors we’ve been studying weren’t just clever in their writing. They were creative and independent thinkers in every way – and it shows in how they lived their lives.