Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) became one of the most celebrated American poets of the nineteenth century. His work holds particular significance for the Mayflower Descendants Museum: he was a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, whose courtship he immortalized in The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858).

Set in early Plymouth Colony, the narrative poem follows Miles Standish as he asks John Alden to propose marriage to Priscilla Mullins on his behalf. Priscilla instead turns the question toward John himself: “Why don’t you speak for yourself, John?” Drawing on a story associated with his own family, Longfellow transformed his ancestors’ remembered romance into an enduring piece of American literature. The love triangle is a family legend rather than an established historical account. (Pilgrim Hall Museum; The Poetry Foundation)

Multiple Mayflower Passenger Connections

His Mayflower ancestry extended beyond the Aldens. Genealogist Gary Boyd Roberts, writing for American Ancestors, identifies John Alden, Priscilla Mullins and her parents William and Alice Mullins; William and Mary Brewster; John Howland, Elizabeth Tilley and her parents John and Joan Tilley; Henry Samson; and Richard Warren among Longfellow’s Mayflower ancestors. (American Ancestors)

Longfellow’s literary legacy also includes The Song of Hiawatha, first published in 1855. The Mayflower Descendants Museum holds an 1898 Minnehaha Edition, published by Smith-Andrews Publishing Company of Chicago, reflecting the continued publication and popularity of his writing decades after its original appearance.

Longfellow’s artistic legacy also continued through his son, Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow (1845–1921), who became an accomplished painter. Ernest studied in London and Paris before establishing a studio in Boston in 1869. He continued his artistic training in France and Italy with painters including Léon Bonnat, G. P. A. Healy, and Thomas Couture. By the 1870s, his career was well established: an 1876 exhibition resulted in the sale of more than one hundred paintings, and he later served as vice president of the Boston Art Club. (National Park Service)

The painting appears to show a woman our founder tracked who looks very similar to a woman in another, far larger, painting by Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow depicting a group traveling along the Nile. Here is the painting, the woman is holding her hand to her forehead, zooming into the image the similarities can be viewed: Lot - Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow Orientalist Painting

There is particularly compelling evidence connecting the work to Ernest’s travels in Egypt. Ernest and his wife, Harriet “Hattie” Spelman Longfellow, traveled down the Nile for the first time during the winter of 1878–1879. The collection of the Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site contains several paintings documenting this period, including View of the Nile with Ruins of Kom Ombo Temple, dated 1879; View of the Nile, circa 1879; and Sailboats Along the Nile. (NPGallery)

Because Longfellow is documented painting Nile subjects during this journey, the Museum’s work may date to around 1879 or the period immediately surrounding his Egyptian travels. Further research will be needed before assigning a more precise date.

Together, the objects tell a story of creativity moving from one generation to another: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow through literature and Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow through painting. They also demonstrate how the arts within one family could take very different forms while becoming part of a broader American cultural story.

Sources & Further Reading

National Park Service — Ernest Longfellow, Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site. (National Park Service)
National Park Service — Oil Paintings in the Longfellow House–Washington’s Headquarters NHS Collection. (NPGallery)
National Park Service — Sailboats Along the Nile by Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow. (National Park Service)
HathiTrust — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha, Minnehaha Edition, Smith-Andrews Publishing Company, 1898. (HathiTrust Digital Library)