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In the spring of 1878,
Colonel Higginson went abroad for several months.
After his return in the autumn, he moved his goods and chattels to
Cambridge.
Here he took delight in planning a new home, and in February, 1879, was quietly married to the writer of this memoir.
His old friend,
Rev. Samuel Longfellow, performed the ceremony.
The ‘being beauteous’ of
Longfellow's poem, ‘Footsteps of Angels,’ was my mother's sister, and the poet was present at the wedding.
A visit made soon afterward to my kindred in
Harper's Ferry was described by
Colonel Higginson in a letter to his sister:—
You can imagine nothing more curious than our arrival at Harper's Ferry.
It was in the evening . . . The train stopped in a dismantled sort of station where stood an old man with soft white hair on his shoulders holding a lantern and attended by two blooming, fair-haired daughters; they seized us with joy. There seemed no houses anywhere and we set off to walk across ruined pavements feebly lighted by the one lantern.
Presently they turned up a flight of
