94 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
94 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
# Eben Norton Horsford
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## Early Life
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- Was born in Moscow, NY, July 27, 1818 [@AdamsMemBiog08, 103]
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- Died in Cambridge, MA, January 1, 1893 [@AdamsMemBiog08, 103]
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- Grandfather on his mother's side fought in the Revolutionary War
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[@AdamsMemBiog08, p.103]
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- His father had moved to Moscow NY as a missionary to the Seneca Indians
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[@AdamsMemBiog08, p.103]
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- A large part of his Norumbega thesis was how Norse words could be found in
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American Indian place names; perhaps this experience with natives gave him
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inspiration or confidence.
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- "[Horsford] grew up with strong scholarly tastes, and was known to his
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playmates as a marvel of general information. It is interesting to note that
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a favorite amusement was collecting the fossils which abounded on his
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father's farm, as this recreation of his boyhood undoubtedly turned his
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thoughts toward the natural sciences, to which so large a part of his manhood
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was devoted, while at the same time his early association with the Seneca
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Indians, who flocked ot his father's house in large numbers, familiarized him
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with Indian words and pronunciation, and this paved the way for the
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philological and archaeological studies of his older years."[@JackHors92,
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p.340]
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- As above, a shadow of his later interests can be seen already in the
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hobbies of his early years.
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- "He was sent to the best schools, and at the age of nineteen graduated as a
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civil engineer from the Renseelaer Institute of Trow, New
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York"[@AdamsMemBiog08, p.104]
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- Had good education, somewhat wealthy parents.
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## Employment
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- "He was then employed on the Geological Survey of the State of New
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York"[@AdamsMemBiog08, p.104]
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- Had some experience with geographic survey, possibly what gave him
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confidence in his archaeological pursuits.
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- "In 1844 he went to Germany to study chemistry, and spent two years at
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Giessen under Baron Liebig"[@AdamsMemBiog08, p.104]
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- "He usually spent his summers at Shelter Island, New York, in the old manor
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house, which had belonged to his wife's family. He interested himself in
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studying the antiquity of the island, and erected a monument to the Quakers,
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who found shelter there from Puritan persecution."[@AdamsMemBiog08, p.104]
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- Another instance of Horsford being interested in history, erecting
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monuments. Seems like a hobby of his.
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- Also has religious elements, just as the Norumbega myth & Protestantism
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vs. Catholicism.
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## Baking Powder
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-
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## Later Life and Interest in Norumbega
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- "In the comparative leisure of his later years he became deeply interested in
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endeavoring to trace the routes of the Northmen, who early visited this
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continent."[@AdamsMemBiog08, p.104]
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- Had a lot of free time, was used to doing research as his job and as his
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hobby.
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- Seems he was genuinely interested, wasn't being paid or anything.
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- "He studied the sagas, pored over the ancient charts, explored the coast of
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New England, and at length became assured that he found, in Cambridge, the
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location of the house built by Leif Ericson, and that at Watertown, on the
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Charles River, he had discovered the long-lost Norumbega, the settlement of
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the Icelandic voyagers. Here he erected a substantial stone tower to mark the
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spot."[@AdamsMemBiog08, p.104-5]
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- Seems he did extensive research, and thought he was being objective,
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though probably biased as he lived in Cambridge.
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- The biographer takes a pretty neutral tone as to the veracity of Eben's
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claim here; seems nobody believed/nobody cared about his ideas after he
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died.
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- Again, just as in the Quaker thing above, he likes erecting monuments.
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- "In 1891 the Scandinavian societies of North America, in testimony of their
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appreciation of his efforts to demonstrate the discovery and colonization of
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America by the Northmen, presented him, in their annual assembly, an
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engrossed address, framed in wood from Norway, and elaborately carved by a
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Norwegian lady. In 1892 the king of Denmark created him a Knight Commander of
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the third grade of the Order of Danneborg."[@AdamsMemBiog08, p.105]
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- Seems his ideas were well-received by former Vikings.
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"in the mid 16th century the name Norumbega reffered to the Penobscot Bay
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area and, by extension, to what is now Maine and southern New Brunswick" b/c of GIROlamo Verrazzano (map guy) refugio -> oranbega
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[@KirsNor98, 35]
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## Other Doings
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- "Wellesley College was the object of his largest benefactions (...) He
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enlarged and endowed the college library, and provided a fund for scientific
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apparatus."[@AdamsMemBiog08, p.105]
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- Seems he made good of his wealth from baking soda.
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\pagebreak
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# References
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