Charles Longfellow: A Life of Adventure

A note from Don Chapman: After creating the bio of Longfellow I found his son Charley fascinating enough that he deserved his own article! Read more about his adventurous life:

What drives a person to constantly seek new horizons? For Charles “Charley” Longfellow, the adventurous firstborn son of America’s beloved poet, the answer lay in an insatiable curiosity about the world and a spirit that refused to be confined by convention.

Early Life and Civil War Service: The Young Longfellow

Born in 1844 to Henry and Fanny Longfellow, young Charley showed his dynamic nature early. “He promises to be a man of action,” his mother observed, watching him study the busy life of Cambridge’s Brattle Street. That promise revealed itself dramatically when, at age eleven, a mishandled gun cost him his left thumb – the first of many close calls in what would become a life of calculated risks.

At eighteen, Charley’s adventurous spirit led him to secretly enlist in the Union Army, much to his father’s distress. He survived both malaria and a near-fatal wound to his back during the Virginia campaign. Rather than dampen his wanderlust, these brushes with death seemed to fuel it.

Maritime Adventures and European Travel: Setting Sail

When doctors recommended a change of scenery, Charley embraced the sea. He helped set a transatlantic speed record during an 1866 yacht crossing to England, marking the beginning of his lifelong love affair with sailing. From England, his compass pointed ever eastward, leading him through Paris and into Russia, each destination stoking his appetite for more.

Asian Exploration and Japanese Culture: Eastern Journeys

On June 1, 1871, Charley sent his father a characteristically casual telegram from San Francisco: “Have suddenly decided to sail for Japan today. Good bye. Send letters to the Oriental Bank Corporation, Yokohama. –C. A. L.” This impulsive decision led to what would become the most profound chapter of his wandering life.

Unlike other wealthy Western travelers who maintained a careful distance from local culture, Charley threw himself into Japanese life with characteristic enthusiasm. He learned to read, write, and speak Japanese – a remarkable achievement for someone who regularly mangled English spelling and punctuation in his own journals. In the Tokyo-Yokohama area, he became known as an energetic and curious presence, forming friendships with young former samurai, including Iwasaki Yatarō, who would later found the Mitsubishi corporation.

His connections extended to the highest levels of society. Through his friendship with American Minister-Resident Charles De Long, Charley gained an audience with the young Emperor Meiji and joined diplomatic missions across the country. In September 1871, he ventured north to Hokkaido and traveled through the Tohoku region, still bearing fresh scars from the recent Boshin War. His journals reveal not just a tourist’s observations but a deeply engaged traveler who studied local history and legends. At Shiogama Shrine, he carefully noted the ancient legend of “four large iron salt-boiling kettles sent down by the gods hundreds of years ago.”

Charley even attempted to put down roots, building a house in Tsukiji and adopting Japanese dress. His immersion in Japanese culture was so complete that when financial difficulties and family pressure forced his departure in 1873, he wrote longingly to his sister Alice from Shanghai: “Give me back my quiet, free, life in Japan.” He signed the letter “Charley san,” a telling indication of how deeply Japan had touched his soul. Though he would visit countless other places in his lifetime, he returned to Japan three times – the only destination that ever seemed to truly feel like home to this perpetual wanderer.

Global Wanderer: World Travels and Cultural Immersion

Between 1875 and 1891, Charley’s passport filled with stamps from an astonishing array of destinations: Cuba, Mexico, Scotland, Ireland, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Italy, North Africa, Turkey, France, the West Indies, Egypt, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Wales, Colombia, and Australia. Unlike other gentlemen travelers of his era who observed foreign lands from a safe distance, Charley dove deep into local cultures. His journals, though casual with spelling and punctuation, reveal a profound appreciation for the customs and beliefs he encountered.

Bachelor Life and Final Years: Return to Cambridge

While his siblings settled into proper Boston society, Charley maintained only a modest bachelor apartment on Beacon Hill between his wanderings. He never built on his inherited Brattle Street land, perhaps because building a home would mean staying in one place. Only in his final months, before pneumonia claimed him in 1893, did he return to rest in his father’s house under his sister Alice’s care.

Today, Charley Longfellow’s grave in Mount Auburn Cemetery marks the final rest of a man who could never rest in life – a nineteenth-century soul with a decidedly modern appetite for adventure and understanding.