The Boardinghouse

[thea_447]

This does not pertain to "our" war but I found it so fascinating that I am putting it in anyway... Thea



Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years

Il****rated letter, Amasa J. Parker to Harriet Parker describing the boardinghouse where he and two future presidents resided, 31 December 1837.
(Amasa J. Parker Papers)




In the earlier years of the republic, wives and families of members of Congress often did not accompany their husbands and fathers to Washington. Demands at home were pressing, distances were great, and travel slow and hazardous. Moreover, Washington's climate could be unpleasant and unhealthy, and living quarters were expensive and in short supply. Many of the members, therefore, congregated in boardinghouses located near the United States Capitol. During these periods of enforced separation and loneliness, distance was frequently bridged by the writing of letters.

Amasa Junius Parker (1807-1890), a Democratic representative from Delhi, a town in New York's Catskills, wrote more than sixty letters to his wife Harriet during the course of his single term in Congress (1837-39). She was Harriet Langdon Roberts (1814-1899), born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the daughter of Edmund Roberts (1784-1836), a diplomatic emissary to Siam and Muscat under President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845). Parker's letters to her provide fascinating insights into both his character and the nation's capital during the early presidency of Martin Van Buren (1782-1862). In this letter of 31 December 1837, Parker drew the plan of the first floor of Mrs. Pittman's boardinghouse and sketched the table and seating arrangement of his messmates. Two future presidents, Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) of New York and James Buchanan (1791-1868) of Pennsylvania, shared the table with Parker. The table was so long that it extended beyond the dining room past folding doors into the parlor. John J. McDonough, Manuscript Division