2 Henshaw, In Memoriam: William Brewster. [jan. 



William was the youngest of four children. His sister and two 

 brothers died in early childhood. They were old enough, how- 

 ever, to attract the notice of the poet, Longfellow, a near-by 

 Cambridge neighbor, and who, no doubt, frequently saw them at 

 play as he passed and repassed the old colonial mansion, shaded 

 by venerable English lindens. It was the early death of the 

 children that inspired the poem entitled 'The Open Window,' 

 which begins : 



"The old house under the lindens 

 Stands silent in the shade." 



In 1845 John Brewster bought the Riedesel mansion on the 

 corner of Brattle and Sparks Streets, Cambridge. It was so 

 called because the Baron Riedesel, with his wife, was quartered 

 there after the surrender of Burgoyne. Brewster's father took 

 pleasure in showing to his guests a window pane, not now in place, 

 on which is scratched with a diamond the family name, Riedesel, 

 presumably the work of the Baroness during her enforced residence. 

 The history of the old house, supposed to date back to about 1750, 

 would make interesting reading, but we may pause here only to 

 note that Sewall, a Royalist, at one time occupied it, and was 

 mobbed there during the stirring events of 1774, when loyalty to 

 King George was treason to the States. 



Brewster spent his boyhood in the historic mansion, the lower 

 story of which was later replaced by his father with one containing 

 the modern improvements. Later still, about 1887, an entirely 

 new house was built on the site of the old one by William himself. 



He was educated in the public schools of Cambridge. From the 

 Washington Grammar School he went to the Cambridge High 

 School, taking there the usual preparatory course for Harvard, which, 

 however, he was destined not to enter. Never robust, he suffered 

 much during youth and early manhood from impaired sight, which, 

 sometimes for considerable periods, precluded all reading and study. 

 In consequence, during his last and most important year in school, 

 he was able to read very little, and his devoted mother read aloud 

 to him many of his lessons, which he committed to memory as best 

 he could. Small wonder was it that, under these circumstances, 

 he finally decided to relinquish all idea of a college education. 

 Though he did not underrate the advantages of a scholastic train- 



