1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night.

2. Family
Named after his mother’s brother who died heroically in the Navy
His family was involved as Congressman, Judges, Legislature, and outstanding Military service
His family enjoyed reading literature
His father wanted him to be a lawyer, but Henry was determined to be a writer and be famous.

3. Interesting Facts
Henry was born in Portland, Maine to Stephen and Zilpah
He learned to play the piano and the flute
He was 15 when he went to Bowdoin College in Main
He was a classmate of Nathanial Hawthorne and Franklin Pierce
He went to Europe to prepare himself to be a Professor of Language at Bowdoin

4. Personal Life
Henry married in 1831 but lost his wife and child a few years later. He never recovered.
1836 He took a Smith Professorship at Harvard
1843 He married Frances and they have 3 daughters and 2 sons

5. Personal Life
1861 Frances died while sealing a letter with candle wax. Her dress caught fire.
Henry tried to save her and was burned badly himself

6. Expressions that came from Longfellow
“footprints on the sands of time” from A Psalm of Life
“into each life some rain must fall” from The Rainy Day