The video and post explore the lives of Henry Bedinger and Alec Boteler, two creative Congressmen from the Shepherdstown area in West Virginia during the mid-19th century. Though they came from different backgrounds, both men shared a love for art and poetry. Alec Boteler was descended from famous portrait painter Charles Willson Peale, while Henry Bedinger was an accomplished poet. The two men became friends as young lawyers with families and often spent time together with their wives and children.
In 1851, Henry Bedinger wrote a limerick to his neighbor at Fountain Rock inspired by his readings of Robert Burns. The invitation urged him to visit for a night of joy, cheer, and merriment. After serving in Congress for four years, Bedinger left with his family for Denmark to become the US ambassador there for most of the 1850s.
During Bedinger’s absence, Boteler experienced a business calamity in which he was forced to pay nearly $20,000, a large part of which was his wife’s money. This experience may have influenced Boteler’s decision to run for Bedinger’s former Congressional seat, which he began serving in early 1859. Boteler also had a talent for drawing and created a cartoon of the apothecary shop that still stands on German Street, adding Shakespeare’s ominous words from Henry VI: “Heavy looks foretell some dreadful story hanging on thy tongue.”
In November 1858, Ambassador Bedinger returned home to Carrie and their three children, who had come back from Denmark two years earlier. Carrie disliked the card-playing of even the Episcopalian priest in Denmark, and the family brought back the widespread Christmas custom of decorating a tree. Despite his homesickness, Bedinger wrote about his experiences in Denmark and became a favorite of King Frederick VII. Hans Christian Andersen often joined him for chess games.
Overall, the post explores the close friendship between two creative Congressmen who shared a love for art and poetry, but who also experienced their share of difficulties and personal hardships.
Posted by Jim Surkamp on 2015-03-26 12:48:53