The content discusses the friendship between two creative congressmen, Henry Bedinger and Alexander “Alec” Boteler, who both had a strong love for art despite their differing preferences in poetry and drawing. Boteler’s passion for art was not surprising given his ancestry, which included Charles Willson Peale, the leading portrait painter in early America who painted General Washington. While at Princeton, Boteler’s passion for drawing surfaced in ways that were fantastical and irrepressible. Bedinger, on the other hand, had a strong penchant for poetry.
The two congressmen were friends who enjoyed getting together with their wives and children. Bedinger left Congress for Denmark in the 1850s where he served as ambassador for most of the decade before he finally returned to his family in 1858. Boteler, who had a costly miscalculation in business and was called upon to pay nearly twenty thousand dollars, decided to enter the field of elected office where he served in Bedinger’s old Congressional seat from early 1859 until just before the war broke out.
Boteler’s love for art was evident not only in his own drawings but his ability to create a clever cartoon of Charles Harper’s home and apothecary shop. He added an ominous quote from Shakespeare’s Henry VI predicting dark times ahead. Bedinger’s time in Denmark was fruitful and even garnered him favor with King Frederick VII, who also indulged in playing chess with the excessively homely and sensitive Hans Christian Anderson. Carrie, Bedinger’s wife, disliked the card-playing of even the Episcopalian priest in Denmark but was fascinated by the widespread Christmas custom that they brought back from Europe – a decorated tree.
Bedinger wrote a limerick to Boteler inviting him over to share some barley bree and merry song. Overall, the content highlights the creative pursuits and friendship of Bedinger and Boteler, two congressmen who shared a love of art despite their differing preferences. Their personal lives and experiences illustrate a unique perspective on the culture and history of the time.
Posted by Jim Surkamp on 2015-03-26 12:48:58