Elinor Mead Howells facts for kids

Elinor Mead Howells (born May 1, 1837, died May 6, 1910) was an American artist and architect. She was married to the famous writer William Dean Howells. Elinor even designed their home, the William Dean Howells House in Cambridge.

Elinor's Early Life

Elinor Gertrude Mead was born on May 1, 1837. Her hometown was Chesterfield, New Hampshire. Her parents were Mary Jane Noyes and Larkin Goldsmith Mead. Elinor came from a very well-known family in New England.

Her Talented Family

Elinor had two brothers who were also very creative. Her brother, Larkin Goldsmith Mead, born in 1835, became a sculptor. Her other brother, William Rutherford Mead, born in 1846, became an architect.

Elinor's family also had connections to important people. Rutherford B. Hayes, who later became a United States President, was her cousin. Her uncle, John Humphrey Noyes, was the founder of the Oneida Community. Elinor finished high school in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Meeting William Howells

In the winter of 1860, Elinor visited Columbus, Ohio. She stayed with her cousin's niece, Laura Platt. There, she met the writer William Dean Howells.

Elinor and William decided to get married. They traveled to London with her brother. They learned they needed to live there for a week before marrying. So, they went to Paris instead. They got married in Paris on December 24, 1862.

Their Children and Homes

Elinor and William had three children. Their first child, Winifred, was born in 1863. Their son, John Mead Howells, born in 1868, also became an architect. Their youngest child, Mildred, was born in 1872.

From 1861 to 1865, William Howells worked as a consul in Venice, Italy. The family lived there during that time. In 1866, the Howells family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. They lived in a house close to Harvard University.

Designing Their Home

The William Dean Howells House in Cambridge, Massachusetts was designed by Elinor Howells and occupied by her family from 1873 to 1878.

Elinor Howells was the architect and interior designer for their home. It was called the William Dean Howells House. The house was located at 37 Concord Avenue.

Life in the Howells House

The family moved into their new home on July 7, 1873. Elinor and William both thought it was "the prettiest house in Cambridge." They hoped to live there forever.

Because William was a successful writer, many famous people visited their home. These visitors included authors like Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Henry James, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, Bret Harte, and Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Even President James Garfield visited them.

Elinor Howells was very good at judging stories. Her husband and his friends respected her opinions on fiction. She often saw Samuel Clemens and Henry James. She also wrote many letters to Clemens and to Susan Warner, the wife of writer Charles Dudley Warner.

Later Travels

The Howells family left Cambridge in 1878. They moved to a place called Redtop in Belmont, Massachusetts. In 1882, they traveled to Europe. After that, they moved often. By 1900, they bought a home near Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Elinor's Legacy

Elinor Howells had health problems throughout her life. She passed away on May 6, 1910, in New York.

About 200 of Elinor Howells' letters still exist today. A book published in 1988, called If Not Literature: Letters of Elinor Mead Howells, includes 130 of her letters. These letters help us learn more about her life and thoughts.

See also

In Spanish: Elinor Mead Howells para niños