Fire at the Emerson House
In the early morning of July 24, 1872, Ralph Waldo Emerson awoke to the sound of an unidentified crackling noise. Through a crack in the wall, he saw that it was a fire, which quickly spread when a closet door was opened. Going to the smoke-filled attic, Emerson and his wife Lidian tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the flames and it quickly became clear that they needed help. Emerson ran to his front gate and yelled “Fire! Whitcomb! Staples! Fire!” Staples and Whitcomb were neighbors and the first to arrive on the scene.
Emerson’s journal entry for that day had only two words:
House burned.
Emerson set up a temporary office in the Concord Courthouse—now the Town Hall—after the fire. Photo by B. Ewen.
Unfortunately, the Emersons’ grown children were not there to assist their frightened and worried parents. Ellen was visiting Beverly, Massachusetts (she returned quickly), Edith was living with her husband and children in Milton, MA, and Edward was in Europe.
Before the blaze reached the lower floors, the priority—in addition to extinguishing the fire—was to remove Emerson’s papers and books, artwork, and the family’s furniture and clothes. Staples started the removals, soon joined by other neighbors who had rushed over to help. Whitcomb stayed at the gate directing the first responders and continuing to send out the alarm.
Word spread swiftly. Ellen Emerson wrote, “there were ten men there in five or ten minutes.” She described—from neighbors’ reports—the clearing of her room, “…Arthur [Gray] ran straight to my room, even then the smoke was so bad he had to hold his breath, saw my pictures, thought how I must value them and took down all but Fisher boy…” She wrote further, “Louisa Alcott & May attended to letters…there were any quantity of them lying around and they collected them...”
Most of the family’s possessions were rescued and the house—with considerable damage—was saved.
A beautiful oriel window was added to the Emersons’ bedroom as part of the renovation.
Ellen’s feelings on seeing the house still standing after the fire were mixed: “…our house is associated to me with dirt, waste, bottomless abysses of expense to no profit…” On the other hand, she continued, “I love this house…So when I saw the house I had supposed forever lost, standing safely in its old shape among the healthy untouched trees, I was very thankful.”
After the fire, friends raised funds to reconstruct the house—affectionately called “Bush” by the family—and to send Emerson and Ellen abroad while the repairs took place. Lidian moved in with Edith and the two of them refurnished Bush ahead of Emerson and Ellen’s return in May 1873.
150 years later, the Emersons’ beloved Bush still stands with the structure intact and most of the original furnishings within. The last Emerson to live there was Ellen, who died in 1909. The Emerson House has been owned and managed as a museum by the Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association (RWEMA) since Edward Emerson’s death in 1930.
— B. Ewen, Emerson House guide
