I don't usually go for blue eyes but okay.
I found out some interesting things about the ol' boy too:
"William Hathorne, the author's great-great-great-grandfather, a Puritan, was the first of the family to emigrate from England, first settling in Dorchester, Massachusetts before moving to Salem. There he became an important member of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and held many political positions including magistrate and judge, becoming infamous for his harsh sentencing."
"William's son and the author's great-great-grandfather, John Hathorne, was one of the judges who oversaw the Salem Witch Trials. Having learned about this, the author may have added the "w" to his surname in his early twenties, shortly after graduating from college, in an effort to dissociate himself from his notorious forebears."
I think my favorite part of the Wikipedia article was learning about his kids. I'm mildly obsessed with the offspring of famous figures. And so we have Nate's fam...
He married transcendentalist painter and illustrator Sophia Peabody in 1842 and they had three children. Una, Julian and Rose (she was canonized [!]).I found this bit of information about Julian's birth particularly interesting. If Nate was excited to have a son he certainly camouflaged it well. From a letter he wrote to his sister:
A small troglodyte made his appearance here at ten minutes to six o'clock, this morning, who claims to be your nephew, and the heir of all our wealth and honors. He has dark hair and is no great beauty at present, but is said to be a particularly fine little urchin by everybody who has seen him.
Ouch. Thanks, dad.
I'm fairly certain Julian had a "nontraditional" upbringing. Consider this:
His parents had difficulty choosing a name for eight months. Possible names included George, Arthur, Edward, Horace, Robert, and Lemuel. His father referred to him for some time as "Bundlebreech" or "Black Prince", due to his dark curls and red cheeks.
I hope that "Black Prince" shit didn't go to his head and make him a devil worshipper.
Ah here's lil' Bundlebreech and Una now...
What? You'd look pissed too if your parents almost named you Lemuel.
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