Alexander Wheelock Thayer - The Natick biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven Natick Morse Institute Library December 16th, 2004 A. Richard Miller (1-508/ ;

Alexander Wheelock Thayer - The Natick biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven Today's Cast: Ludwig van Beethoven ( ) Happy 234 th birthday, Ludwig! Henry Wilson, “The Natick Cobbler” ( ) Alexander Wheelock Thayer ( ) and other notables including: John Eliot and the Natick Praying Indians Bigelows, Calvin Stowe and Harriet Beecher Stowe (“Uncle Tom's Cabin”) Abraham Lincoln Ulysses S. Grant Horatio Alger

Luigi Bellofatto, musicologist; Milano, Italy (Photographed 2004)

Ludwig van Beethoven (Portrait by Alberto Bellofatto, 1994; after a live portrait of Beethoven from 1817.) This image is posted here by permission of Luigi Bellofatto.

This month's Beethoven-Thayer exhibit case, in the entrance lobby of the Natick Morse Institute Library. (See it on your way home.)

Thayer's “The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven”, 1866 and after. (Vol. 1 first edition, 1866) This image is posted here by permission of Luigi Bellofatto.

Alexander Wheelock Thayer, age 69. (Portrait by Fritze, 1886) This image is posted here by permission of Luigi Bellofatto.

Alexander Wheelock Thayer (Photographed 1897, at age 80 and in his final year of life.) This image is posted here by permission of Luigi Bellofatto.

Center of South Natick, Charles River and Dam. P.Slamin house, at foot of Carver Hill Court, is on site of old Carver house which was the Thayer home. (MassGIS orthophoto ca )

Thayer home in South Natick (by Carver Hill Road, now Carver Hill Court). It was the Jonathan Carver house, third English-style building in Natick, built in It burned, and was replaced by the P.Slamin house in This image is posted here by permission of Luigi Bellofatto.

The Palazzo Ralli on the Adriatic Sea, Thayer's home in Trieste while he was U.S. Consul there ( ) and until his death in 1897 at age 80. (Photograph 2004.) This image is posted here by permission of Luigi Bellofatto.

Henry Wilson, “The Natick Cobbler” (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath). From indentured servant to Vice President, a rags-to-riches story that would – did -- inspire Horatio Alger! (“Henry Wilson's Ten-Footer”, on West Central St. in Natick.)

Henry Wilson, “The Natick Cobbler” - U.S. Senator from Massa- chusetts, , then Vice President of the United States of America under Ulysses S. Grant. (Portrait in Natick Morse Institute Library, by Darius Cobb, ca ) "Freedom and slavery are now arrayed against each other. We must destroy slavery, or it will destroy liberty." (Free-Soil Party, 1848)

Henry Wilson is buried in Dell Park Cemetery, Natick, Massachusetts. "All I have done for negro suffrage, I will do for woman suffrage." (in “The Woman Suffrage Cook Book”, 1886, Boston)

Alexander Wheelock Thayer resided in Trieste for the rest of his life. His tomb there had been forgotten, until Luigi Bellofatto researched and relocated it. (Photograph by L.Bellofatto, 2003.) This image is posted here by permission of Luigi Bellofatto.

Alexander Wheelock Thayer - The Natick biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven Thayer quoted, and was deeply impressed by, Longfellow's “A Psalm of Life” (1838): Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.

Alexander Wheelock Thayer - The Natick biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven Credits: Natick Morse Institute Library Natick Historical Society Natick Historical Commission Old Sturbridge Village Luigi Bellofatto of Milano, Italy – musicologist Alberto Bellofatto of Milano, Italy – portraitist Jon Mitchell of U.Mass./Boston – conductor A. Richard and Jill Miller of Natick (1-508/ ;