Ok — this is a going to be tough. I've been posting a bunch of pictures from southeastern Pennsylvania, which is where I grew up. I've posted on Paul Robeson's house and Horace Pippin's house, for instance. Now I have a trivia question related to the home of a nineteenth century literary figure, a poet, travel writer, and Quaker (which may be key to solving this question). The home was built just before the Civil War and — I am told and I suspect it's true — that Ralph Waldo Emerson visited this place (and commented on a sequoia tree on its grounds — not sure if that tree's still standing. Most of the surrounding property is now a suburban housing development. But it sure would be cool if that tree's still there.). Did I mention this is about the toughest trivia question I can imagine, not the least of which because I'd never heard of the home's owner before and I grew up in the county where it's located. But it turns out he was a major literary figure at the time — Longfellow wrote a memorial poem for him, apparently at the instigation of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Now, here's why I'm interested in this man in particular — I'm pretty sure that one of my civil rights heroes is named for the owner/architect of this house.
The question is, who built (and then lived in) this house?
And with that I'll say, good luck!
It's Cedarcroft, built by Bayard Taylor.
Holy cow your good! That's exactly correct and fast. And Bayard Rustin is named after him.