The Chancellor and Cullen Bryant were lifelong friends!!

Did you know the Chancellor (original owner)of our house and William Cullen Bryant were life long friends? Have you ever heard of Bryant park in Manhattan? Bryant park was named after William Cullen Bryant!! In fact the Chancellor and Bryant were such good friends they both lived in a brownstone together in Manhattan while attending law school. They both stayed friends over the years and we recently found documents that show William Cullen Bryant visiting the Chancellor due to an illness in September of 1868. By this time they were both older and had wives and children but still remained good friends.

On September 1st of 1868 Bryant traveled to our house to visit and check up on his friend the Chancellor. Apparently the Chancellor had some kind of illness and his friends and family were worried about him. Bryant wrote to his wife Julia about his trip and the Chancellor. He described his trip in beautiful detail in this letter. He also talked about receiving a pair of European swans as a gift. I wonder if receiving swans as a gift was common back then? I guess somethings never change.