Edward Everett One of the most extraordinary people to have called Scholar, Statesman, Orator Charlestown "home" was Edward Everett, a true Renaissance Man, occupying, over his lifetime, a long list of high offices in 1794-1865 academia and government. Much admired by his contempo- raries, Oliver Wendell Holmes once said that, for Bostonians, there were three units of measure: "All buildings are compared to the State House; all plots of land are compared to the Boston Common; and all men are measured off in Edward Everetts." Son of a Dorchester clergyman, Everett took both a Bachelors and a Master of Divinity degree at Harvard College. Following graduation, he served as pastor of the Brattle Street Church for a season before receiving a call from Harvard to accept a professor- ship in Greek literature. In preparation, Everett went to Germany for a few years and returned with a Ph.D. in that sub- ject from the University of Gottingen. While a Harvard faculty member, Everett also edited the North American Review. Edward Everett Ambitious for high political office, Everett ran for and was elect- ed a U.S. Congressman. It was while serving in this capacity that Everett and his family moved to Charlestown, living here from 1830 to 1837. The house at 16 Harvard Street where Everett and his wife Charlotte raised their six children still stands, a designated Boston Landmark. While still living at that address, Everett was elected Massachusetts Governor. After moving to Boston, Everett completed his term as Governor and was next appointed U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain by President John Tyler, serving from 1841 to 1845. Other high offices followed: President of Harvard College, U.S. Secretary of State, and U.S. Senator. In 1860, Everett was nominated as Vice Presidential candidate on the Constitutional Union party ticket that lost the election to Republican Abraham Lincoln. With the coming of the Civil War, Everett was an ardent sup- porter of Lincoln and the Union and made many speeches in their support. Finally, Everett was the "other speaker" at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. His oration lasted two hours; President Lincoln’s address lasted two minutes. Next day, Everett wrote Lincoln, " I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea in two hours as you did in two minutes." Lincoln thanked Everett for his assurances that, "what little I did say was not entirely a failure." Everett, a few days before his death in January 1865, speaking in Faneuil Hall, urged Bostonians to send food relief to the citizens Everett Home at 16 Harvard Street of war-ravaged Savannah in a spirit, not of charity, but of recon- ciliation and brotherhood. Edward Everett was a champion of humanitarianism and Americanism to the end. © The Friends of the Charlestown Branch of the Boston Public Library 2014. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.