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town; then to Pennsylvania and back to Spencerport, New York; then, in 1854, back to Rochester to live near the railroad tracks. In and out of country schools at irregular intervals, Charles became a shy, self-conscious pupil, easily intimidated by his teachers. In the Presbyterian church every Sunday, Charles found his heart growing more and more troubled by a God indefatigably bent on visiting His wrath upon the sinful.
There were occasional moments of joy. Once in a while at school Charles would become attached to another boy, who would become his "chum"; and his family attended the marvelous traveling shows along the barge canal at Spencerport. But the steady decline of the Stoddards's fortunes and the incessant moving about had the effect of making Charles ever more sensitive, introspective, and insecure. In later life he jotted down some notes for his "Autobiography, Book First" that give a clue to his boyhood personality:
A victim of emotional worries. The instant defender of the abused. A horror of the Insaneand of those who are under the influence of stimulants of any kind. Passionate attachments. Flights of Fancy. Dreamsby
Page 6
day and nightmore especially day-dreams. Shyness. Worldly detachmentlife viewed as if from a distance, and not really entered into. School horrorstyranny; anxiety over tasks; embarrassment in class. Superstitious. Testament under my pillowperpetual prayerIf I get to the top of the stairs before anyone speaks it will happen! 6
II
Finally, late in 1854, Samuel Stoddard found a job in San Francisco with an importing and shipping firm, and the family prepared to join him on the West Coast. As the Stoddards awaited their boat in New York City, Grandpa Freeman, relaxing his usual rigor, took his daughter and the children to the "Lecture Room" at Barnum's Museum. As it turned out, the current attraction was not a lecture but a dramatic performance, the first one Charles was to see. Significantly enough, the play was Damon and Pythias, starring the great J. R. Scott, and little Charles was so enchanted that for some years to come he would act out scenes from this play with his brothers in their new San Francisco home.
In mid-December 185 4 , the Stoddard family boarded the Star of the West, the "ill-smelling, overcrowded, side-wheeled tub" that was to take them as far as Nicaragua. 7 Charles had brought along Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, a volume he would always treasure because it was a gift from a chum. The drama of Crusoe was brought to life one day when Charles saw, somewhere between the Florida Keys and the Caribbean, a lush green tropical island. Its peak was "sky-kissed," its valleys were "overshadowed by festoons of vapor," and along its beach the "creaming breakers wreathed themselves, flashed like snow-drifts, vanished and flashed again'' (IFP 8). Charles was as entranced as he had been at the performance of Damon and Pythias. He recalled that he had been filled with "a great longing" as he looked at the island and had wanted "to sing with the Beloved Bard: 'Oh, had we some bright little isle of our own, / In the blue summer ocean, far off and alone!'" (IFP 10 ).
Traveling across Nicaragua gave Charles his first taste of the exotic. As the flat-bottomed river boat headed west, the eleven-year-old boy was dazzled by "splashes of splendid color" against the vivid greens of the jungle. Macaws, with "scarlet plumage flickering like flame," flew nearby (IFP 16). The river banks were decked with "gigantic blossoms that might shame a rainbow" (IFP 22). There were oranges ("great globes of delicious dew"), mangoes, guavas, bananas, sugarcane, and other good things to eat that Charles had never seen before (IFP 19 ).
Page 7
Equally fascinating was the "picturesque nudeness" of the people along the shore. The natives were not completely naked; they wore necklaces of shells and wreaths of blossoms, thus making themselves all the more beguiling to the rapt child (IFP 21). By the time the
There were occasional moments of joy. Once in a while at school Charles would become attached to another boy, who would become his "chum"; and his family attended the marvelous traveling shows along the barge canal at Spencerport. But the steady decline of the Stoddards's fortunes and the incessant moving about had the effect of making Charles ever more sensitive, introspective, and insecure. In later life he jotted down some notes for his "Autobiography, Book First" that give a clue to his boyhood personality:
A victim of emotional worries. The instant defender of the abused. A horror of the Insaneand of those who are under the influence of stimulants of any kind. Passionate attachments. Flights of Fancy. Dreamsby
Page 6
day and nightmore especially day-dreams. Shyness. Worldly detachmentlife viewed as if from a distance, and not really entered into. School horrorstyranny; anxiety over tasks; embarrassment in class. Superstitious. Testament under my pillowperpetual prayerIf I get to the top of the stairs before anyone speaks it will happen! 6
II
Finally, late in 1854, Samuel Stoddard found a job in San Francisco with an importing and shipping firm, and the family prepared to join him on the West Coast. As the Stoddards awaited their boat in New York City, Grandpa Freeman, relaxing his usual rigor, took his daughter and the children to the "Lecture Room" at Barnum's Museum. As it turned out, the current attraction was not a lecture but a dramatic performance, the first one Charles was to see. Significantly enough, the play was Damon and Pythias, starring the great J. R. Scott, and little Charles was so enchanted that for some years to come he would act out scenes from this play with his brothers in their new San Francisco home.
In mid-December 185 4 , the Stoddard family boarded the Star of the West, the "ill-smelling, overcrowded, side-wheeled tub" that was to take them as far as Nicaragua. 7 Charles had brought along Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, a volume he would always treasure because it was a gift from a chum. The drama of Crusoe was brought to life one day when Charles saw, somewhere between the Florida Keys and the Caribbean, a lush green tropical island. Its peak was "sky-kissed," its valleys were "overshadowed by festoons of vapor," and along its beach the "creaming breakers wreathed themselves, flashed like snow-drifts, vanished and flashed again'' (IFP 8). Charles was as entranced as he had been at the performance of Damon and Pythias. He recalled that he had been filled with "a great longing" as he looked at the island and had wanted "to sing with the Beloved Bard: 'Oh, had we some bright little isle of our own, / In the blue summer ocean, far off and alone!'" (IFP 10 ).
Traveling across Nicaragua gave Charles his first taste of the exotic. As the flat-bottomed river boat headed west, the eleven-year-old boy was dazzled by "splashes of splendid color" against the vivid greens of the jungle. Macaws, with "scarlet plumage flickering like flame," flew nearby (IFP 16). The river banks were decked with "gigantic blossoms that might shame a rainbow" (IFP 22). There were oranges ("great globes of delicious dew"), mangoes, guavas, bananas, sugarcane, and other good things to eat that Charles had never seen before (IFP 19 ).
Page 7
Equally fascinating was the "picturesque nudeness" of the people along the shore. The natives were not completely naked; they wore necklaces of shells and wreaths of blossoms, thus making themselves all the more beguiling to the rapt child (IFP 21). By the time the
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