A minor historical figure that I obsess over: Cornelia Horsford

Cornelia Horsford was a 19th-century writer and archaeologist born in Massachusetts.

She had a lifelong ambition to explore an interest not influenced by society but her upbringing: the search for evidence of Norse exploration and settlement in North America. She didn’t want wealth or status or a prominent husband. She simply wanted to discover and prove Viking settlements in Massachusetts.

I find the way Cornelia lived her life and dedicated her energy to be very admirable. I’m just going to leave a link to a great Cornelia Horsford article here because it is a bit obscure, but a very informative, introspective, and interesting read.

If you don’t have the time to read a full article now, please peruse the below excerpts and come back to the article later. These quotes embody Cornelia’s prevailing nonconformity, drive, and whimsy that she exhibited all her life.

“Although she inherited some of the more scientific leanings of her father, she was at heart a poet and artist. She loved music and drawing, and filled her diaries and notebooks with original writings and sketches. She enjoyed performing for the family as a child, even having a special collection of ‘acting clothes.’ Later in life she designed book plates for various authors.”

“From a young age, Nellie exhibited a mature, intellectual, creative character. She combined a ‘take-charge woman of influence’ attitude with a romantic and artistic soul that was somewhat out of character for her peers.”

“As a youngster, Cornelia kept a diary. Besides observations of everyday life, she often wrote herself inspirational notes. ‘I got up early this morning,’ she says at the age of fourteen in an entry for September 7, 1875, ‘to start my new habit and try and become better.’”

“She had inner dialogues in which she exhorted herself to improve. ‘Try Cornelia, the wild waves ask you, the pure fall flowers ask you, the wind that sways the trees asks you to be loyal, noble, true, generous, and brave.’ Throughout her life, she consciously told herself to be a good person, to read, and to improve.”

“It is no wonder she wholeheartedly embraced her father’s Norse obsession. As a teenager, she met Olé Bull and listened to him play his music and weave his fantasies about Vikings numerous times. She listened to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recite ‘The Song of Hiawatha’ and the ‘Skeleton in Armor’ in his living room and then again in her own home. It inspired her to think ‘I wished I might find a skeleton in armor.’”

“The idea that Norse adventurers had come to America well in advance of Columbus—battling terrible seas and land-based privations to conquer a new world—was an emotional, romantic story that suited her well.”

“After Eben Norton Horsford breathed his last breath, Nellie composed herself. As others in attendance wept openly, she rose, left the room, and went into her father’s study. The walls were festooned with the antique maps he had acquired. The shelves bulged with rare first editions of travelers’ and explorers’ tales. Closing the door behind her, she sat at his desk which had the uncompleted manuscript of his latest book in piles. She took this material and began organizing it. All through the night, she worked on it so that it could be published.”

“Fairly quickly Nellie Horsford, her father, and their efforts to prove Leif Erikson discovered America were fully discounted by professionals. As such, they drifted into the realm of fringe archaeology, if remembered at all.”