Page "Amos Bronson Alcott" Paragraph 25

In January 1844, Alcott moved his family to Still River, a village within Harvard but, on March 1, 1845, the family returned to Concord to live in a home they named " The Hillside " ( later renamed " The Wayside " by Nathaniel Hawthorne ).

Both Emerson and Sam May assisted in securing the home for the Alcotts.

While living in the home, Louisa began writing in earnest and was given her own room.

She later said her years at the home " were the happiest years " of her life ; many of the incidents in her novel Little Women ( 1868 ) are based on this period.

Alcott renovated the property, moving a barn and painting the home a rusty olive color, as well as tending to over six acres of land.

On May 23, 1845, Abby May was granted a sum from her father's estate which was put into a trust fund, granting minor financial security.

That summer, Bronson Alcott let Henry David Thoreau borrow his ax to prepare his home at Walden Pond.