Fields, Annie Adams (06 June 1834–05 January 1915), literary hostess, author, and social reformer, was born Ann West Adams in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Zabdiel Boylston Adams and Sarah May Holland, both descended from prominent early Massachusetts settlers. Her father was a Boston physician who also taught at Harvard Medical School and served on the Boston school board. Annie’s childhood pleasures included easy access to books and Sunday visits to such distinguished relatives as the Adamses of Braintree. At ...
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Fields, Annie Adams (1834-1915), literary hostess, author, and social reformer
Rita K. Gollin
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Hone, Philip (1780-1851), diarist and socialite
Michael L. Burduck
Hone, Philip (25 October 1780–05 May 1851), diarist and socialite, was born in New York City, the son of a German-born joiner. Of humble origins, Hone determined to raise himself socially to the point where he would be able to mingle with the affluent on equal terms. Although the young Hone had little formal education, at the age of sixteen he began working at his elder brother John’s auction house. Three years later he became a partner. A hard worker, Hone helped make his brother’s business one of the most successful auction firms in the city. Over a period of nearly twenty years Hone amassed over half a million dollars and, in May 1821, at the age of forty, retired from business, toured Europe, and began collecting books and pictures. When he returned to New York, he and his wife, Catharine Dunscomb, whom he had married in 1801, and their six children settled in his home at 235 Broadway....
