Reverend Charles Wadsworth
"All other Surprise is at last monotonous, but the Death of the Loved is all moments - now - Love has but one Date - 'The first of April' / 'Yesterday, Today and Forever.'"
- Emily in a letter to Elizabeth Holland, following the death of Reverend Charles Wadsworth
Born on May 8, 1814, Reverend Charles Wadsworth served as a Presbyterian minister in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Emily Dickinson encountered Reverend Wadsworth during a family trip to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, where they visited her childhood friend, Eliza Coleman. While it is likely that their initial meeting occurred during one of his sermons, the specifics remain uncertain. They met in person only twice more: once in 1860 and again in 1880. However, they maintained an extensive correspondence. Emily first reached out to the Reverend in 1858, seeking guidance during her mother’s prolonged depressive episode from 1855 to 1858. Emily possessed at least two volumes of Wadsworth’s sermons and greatly admired him, as evidenced by correspondence with other significant figures in her life following his death in 1882.
Reverend Charles Wadsworth was a Taurus, a fixed earth sign represented by the bull. It is the second sign in the zodiac and is ruled by Venus