Who Lived and Worked at Roseland Cottage

Roseland Cottage from street with ornate white wooden fence in foreground, mature trees on sides of house. — Exterior of pink Gothic revival house with white fence in front and trees on either side.

In 1844, successful New York City silk merchant Henry Chandler Bowen married Lucy Maria Tappan, daughter of Lewis Tappan. The young couple took up residence in Brooklyn Heights. Lucy gave birth to their first child the following year. Roseland Cottage, their “simple country cottage” in Woodstock, Connecticut, was completed in 1846 and was the Bowens’ summer home for the next fifty years.

Lucy and Henry had ten children before she died of childbirth complications in 1863. Henry married Ellen Holt in 1865 and they had one son. After Ellen’s death, Roseland Cottage became a year round residence for the second generation. Henry and Lucy’s granddaughter, Constance Holt, was the last of their descendants to live in the home.

Many people were hired for essential positions to keep the Bowens’ multi-generational household running smoothly over the years. These included Jane Stuart, who held many domestic service roles, and Governess Edna Dean Proctor.