[Illustration: C. P. CRANCH]



CRANCH.

Christopher Pearce Cranch was born March 9, 1813, at Alexandria,
Virginia, and was the son of Judge William Cranch, of the United States
Circuit Court. His father came originally from Weymouth, Massachusetts,
and had been appointed to his position through the influence of John
Quincy Adams. His mother, Anna Greenleaf, belonged to a well known Boston
family. Pearce, as he was always called by his relatives, indicated a
talent for the fine arts, as commonly happens, at an early age, and
united with this a lively interest in music, singing and playing on the
flute. These side issues may have prevented him from entering college so
early as he might otherwise have done. He graduated at Columbia College,
in 1832, after a three-year course. He wished to make a profession of
painting, but Judge Cranch was aware how precarious this would be as a
means of livelihood, and advised him to study for the ministry,--for
which his quiet ways and grave demeanor seemed to have adapted him. He
accordingly entered the Harvard Divinity-School, and was ordained as a
Unitarian clergyman.

For the next six years Cranch lived the life of an itinerant preacher. He
preached all over New England, making friends everywhere, and receiving
numerous calls without, however, settling down to a fixed habitation.
This would seem to have been a peculiarity of his temperament; for
in 1875 George William Curtis wrote to Mr. and Mrs. Cranch a letter which
began with "O ye Bedouins"; and it is true that until that time he can