Sara Chapman Bull

Sara Chapman Thorp Bull (May 24, 1850 – January 14, 1911; née Sara Chapman Thorp; also known as Saint Sara) was an American writer and philanthropist. She was a dedicated disciple of Swami Vivekananda and was married to Ole Bull, a Norwegian violinist. Family life Christened Sara Chapman Thorp, she was born in 1850 in Upstate New York, the only daughter of Joseph G. Thorp and his wife, Susan Amelia (née Chapman). Her father had relocated to Madison, Wisconsin to promote his lumber trade, later becoming a Wisconsin State Senator. Her mother was a prominent socialite. Sara had at least one sibling, a brother, Joseph Gilbert Thorp. Sara was interested in music and piano was her forte; a grand piano was kept in their house. In 1868, Ole Bull, a violinist, who was a widower, met Sara. Sara and Ole Bull were secretly married in June of that year. After they returned to the United States in the fall season, a formal wedding was held in Madison. A daughter, Olea, was born in March 1871. Sara lived in Madison for a few years in a house which was a gift from her father. The Bulls spent ten years happily married. Sara toured with Ole many times to the U.S. and Europe. She accompanied him during musical concerts as his pianist. In 1879, Sara, with her daughter and mother, moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and lived in a rented house called "Elmwood". Two years later, Ole purchased a summer house in West Lebanon, Maine and named it "Ironwell". Sara managed the couple's finances. Their house was the center of intellectual activities in which leading intelligentsia, artists and philosophers of Harvard University, like William James, George Santayana, Josiah Royce, and many others were regular participants. Music was part of their activity, in the form of the "Cambridge Conferences". The conferences were held at their Brattle Street house and included a series of lectures from 1896 to 1899. Sara's friends, who were also active in her cultural and social activities, were Julia Ward Howe, Annie Allegra Longfellow Thorp (wife of Sara's brother Joseph, and daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), Alice Mary Longfellow, and Sarah Orne Jewett. She was a member of the Cambridge Garden Club, the Sesame Club in London, and the Barnard Club in New York City.