Addison P. Munroe

Addison Pierce Munroe was born in Providence, RI in 1862, the youngest son and eighth child of Philip Allen Munroe and Delana Pierce.

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He is of interest in his own right, as a successful retailer, real estate investor, and politician. But he is also of interest in relationship to the author H.P. Lovecraft. Addison and his wife, Annie Burnside Hopkins, were the parents of two sons, Chester Pierce Munroe and Harold Bateman Munroe. Both boys were childhood friends of Howard Lovecraft, and Addison also was well-acquainted with him.

 

In an interview with Winfield Townley Scott, excerpted in S.T. Joshi’s biography of Lovecraft, Addison Munroe describes young Howard’s capabilities:

 

Occasionally I would have an opportunity to talk with him and he always surprised me with the maturity and logic of his talk. I remember one time in particular, when I was a member of the R.I. Senate 1911-1914, we had several important measures before that body; Howard, being over here one evening, started to discuss some of these measures, and I was astounded by the knowledge he displayed in regard to measures that ordinarily would be of no interest to a young fellow of twenty. In fact he knew more about them than 75 per cent of the Senators who would finally vote on them.

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When Lovecraft made his will in 1912 (and it would be the only one he would make), he asked both Addison and his son Chester, along with Howard’s lawyer, to be the witnesses.

 

There is an excellent and detailed biography of Addison from the time of his birth until 1920 in The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Biographical, 1920. That biography has been reproduced in full on the H.P. Lovecraft and His Legacy blog by Chris Perridas, and since it is easier to read there, rather than in the online version of the History, we have included a link here.

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Catherine Beyer Hurst, MBA, Writer and Community Historian

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Further Reading

Joshi, S.T. H.P. Lovecraft: A Life. West Warwick, RI: Necronomicon Press, 1996.