Cynthia Dunbar and John Thoreau were married on May 11, 1812. They had four children: Helen (1812–1849); John (1815–1842); Henry (1817–1862); and Sophia (1819–1876). John Thoreau suffered business difficulties and found it necessary to move his young family several times, from Concord to Chelmsford, Massachusetts (in 1818), from Chelmsford back to Concord briefly (in 1821), then to Boston (in 1821), and finally back to Concord permanently (in 1823). After returning to Concord, John Thoreau rented a succession of houses before he could afford to build a home of his own (on Texas Street, now Belknap Street) in 1844. In 1849, John Thoreau bought and renovated a larger home on Main Street (the "Yellow House"), into which the family moved in 1850 and where Henry died in 1862.
Despite their early financial hardships, the Thoreau family shared a vital and sustaining home life that meant much to all of them — Henry included — as long as they lived. John and Cynthia Thoreau differed significantly from one another in temperament. John was quiet, obliging, patient, fond of reading and music (he played the flute, and passed along this love to Henry), observant, and a storehouse of information about those who populated the community around him. Cynthia, an intelligent woman, was far more outgoing, voluble, unafraid to speak her mind even at the risk of offending. Widely acknowledged as a good homemaker, she was generous in inviting those in need into her home for meals. She played an active part in the Concord Female Charitable Society (a volunteer social service organization) and participated in the abolition movement through membership in the Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society of Concord and involvement in the Underground Railroad. She took in boarders to supplement the family income. The Thoreau children were influenced not only by their parents but also by members of the extended family. Mrs. Thoreau's brother Charles Dunbar, along with Mrs. Thoreau, helped instill in the children a love of outdoor expeditions and an appreciation of the fact that they did not have to go far from home to enjoy nature. The children's aunts Louisa Dunbar and Maria, Jane, Sarah, and Elizabeth Thoreau also influenced the children (Sarah and Elizabeth lived and ran a boarding house in the Concord home that their father had bought in 1799).
