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Part of the American
History & Genealogy Project |
Lydia Maria Child 1802 ~ 1880
Lydia Maria Child
Lydia Maria Francis was born in Medford,
Massachusetts, February 11, 1802. Her ancestor, Richard Francis,
came from England in 1636 and settled in Cambridge, where his
tombstone may be still seen in the burial ground. Her paternal
grandfather, a weaver by trade, was in the Concord fight. Her
father, Convers Francis, was a baker, first in West Cambridge,
then in Medford, where he first introduced the article of food
still known as "Medford crackers." He was a man of strong
character and great industry. Though without much cultivation he
had an uncommon love of reading and his anti-slavery convictions
were deeply rooted and must have influenced his child's later
career.
He married Susanah Rand, of whom it is
only recorded that "She had a simple, loving heart and a spirit
busy in doing good." They had six children of whom Lydia Maria
was the youngest. While her brother Convers was fitting for
college she was his faithful companion, though more than six
years younger. They read together and she was constantly
bringing him Milton and Shakespeare to explain so that it may
well be granted that the foundation of Miss Lydia's intellectual
attainments was laid in this companionship. Apart from her
brother's help the young girl had, as was then usual, a very
subordinate share of educational opportunities, attending only
the public schools with one year at the private seminary of Miss
Swan, in Medford.
In 1819 Convers Francis was ordained for
the first parish, in Watertown, and there occurred in his city,
in 1824, an incident which was to determine the whole life of
his sister. Doctor G. G. Palfrey had written in the North
American Review, for April, 1821, a "Review" of the now
forgotten poem of "Yamoyden," in which he ably pointed out the
use that might be made of early American History for the purpose
of fictitious writing. Miss Francis read this article at her
brother's house one summer Sunday morning. Before attending
afternoon service she wrote the first chapter of a novel. It was
soon finished and was published that year, then came "Hobomak,"
a tale of early times.
In judging of this little book it is to be remembered that it
marked the very dawn of American imaginative literature. Irving
had printed only his '"Sketchbook;" Cooper only "Precaution."
This new production was the hurried work of a young woman of
nineteen, an Indian tale by one who had scarcely even seen an
Indian. Accordingly "Hobomak" now seems very crude in execution,
very improbable. In plot and is redeemed only by a sincere
attempt at local coloring.
The success of this first effort was, however, such as to
encourage the publication of a second tale in the following
year. This was "The Rebels; The Boston before the
Revolution, by the Author of Hobomak." It was a great advance on
its predecessor, and can even be compared, favorably, with
Cooper's Revolutionary novels.
In October, 1828, Miss Francis married David Lee Child, a lawyer
of Boston. In that day it seemed to be held necessary for
American women to work their passage into literature by first
completing some kind of cookery book, so Mrs. Child published in
1829 her "Frugal Housewife' a book which proved so
popular that in 1855 it had reached its thirty-third edition.
The "Biographies of Good Wives" reached a fifth edition
in the course of time as did her "History of Woman,"
and in 1853 Mrs. Child was brought to one of those bold steps
which made successive eras of her literary life the publication
of her "Appeal for that class of Americans called Africans."
It was just at the most dangerous moment of the rising storm of
the slavery question that Mrs. Child wrote this and it brought
down upon her unending censure. It is evident that this result
was not unexpected for the preface to the book explicitly
recognizes the probable dissatisfaction of the public. She says,
"I am fully aware of the unpopularity of the task I have
undertaken; but though I expect ridicule and censure, I cannot
fear them. Should it be the means of advancing, even one single
hour, the inevitable progress of truth and justice, I would not
exchange the consciousness for all Rothschild's wealth or Sir
Walter's fame." These words have in them a genuine ring; and the
book is really worthy of them. The tone is calm and strong, the
treatment systematic, the points well put, the statements
well-guarded.
It was the first anti-slavery work ever printed in America and
it appears to be the ablest, covering the whole ground better
than any other. During the next year she published the "Oasis,"
also about this time appeared from her hand the "Anti-slavery
Catechism" and a small book called "Authentic
Anecdotes of American Slavery."
While seemingly absorbed in reformatory work she still kept an
outlook in the direction of pure literature and was employed for
several years on "Philothea," which appeared in 1836.
The scene of this novel was laid in Greece, and in spite of the
unpopularity that Mrs. Child's slavery appeal had created it
went through three editions.
In 1841 Mr. and Mrs. Child were engaged by the American
Anti-Slavery Standard, a weekly newspaper published in New York.
Mr. Child's health being impaired his wife undertook the task
alone and conducted the newspaper in that manner for two years,
after which she aided her husband in the work, remaining there
for eight years. She was a very successful editor. Her
management proved efficient while her cultivated taste made the
Standard pleasing to many who were not attracted by the plainer
fare of the Liberator, During all this period she was a member
of the family of the well-known Quaker philanthropist, Isaac T.
Hopper, whose biographer she afterwards became. This must have
been the most important and satisfactory time in Mrs. Child's
whole life. She was placed where her sympathetic nature found
abundant outlet and earnest co-operation. Here she also found an
opportunity for her best eloquence in writing letters to the
Distant Courier. This was the source of "Letters from New York,"
that afterwards became famous. They were the precursors of that
modem school of newspaper correspondence in which women now have
so large a share, and which has something of the charm of
women's private letters.
Her last publication, and perhaps her favorite among the whole
series, appeared in 1867, "A Romance of the Republic."
It was received with great cordiality and is in some respects
her best fictitious work.
In later life Mrs. Child left New York
and took up her abode in Wayland, Massachusetts. She outlived
her husband six years and died October 20, 1880.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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