American author, born in Newport, NH, on the 24th of October 1788. In 1822 she was left a widow with five small children, and found in her indefatigable literary work the means of living. From 1828 to 1837 she edited the Boston Ladies’ Magazine, and when this periodical was united with Godey’s Lady’s Book, published in Philadelphia, she became editor of this magazine. In 1877 she retired from editorial work. Mrs. Hale was the author of Woman’s Record, or Sketches of all Distinguished Women from the Creation to the Present Day (1853); Northwood (1827); Sketches of American Character (1830), and a number of other useful and entertaining works in prose and verse. Among her fugitive pieces Mary’s Lamb is one of the most widely known. Her exertions in behalf of the Bunker Hill monument fund, her interest in seamen, in foreign missions, and in the higher education of women, were untiring and effective. For more than twenty years she advocated the keeping of Thanksgiving Day as a national festival, to be held on the same day throughout the country, as it has been observed since 1864, when President Lincoln adopted her suggestion. She died in Philadelphia, PA, on the 30th of April 1879. See also “It Snows.”
