Catherine Maria Sedgwick Biography

Dromo's Den

SEDGWICK, Catherine Maria (1789-1867). An American author, born in Stockbridge, Mass., the daughter of Judge Theodore Sedgwick. She was head of a girls' school for nearly half a century. In 1822, with the encouragement of her brother, Theodore Sedgwick (q.v.), she published A New England Tale, which was popular, and followed it in 1824 with Redwood. Then came a succession of novels, including the good Colonial romance Hope Leslie (1827) and culminating in The Linwoods (1835), her last and best novel. The series of novels was succeeded by one of popular stories, illustrating morals and domestic economy. Her later work included Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home (1841), the result of a European trip. Although now little read, she was an important force in early American culture. Consult Life and Letters by Mary E. Dewey (1871).

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XX (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 666-667.