ABSTRACT
Born April 3, 1835, in Calais, Maine, Harriet Prescott Spofford comes from a distinguished family with New England roots that can be traced back over two hundred years. As the oldest of five children—four daughters and one son—of Sarah Bridges and Joseph Prescott, Spofford learned at an early age the meaning of financial instability. Despite the family’s limited financial resources, Spofford received a good education. In her early years and when finances permitted, she attended sporadically Miss Porter’s private school. In Newburyport, Spofford had the opportunity to study at the Putnam Free School which had been founded a year earlier. Spofford’s school encouraged reading, and her literary interests blossomed. In a literary career that spans six decades in two centuries, Spofford began writing at age twenty to help support her family. Along with other women included in this collection, Spofford realistically portrays many aspects of nineteenth-century New England life.
