Peabody, Sophia

Sophia Amelia Peabody (1809-1871), one of the famed "Peabody Sisters" from Salem, grew up in the house at 53 Charter Street and married the author Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1842. Sophia overcame years of illness as a young woman and taught herself astronomy, languages and developed her artistic talent as well. She raised three children in her twenty years of marriage, and nurtured her husband's writing career - at the expense of her own art. Sophia and her children moved to Europe where she died in England in 1871.

See Also

• Salem Women's Heritage Trail by Bonnie Hurd Smith, p.21

• The Peabody Sisters: three women who ignited American romanticism by Megan Marshall.

• The Peabody Sisters of Salem by Louise Hall Tharp.