Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Nathaniel Hawthorne born in Salem 1804 and died in 1964.A well-known short-story writer and novelist, he was born in a house at 27 Union St. (This house was later moved to the House of Seven Gables complex.) Hawthorne attended Bowdoin College, graduating in 1825. He married Sophia Peabody of Salem on July 9, 1842. The family lived in Concord at the "Old Manse" and the "Wayside" and in the Berkshires as well as Salem until moving abroad in 1853 as political consul and spent seven years in England, Italy and France. He died on May 19, 1864 in Plymouth, New Hampshire on a trip with his friend, former president Franklin Pierce. He is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord. His wife Sophia and daughter Una who both died in England and buried there, were re-interred in June 2006 in plots adjacent to Hawthorne's. Hawthorne's Work Hawthorne is best known today for his many short stories (he called them "tales") and his four major romances written between 1850 and 1860: The Scarlet Letter (1850), The House of the Seven Gables (1851), The Blithedale Romance (1852) and The Marble Faun (1860). Many of his works are inspired by Puritan New England, combining historical romance loaded with symbolism and deep psychological themes.

See Also

Vertical File in Salem Collection- Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Hawthorne in Salem Website

Hawthorne Houses in Salem Website

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Neighborhood SalemWeb site

Hawthorne: a life by Brenda Wineapple, 2003.

Salem Is My Dwelling Place by E. H. Miller