Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Hawthorne's Life
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem 1804 and died in 1864. 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 Lenox and Salem until moving abroad in 1853 for Hawthorne's job as political consul. They 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 were 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
Essex Institute Historical Collections Manning Family Genealogy of Salem and Ipswich, Vol. 17, p. 72-73
"Hawthorne revisited; author's kin are re-interred" Boston Globe, June 27, 2006, p. B1
"Hawthorne's life revisited, 200 years later"Salem News, Jan. 30, 2004, p. A1
"Hawthorne day is being observed: the Centennial of birth of N. Hawthorne" Salem Evening News, June 23, 1904, p. 1
"He disliked city, but Salem loves its Hawthorne: 200th birthday celebration" Salem News, July 2, 2004, p. A1
