Susanna Haswell Rowson | |
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Born | Susanna Haswell 1762 Portsmouth, England |
Died | 2 March 1824 Boston, Massachusetts, United States | (aged 61–62)
Resting place | Graupner Family Vault, St. Matthew's Church, South Boston, Massachusetts, United States Moved in 1866 to Mount Hope Cemetery, Boston |
Pen name | Susanna Rowson |
Occupation |
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Notable works | Charlotte Temple |
Spouse | William Rowson |
Relatives | Robert Haswell (brother) James Gabriel Montresor (uncle) John Montresor (cousin) Anthony Haswell (cousin) |
Susanna Rowson, née Haswell (1762 – 2 March 1824), was an American novelist, poet, playwright, religious writer, stage actress, and educator. She was the first woman geographer and an early supporter of female education. She also wrote against slavery. Rowson was the author of the 1791 novel Charlotte Temple, the most popular best-seller in American literature until Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin was published serially in 1851–1852, and authored the first human geography textbook Rowson's Abridgement of Universal Geography in 1805.