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Nathaniel Hawthorne (Jul 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864)
Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Hawthorne was the son of sea captain and a direct descendant of John Hathorne, one of the judges
who oversaw the Salem Witch Trials. He was raised in relative seclusion by his mother in a town near near Sebago Lake (Maine).
The quite solitude that he experienced during these early years is believed by some to have been the primary contributor
to the development of Hawthorne's character, reflected in
his skills as a masterful writer.
While attending Bowdoin College in Maine, Hawthorne became friends with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future president
Franklin Pierce. After graduating from Bowdoin, Hawthorne found himself unable to make a living as a writer, so he
found employment as a weigher and gauger at the Boston Custom House. By 1842, he was able to earn enough to marry
Sophia Peabody and move to Concord, Massachusetts. Hawthorne's neighbors in Concord included
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, and the three men became friends.
Several years later, Hawthorne and his wife moved to Salem, Massachusetts after he received an appointment to an
important position at the Salem Custom House. During this time, Hawthorne produced several of his best known works,
including The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851). The Scarlet Letter
contains a lengthy introductory essay describing Hawthorne's experiences at the Salem Custom House.
In 1852 Hawthorne wrote the campaign biography of his friend Franklin Pierce. Following Pierce's 1952 presidential
victory, Hawthorne was given a position with the United States Consul in Liverpool, England. Later,
Hawthorne traveled in Europe before returning to Concord in 1860.
Due to failing health (believed
to have been stomach cancer), Hawthorne accomplished little in the way of writing during the final years
of his life. In 1864, Hawthorne died while on a tour of the White Mountains in New Hampshire with his
friend Franklin Pierce. He was 59 years old.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's final resting place can be found on Author's Ridge in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in
Concord, Massachusetts, not far from the graves of his famous friends Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
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