The Biographical Dictionary of America/Adams, Hannah

ADAMS, Hannah, author, was born at Medfield, Mass., in 1755. Her father was a man of literary taste, who taught her Greek and Latin, as well as higher English. These advantages gave her an education above that of the average woman of her time, and thrown upon her own resources she supported herself and several younger brothers and sisters after her seventeenth year. During the revolutionary war she gained a livelihood by teaching and making lace; she then took up authorship, and she is said to have been the first woman in America to have made literature a profession. "A view of Religious Opinions" was her first and most popular attempt at authorship, and was reprinted in England. Later she wrote a "History of the Jews," the "Evidences of Christianity," "History of New England," "Controversy with Dr. Morse," and "Letters on the Gospels." She was remarkable for beauty of character, and was greatly respected for her learning. Her body was the first to be buried in Mount Auburn cemetery. Her biography has been written by Hannah E. Lee. She died in Brookline, Mass., Dec. 15, 1831.