By Justin
Nathaniel Hawthorne (Hathorne) was born in Salem,
Massachusetts on July 4, 1804. He was the child of a Puritan family. His
father was Nathaniel and his mother Elizabeth. Young Nathaniel’s father
died while he was only four years old. After his father’s death, Nathaniel’s
family was brought closer together.
He attended Bowdoin College from 1821-1824. After
graduating, he changed the spelling of his last name from Hathorne to Hawthorne.
Later, in 1828, Nathaniel published his first book, Fanshawe, anonymously.
Working unsuccessfully as an author, in 1839
he changed his job to a weigher. During 1841 Nathaniel returned to his
writing work.
The next year he married Sophia Peabody, and
moved to Concord, MA. His first child, Una, was born in 1844. Sadly, she
had a mental illness and died in her late thirties. His next child, Julian,
had the birth date of 1846. Julian was Nathaniel’s only son.
After moving to Lenox, MA in 1850, he published
his most famous book, The Scarlet Letter. This book has never been
out of print, amazingly, for over 150 years.
His last child, Rose, was born in 1851. She died
in 1926.
Nathaniel wrote Tanglewood Tales, a book
for kids, in 1853. The stories were a collection of Greek myths.
Also in 1853, his college friend, President Franklin
Pierce, appointed him for the U.S. consul in Liverpool, England. Nathaniel
retired in 1857.
Later, in 1858-59, he lived in Italy. The night
he returned was the eve of the beginning Civil War.
On May 19, 1864 he died while asleep in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
Nathaniel’s burial is in Concord.
Bibliography
Gordon, Vanessa. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) Biography. [Online]
Available
http://www.nhti.tec.nh.us/library/authorresources/hawthornebio.htm,
December 2000
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864). [Online] Available
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hawthorn.htm, 2000
Google. [Online] Available
http://www.google.com/search?q=Nathaniel+Hawthorne&safe=vss&vss=1,
Jan. 8, 2002