Harriet Newell was born Harriet Atwood at Haverhill, Massachusetts on October 10, 1793. She was part of the first wave of Christian missionaries to go overseas from the United States. She died less than a year into her journey. Following publication of her memoirs, she became a hero and role model for Christians during the nineteenth century. Many children were named for her over the following decades including Harriet Newell Noyes who also went on to be a missionary.
She married Rev. Samuel Newell in February 1812. Along with Adoniram Judson and Ann Judson they went off to preach in India and Burma. They were expelled by the East India Company and sailed to Mauritius, where she died November 30, 1812. At sea she had given birth to a child who died after five days. Her memoirs were published posthumously, going into a number of editions.