Sarah Hopkins Bradford

Sarah Hopkins Bradford (August 20, 1818 – June 25, 1912) was an American writer and historian, best known today for her two pioneering biographical books on Harriet Tubman. Most of her work consists of children's literature.

Sarah Elizabeth Hopkins was born on August 20, 1818, in Mount Morris, Livingston County, New York. She was the youngest of seven children of the Hon. Samuel Miles Hopkins (1772–1837) and Sarah Elizabeth Rogers (1778–1866). Her father was a Yale University graduate, attorney and judge, who served as a Federalist Party congressman (1813–1815), New York State Assemblyman (1820–1821), and New York State Senate member (1822). On May 15, 1839, she married prominent Albany, New York attorney (later judge) John Melancthon Bradford, Jr. (1813–1860). The couple had six children: Charles, William, Mary, John, Elizabeth and Louisa. Their two eldest sons were killed in the Civil War. Their daughter, Mary, (1844–1913) later became a well-known writer in her own right under the name Mary Bradford Crowninshield; her husband, Arent Schuyler Crowninshield, was a naval officer who advanced to Rear Admiral rank, and eventually headed the Bureau of Navigation.

Bradford wrote her first published work, Amy, the Glass-Blower's Daughter: A True Narrative in 1847. She then wrote the six-volume Silver Lake Series, published from 1852 to 1854. Rather than a formal series involving connected characters, these six books are each collections of poetry and prose, including many short stories. Bradford wrote these books under the pen name 'Cousin Cicely'. Most of her early writing, up until the late 1860s, targeted the children's market, and she published at least seven further children's books, including both fiction and history. She also wrote articles published in magazines.

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