Susanna Haswell Rowson
| Susanna Haswell Rowson | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | Susanna Haswell 1762 Portsmouth, England |
| Died | 2 March 1824 (aged 61–62) Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Resting place |
Graupner Family Vault, St. Matthew's Church, South Boston, Massachusetts, United States Moved in 1866 to Mount Hope Cemetery, Boston |
| Pen name | Susanna Rowson |
| Occupation | Novelist, poet, playwright, Religious writer, governess, stage actress, educator |
| Notable works | Charlotte Temple |
| Spouse | William Rowson |
| Relatives |
Robert Haswell (brother) James Gabriel Montresor (uncle) John Montresor (cousin) Anthony Haswell (cousin) |
Susanna Rowson, née Haswell (1762 – 2 March 1824) was a British-American novelist, poet, playwright, religious writer, stage actress, and educator. Rowson was the author of the 1791 novel Charlotte Temple, the most popular best-seller in American literature until Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852.
Susanna Haswell was born in 1762 in Portsmouth, England to Royal Navy Lieutenant William Haswell and his first wife, Susanna Musgrave, who died within days of Susanna's birth. While stationed in Boston her father remarried to Rachel Woodward and started a second family, and after his ship returned to Portsmouth and was decommissioned, he obtained an appointment as a Boston customs officer, bringing his daughter and a servant with him to Massachusetts. On arrival in 1767, their ship grounded on Lovells Island in Boston Harbor, the crew and passengers being rescued from the wreck days later. They lived at Nantasket (now Hull), where family friend James Otis took a special interest in Susanna's education. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, Lieutenant Haswell was placed under house arrest, and subsequently the family was moved inland, to Hingham and Abington, Massachusetts. In 1778, his failing health led to a prisoner exchange, and the family was sent via Halifax, Nova Scotia to England, eventually settling near Kingston upon Hull. Their American property was confiscated and they lived in relative poverty, being forced to sell the Portsmouth property left Susanna by her grandfather in order to support the family.
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