Catharine Maria Sedgwick

Catharine Maria Sedgwick (1789-1867) was the most popular novelist in the United States, from 1822 until mid-century, and is remembered today by biographers of Notable American Women as a significant figure in the history of American letters on several counts.

A leader in the conscious movement to forge a native literature, she was also one of the leading practitioners of the historical romance in America. She was, moreover, a transitional figure . . . she was inventive in the depiction of scenes and incidents never before utilized in American fiction.

In the company of her brothers, Henry and Robert, she joined the All Souls congregation in the year of its founding, 1819. She is responsible for the inclusion of five hymns written by William Cullen Bryant in the new congregation's hymnal, which was edited by Henry Sewall and printed in 1820. The five hymns are among Bryant's earliest published work, and when the young poet moved to New York City, he joined the congregation.

Sedgwick never married, and one of her most effective books is Married or Single? (1857), a stirring defense of the single state in which her purpose was to lessen the stigma placed on the term, old maid. The recipient of a half-dozen marriage proposals, she accepted none. She was a popular figure with a natural flow of wit.