Note 1 — INTRODUCTION.

Mrs. Rowson’s story is well known. She was an Englishwoman, Susanna Haswell, the daughter of an officer in the navy, and was brought to America by her father in 1767, when she was only five years old. Their ship was wrecked on Lovell’s Island, in Boston Harbor, and they lived at Nantasket for nearly ten years, when they went back to England. There she married William Rowson, a musician, and went upon the stage. In 1795–96 we find her acting in Baltimore and Boston. She published several comedies and a number of novels; one of these, “Charlotte Temple,” gained great popularity. She died at Boston in 1824. She taught school in several places—at Medford, at Newton, and at Boston, and was very successful.