Ella Cheever Thayer (September 14, 1849 – October 28, 1925) was an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. Born in Maine, she worked as a telegraph operator and published several works in her lifetime, including the hit 1879 novel ''Wired Love: A Romance in Dots and Dashes''.

Biography

She was the daughter of

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

George Augusta Thayer (1824-1863) and Rachel Ella Cheever Thayer (1823-1907). One sister, Mary Georgie Thayer (1869-1912), was a

schoolteacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. Thayer eventually became a

telegraph operator A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is a person who uses a telegraph key to send and receive Morse code messages in a telegraphy system. These messages, also called telegrams, can be transmitte ...

at the Brunswick Hotel in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, who used her experience on the telegraph as the basis for her book ''Wired Love, A Romance of Dots and Dashes'', which became a bestseller for 10 years. She was also a playwright, having written '' The Lords of Creation'' in 1883. Her play is reviewed in the book ''On to Victory: Propaganda Plays of the Woman's Suffrage Movement'' by Bettina Friedl, published in 1990 () and it was one of the first

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

plays. She also wrote ''Amber, a Daughter of Bohemia'', a drama in five acts, in 1883. She also wrote short stories for magazines including "The Forgotten Past" in '' Argosy'' (January 1897).

Later life and death

She lived in

Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 28,619 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Saugus is known as the site of the first integrated iron work ...

. Thayer died of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

; her ashes were placed in Bigelow Chapel,

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in ...

, Cambridge, Massachusetts on November 1, 1925.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thayer, Ella Cheever 1849 births 1925 deaths Writers from Portland, Maine People from Saugus, Massachusetts 19th-century American novelists American women novelists American women short story writers American women dramatists and playwrights 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American short story writers Telegraphists Novelists from Maine