Sarah Marshall Hayden ( – ) was an American author. She was the first female novelist from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Sarah Marshall Hayden was born on in

Shawneetown, Illinois Shawneetown is a city in Gold Hill Township, Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,054 at the 2020 United States census. It is the county seat of Gallatin County. Geography Shawneetown is located southeast of the cent ...

, the daughter of John Marshall, lawyer and member of the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

. His house was recreated as the

John Marshall House Museum The John Marshall House Museum is a historic house museum located in Old Shawneetown, Illinois. The museum is a historically inaccurate (the original had a straight staircase, the reproduction a spiral one, for example) reproduction of the J ...

. She was educated at Edgewood Seminary in

Sewickley, Pennsylvania Sewickley is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, west northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. It is a residential suburb of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 3,907 at the 2020 census. The Sewick ...

. In 1843 she married Judge John James Hayden. Hayden wrote her first novel at the age of sixteen. It was not published until 1854 when it was published along with its sequel as ''Early Engagements and Florence (A Sequel)'' under the pseudonym Mary Frazaer''.'' The story is about Florence, a

Southern belle "Southern belle" () is a colloquialism for a debutante or other fashionable young woman of European heritage in the planter class of the Antebellum South, particularly as a romantic counterpart to the Southern gentleman. Characteristics Th ...

who falls in love with an unambitious minister. John Marshall enlisted the aid of fellow Illinois politician

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

to distribute some copies of the book. Lincoln read a copy of it to his wife

Mary Todd Lincoln Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (Birth name, née Todd; December 13, 1818July 16, 1882) was First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1865. Mary Todd was born into a large and wealthy ...

. In 1901, John Hayden published a manuscript of a novel she wrote forty years earlier, ''Mr. Langdon's Mistake.'' Sarah Hayden also wrote poems, short stories, and articles for numerous publications, including the poem "Going Home", on the death of her son killed in action during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

.'''' Sarah Marshall Hayden died on 19 November 1899 in Washington, D.C..

Bibliography

* ''Early Engagements and Florence (A Sequel)'' Cincinnati, 1854. * ''Mr. Langdon's Mistake''. Washington, 1901.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Sarah Created via preloaddraft 1825 births 1899 deaths American women novelists Writers from Illinois People from Shawneetown, Illinois