“Influencer Of The Victorian Era”

Sarah Josepha Hale
(1788 - 1879)

Known As:

~ Editress of “Godey's Lady's Book”
~ Author of “Mary Had A Little Lamb”
~ Mother Of Thanksgiving

Location:


Laurel Hill Cemetery East
Section : X
Plot: 61

(click to enlarge)

† - Denotes a fellow Resident of
Laurel Hill Cemetery

It's funny how most of us are more familiar with her work than we are with the name Sarah Josepha Hale. Job resumes were not a popular practice in her time, but if one was created for Mrs. Hale, I believe that hers would be the most impressive resume of any female in American History.....EVER.

We are first introduced to her work in our earliest years of schooling when we sing “Mary Had A Little Lamb”. Yes, she is the one that wrote it. When we get married and the bride's wedding dresses are white, she is responsible for that too. Christmas Trees are brought into the home because of Mrs. Hale. However, her most impressive achievement is still celebrated today. Although the credit is wrongfully given to the pilgrims, it is Sarah Josepha Hale that made a National Federal Holiday out of an annual meal we call Thanksgiving.

So, who exactly is this Sarah Josepha Hale and how did she accomplish so much? Well, lets take a look at her life and find out.

Today, our journey begins just as The Revolutionary War comes to an end, and our new nation is thrown into years of the groundbreaking of America. It's time we create an identity that is all our own.

The War of Independence has finally ended in September, 1777. Many of the the surviving soldiers are heading home as well as the men of higher ranks. Now that the war has ended, it's time we build the nation we fought so hard to create. Many of the men are anxious to return to their wives, start a family, start a business and make a little money. Captain Gordon Buell is no exception. He returns to his home in Newport, New Hampshire, where his wife, Martha is waiting for him.

The Buells start their family with four children. Charles Whittlesey Buell (1784-1815), Horatio Gates Buell (1787 - 1833), Sarah Josepha Buell (1788 - 1879), and Martha Maria Buell (1793 - 1811). By 1811, Gordon opens a boarding house and tavern called The Rising Sun Tavern.

Martha home-schools her children. Horatio enrolls into Dartmouth College. When he returns home for holidays, he teaches Sarah everything he learns. Sarah then takes what she knows and becomes a self taught school teacher. David Hale (1783-1822) is a lawyer that is keeping a room at the Rising Sun Tavern when he meets Sarah in 1811 and they fall in love.

David and Sarah get married on October 23, 1813 at The Rising Sun Tavern. As husband and wife, David and Sarah are very deep in love with each other. David encourages Sarah to continue with her self-education. She states that she always looks forward to their nightly studying together between 8pm-10pm. He enjoys and encourages her budding writing career that develops while she is a teacher.

One morning, while teaching the young boys and girls, one of her students, Mary, shows up with her pet lamb following her. The lamb proves to be too distracting to have in class with the student so Sarah “turned him out”. The lamb does not wander far though, and stays close to the school throughout the day. When the children are dismissed from school, at the end of the day, the lamb runs to Mary's side looking for affection and protection. The other students are curios as to why this lamb seems to be so attached to Mary. Sarah explains that it is because Mary not only loves her pet, but because she is kind to him. Sarah uses this event to teach the children a valuable lesson to always be kind.

David and Sarah go on to have five children: David Hale Jr. (1815-1839), Horatio Hale (1817-1896), Frances Hale (1819-1894), Sarah Josepha Hale (1820-1863) and William George Hale (1822-1876). Sarah is eight months pregnant with William when unexpectedly, David dies on September 25, 1822. Now, suddenly, Sarah is a single mother of five. She spends the rest of her life in mourning, only wearing plain black dresses. I wonder if this is what inspired the wardrobe of Steve Jobs.

Sarah begins her writing career and with the help of her husband's inheritance. Sarah publishes her first collection of poems called “The Genius of Oblivion” in 1823. Four years later, she publishes her first novel, “Northwood: Life North And South” in 1827. London publishes the book under the title “A New England Tale”. This book is revolutionary in many ways. Sarah Josepha Hale becomes one of the first American woman novelists. It is one of the first novels about slavery. Sarah writes about freeing the African Slaves, but to Liberia. She writes that while slavery dehumanizes slaves, it does the same for slave owners and slows the process of their moral, technological and psychological growth. The book is an instant success.

“Northwood” gains the attention of Reverend John Blake, who offers Hale a job in Boston as the editor of his publication “Ladies' Magazine”. Although she prefers the title "editress", she takes the job serving from 1828-1836. John Neal, critic and feminist writer, praises her work, stating that he hopes women editors will become as common as male editors and not have to rely on marriage to make a living. Sarah works hard on the magazine in hopes to encourage women to have an equally important part to anyone in their world as much as the fellow man.

In 1830, many women poets write for children. Sarah not only follows this norm, but she far surpasses that when she publishes her book “Poems For Our Children”. Inspired by the event that happened while teaching, she includes a poem she calls “Mary's Lamb”. It has since adapted the first line as the title we all know today: “Mary had a little lamb...”.

Sarah's work gets the attention of Louis Antoine Godey (1804-1878 †) way down in Philadelphia. Godey happens to be the editor and publisher of “Godey's Lady's Book”, a magazine for women and the most widely circulated before the Civil War. Impressed with her work, Godey attempts to hire Sarah to be the editor of his magazine, but she turns him down. Determined to work with Hale, in 1837, Godey buys “Ladies Magazine”, merges it with his own magazine and renamed it “American Ladies' Magazine”. Now that she is working for Godey, Sarah insists that she remain in Boston until her children are finished with their schooling. Hale edits each issue by mail over the next four years.

Sara is a strong supporter of the American writer. While other magazines are collecting and reprinting articles from British publications, Sarah is part of a group of editors who insists on publishing American writers. In the days of “Ladies Magazine” back in Boston, this meant that sometimes she would have to personally write half of the published work herself.

When she begins working for Godey, she continues this standard. Under her direction, she publishes many important contributors before they became famous. Hale is responsible for printing the works of Nathaniel Parker Willis (poet and the highest paid magazine writer at the time), Catharine Beecher (American Educator known for her outspoken views on female education), Emma Willard (founder of the first school in the United States for women's higher education), Washington Irving (author of "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"), and a very young Edgar Allan Poe while he was studying at West Point with Sarah's son, David Hale Jr.

Being a strong patriotic woman, Hale likes to publish American-themed fictions. Sometimes there are topics about the frontier and historical fictions set during The American Revolution. Let's remember here, that Sarah's father is a veteran of The War For Independence, so it is close to her heart. When the issue of slavery arose, she strongly opposes it, devoting herself to The Union. Hale sees her pages as a way to influence unity in America by publishing stories about Southerners and Northerners falling in love, or Southerners and Northerners fighting together against their common enemy: The British.

Hale becomes the most influential authority in the American taste. The impact of the “American Ladies' Magazine” is inconceivable by today's standards. With over 150,000 subscribers in both the North and the South, “American Ladies' Magazine” has the largest readership of the time. Both Godey and Hale are considered the biggest influences and trend setters of American life.

Filled with famous quotes by Sarah, readers are introduced to her way of thinking. She is not a fan of fashion. Sarah believes in women wearing simple clothing. Remember, Sarah herself wears only black dresses in mourning of her deceased husband. Godey knows that the printing of the fashion plates is a very popular part of his magazine and insists they stay in. The compromise is that the fashion section is the only part of the magazine that Sarah does not have to deal with. Despite not being a fan, she prints the latest fashion plates from Paris. Sometimes, she prints her dismissal of the fashion on the opposite page.

With her youngest son William, preparing to graduate from Harvard University, Sarah finally moves to Philadelphia to work on Godey's magazine in person. She moves to 922 Spruce Street. A blue historical marker now stands in front of her home.

Sarah is still focused on helping women be as equally important as the men of everyday life. Although it is called “American Ladies' Magazine”, it has a much broader audience. The magazine influences domestic architecture by publishing plans for houses that are replicated by home builders throughout the nation. One issue even has instructions on how to build a church. Sarah creates a column called “Editor's Table”, where she shares her views on issues of the day, and promotes her causes. Several of her columns begin to talk about a little-known meal in order to help it become better known.

In December of 1777, George Washington makes a proclamation for a Thanksgiving feast as a celebration after the victory at the Battle of Saratoga. Second president of The United States, John Adams, proclaims a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer in 1798 to be followed by a day of giving thanks to God.

Periodically, there are several different one-off celebrations of Thanksgiving throughout the years. New York is the first to recognize a specific day for the occasion, followed by each New England state having a different day of thanks. If one plans right, they can travel through these northern colonies celebrating each designated day of thanks from as early as October all the way through January. In the Southern states, such a day is virtually unheard of. The only nationally recognized holidays at the time are Washington's Birthday and Independence Day. When Thomas Jefferson takes office in 1801, he refuses to uphold the tradition because he feels it is a religious-based holiday, having come from a Puritan practice himself. Popularity for the day of thanks declines into oblivion after Jefferson fails to uphold it.

In 1846, Sarah Josepha Hale begins her campaign to create a new, nationally celebrated holiday. In the Spring and Autumn editions of “American Ladies' Magazine”, she begins advocating a day of thanks to become a national Federal Holiday, a day that the nation could celebrate in unison. She then encourages her readers to join the cause and make it happen.

Her preaching doesn't stop there. Sarah writes letters to congressmen, governors and anyone else in government who she thinks will listen. When she seems to not get anywhere, she knows that if she wants to make it a federal holiday, she has to go to the top.

In 1846, Sarah writes to president Zachary Taylor, trying to convince him to declare a nationally recognized day of thanks. Her letter goes unanswered. So, she then writes a letter to president Millard Fillmore and her letter goes unanswered. Sarah tries again with the election of president Franklin Pierce, and still her letter goes unanswered. Being the determined woman that she is, Sarah refuses to let the unanswered letters deter her. She tries again with president James Buchanan, but her letter, still, goes unanswered. It is her letter to Abraham Lincoln that finally does the trick. With The Civil War coming to an end, a new unifying national holiday will be a good way to start the period known as Reconstruction. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the final Thursday of November to be celebrated nationally as Thanksgiving. For 17 years, Sarah campaigns for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday before it comes true, earning her the nickname the “Mother of Thanksgiving”.

If you're wondering where the typical Thanksgiving menu comes from, well that is all described in the first novel that Sarah Josepha Hale publishes, “Northwood”. There is an entire chapter on this feast of thanks. A New England family will set a side a day to give thanks and celebrate it with a special dinner. The celebration dinner includes roasted turkey, gravy, and “savory stuffing”. To wash it down, they drink ginger beer, wine or cider. For dessert, they have chicken pie, pumpkin pie, pickles and preserves.

Sarah is a big admirer of Queen Victoria. She loves everything about her. After hearing of a tree being brought into Queen Victoria's living space and decorated for Christmas, Hale begins promoting the idea of a Christmas Tree in “American Ladies' Magazine” in 1850. She is probably unaware of the stir in the neighborhood that physician Constantin Hering causes in Germantown when in 1834, he drags a pine tree from New Jersey into his home to decorate it. Hering is credited as having the first Christmas Tree in Pennsylvania. Ironically enough, he is buried in Laurel Hill West Cemetery, just across the Schuylkill River from Sarah.

In 1852, Hale creates a section in the magazine that discusses women's attempt to enter the workforce called “Employment For Women”.

Sarah maintains her writing career while working for Godey. She publishes close to fifty volumes of novels and poems in her lifetime. In 1840, she begins editing several issues of “The Opal”, an annual gift book.

Being an advocate for women's education, Sarah Josepha Hale helps in the founding of Vassar College, a university just for women. In a time when an all women's college is not widely accepted, Hale continues to influence the public to change that way of thinking. From her time working for “Ladies' Magazine” in Boston, til the time she retires, she writes seventeen editorials and articles on the topic of women's education. In 1860, Hale is awarded a metal "for distinguished services in the cause of female education" by Baltimore Female College.

Sarah works to change the historical imprint that outstanding women have. She attempts to make women the center of world history when in 1855 she publishes several editions of “Woman's Record: Sketches of All Distinguished Women, from the Creation to A.D. 1854”, with over 2,500 entries in an encyclopedic-like fashion. Sarah constantly emphasizes how important women are to Christianity saying that a woman are “God's appointed agent of mortality”.

While Sarah Josepha Hale is a trail blazer for women's education, she always believes in stereotypical gender roles. She believes that a women should have domestic roles. She believes that she is simply trying to expand upon those roles. She strongly feels that women should write morally uplifting novels because they are the ones who shape the morals of society. Sarah does not believe in women's suffrage because she feels that women should use the “secret, silent influence of women” to persuade men's votes.

As a side note, I find this to be very reminiscent of Benjamin Franklin's modus operandi. While in France for nine years attempting to convince them to be our allies, he seems to do a lot of socializing, especially with the ladies. According to John Adams, it looks as if Franklin is ONLY there for the night life. However, what he is doing is passing his ideas on to the ladies he is so close with. Those ladies then influence their husbands, who have political control. It is by way of the ladies that he secures France to back The United States against the British, winning the American War for Independence.

In an effort to unify the North and the South, Sarah works to preserve the home of George Washington, Mount Vernon. It is a symbol of patriotism that both sides can support. She also raises $30,000 in Boston to have the Bunker Hill Monument completed. Sarah asks her readers to all contribute a single dollar when construction is at a stand still. Sarah organizes a week-long benefit craft fair at Quincy Market. The craft show offers handmade quilts, jewelry, pies, cakes, jellies and jams. There are autographed letters from such American icons such as Marquis de Lafayette, James Madison and even George Washington himself, to help raise money.

Sarah Josepha Hale retires from editing at the age of 89 in 1877. Later that year, Thomas Edison makes the first recording on his new invention, the phonograph. What is the recording of? The opening lines of “Mary's Lamb”.

On April 30th, 1879, Sarah Josepha Buell Hale dies at her home at 1413 Locust Street, in Philadelphia. Just across the street from The Academy of Music. When the average life span of the time is around 38 years, Sarah lived to be 90 years old. He death certificate lists her cause of death simply as “old age”. On May 3, 1879, she is laid to rest at Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Section X Lot 61, along side her daughter Sara Josepha Hale, who passed away in 1863.

I have never seen a more impressive woman. She has changed the way I see a lot of things today. I'm not sure about you, but I know that I will now make a special toast this and every Thanksgiving in honor of Sarah Josepha Hale.