Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, born in 1815, was an American author renowned for her realistic novels and significant contributions to literature. Raised in a strict New England Calvinist household as the second of nine children, she was deeply influenced by her father, a clergyman and professor. Phelps's early education included attending Mount Vernon School in Boston, where she began her writing career under the pseudonym H. Trusta. She married Austin Phelps, a Calvinist clergyman, and despite the expectations of a preacher's wife, she balanced her family life with writing, producing works that reflected her experiences and beliefs.
Phelps had a notable impact on children's literature, exemplified by her book "Little Mary: Or, Talks and Tales for Children." Her legacy includes not only her own writings but also the literary achievements of her daughter, who followed in her footsteps. Throughout her life, Phelps faced personal challenges, including chronic health issues, yet remained committed to her craft. She passed away in 1852, shortly after the birth of her third child, leaving behind a rich literary heritage that continues to resonate today.
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Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
- Born: August 13, 1815
- Died: November 30, 1852
Biography
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, nee Elizabeth Wooster Stuart, is best known for her realistic novels. She was born in 1815, the second of nine children born to Abigail Wooster Stuart and the Reverend Moses Stuart, a clergyman and a professor of Greek and Hebrew literature at Andover Theological Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts. Phelps grew up in a New England Calvinist household deeply involved with religious and intellectual pursuits under strict Puritan discipline and believing her father was among a chosen select. Phelps had two sisters who also became professional writers, Sarah and Abbie. Phelps learned early how to manage a household and care for her sickly sister, Abigail. Phelps herself suffered from chronic headaches all of her life.
Phelps was educated at Andover. When she turned eighteen, she began attending Mount Vernon School in Boston, remaining there for two years. While at Mount Vernon, she wrote her first published fiction and found a mentor in Reverend Jacob Abbot, the school’s founder and later the author of a popular children’s educational series. Abbott edited a religious periodical at the time, and Phelps wrote articles for the publication under the pseudonym H. Trusta, an anagram of Stuart. She used this pseudonym for all of her other published work that was not published anonymously; she never published under her own name.
She married Austin Phelps, a Calvinist clergyman with a congregation at the Pine Street Church in Boston. Phelps dutifully fulfilled the expectations of a nineteenth century Puritan preacher’s wife, but still found time to write. The couple had two children while in Boston, Moses and Mary, the subject of Phelps’s book Little Mary: Or, Talks and Tales for Children. Phelps’s daughter later became a professional writer of note, assuming her mother’s name and other pseudonyms just as Phelps had done.
When her husband accepted a position as a professor of rhetoric at Andover Theological Seminary, the Phelps family returned to Andover. Phelps lectured and taught writing at Boston University and Abbott Academy, a school for women. She died in November, 1852, three months after giving birth to her third child, Amos Lawrence.