Judith Sargent Murray
Judith Sargent Murray was an influential early American writer and advocate for women's rights, born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1751. She received a remarkable education for a woman of her time and began her literary career while married to Captain John Stevens, a merchant seaman. Following Stevens' death during a trip to the West Indies in 1786, Murray turned to writing, publishing poetry and essays under the pseudonym Constantia. Her works often explored themes of grief and loss, particularly following the death of her infant son, which inspired her poem "Lines Occasioned by the Death of an Infant."
In 1788, she married the Reverend John Murray, and her literary contributions expanded during their time in Boston, where she published a series of essays titled *The Gleaner*, addressing women's rights and equality. Murray also attempted playwriting, producing works such as *The Medium: Or, The Happy Tea-Party* and *The Traveller Returned*, although they were not widely successful. Later in her life, she focused on editing her husband’s writings. Ultimately, her journey took her to Natchez, Mississippi, where she lived with her daughter after her marriage. Through her writing and advocacy, Judith Sargent Murray remains a significant figure in the history of American literature and women’s rights.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Judith Sargent Murray
Writer
- Born: May 5, 1751
- Birthplace: Gloucester, Massachusetts
- Died: June 9, 1820
- Place of death: Natchez, Mississippi
Biography
Born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Judith Sargent was the daughter of a prominent seafaring merchant. She was given an unusually thorough education for a woman of her day and age. In 1769, she married Captain John Stevens, a merchant seaman. The Revolutionary War resulted in financial difficulty for Stevens, and in 1786 he sailed without his wife for the West Indies, both in flight from debtors and in an attempt to earn money to pay his debts; he died while on this trip. Sargent began writing poetry and essays during her marriage to Stevens, publishing some in the Boston periodical Gentleman’s and Lady’s Town and Country in 1784. She published under the pseudonym Constantia.
During the late 1770’s, Sargent and her parents had converted to Universalism and had attended services ministered by the Reverend John Murray. In 1788, she married Murray. She would give birth to her first child in 1789, but her son George died at only a few days of age. The resulting grief fueled many poems, and Murray would go on to publish some of her verse as “Lines Occasioned by the Death of an Infant” in January of 1790 in Massachusetts Magazine. Later in the same year she would publish poems about her brother’s service in the Revolutionary War. Those poems had probably been written during the conflict but could not find publication until later. Her grief over her dead son was abated somewhat by the birth of her daughter Julia in 1791. From 1792 to 1794, Murray published a series of essays under the title The Gleaner about women’s rights and equality. These works were later collected and published in 1798 as a three-volume set.
When the Murray family moved to Boston in 1793, they were greeted with a city that had newly opened theaters and was calling for original dramatic works. Murray wrote The Medium: Or, The Happy Tea-Party, which was produced in 1795, and The Traveller Returned, in 1796; neither play was a great success, the former only being performed once and the latter twice.
Although Murray would publish a few poems in the Boston Weekly Magazine, her later literary efforts were largely confined to editing her husband’s letters, sermons, and autobiography, which were published in various volumes from 1812 to 1816. Murray would eventually move to Natchez, Mississippi, with her daughter, who had married a wealthy planter.