2. (...and his personal life)

3. Born: July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts That’s 112 years after the Salem Witch Trials One of his progenitors (VOCAB WORD!) was John Hathorne, a judge in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

4. Was a sea captain. Lost at sea and died in 1808 in Dutch Guiana when Nathaniel was only four. Became overly protective and pushed Nathaniel to a state of isolation. Was an antisocial widow who was forced to raise a son, Nathaniel, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Maria Louisa

5. Nathaniel’s love for literature began after he was injured playing ball and couldn’t do anything else. He was a very shy person, even at parties. He liked to hunt and fish, and not stay in school.

6. Nathaniel was stricken with guilt at his family’s participation in the Salem witch trials He changed his family name because of this embarrassment His guilt is apparent in some of his writings; his ancestors are often characters in his stories

7. A Custom House (for those of you who do not know) is an office at a port where customs are collected and where ships are given permission to enter or leave. For financial reasons he moved into and worked in a Boston Custom House in 1839 This was his job for 3 years. He managed to make just enough money to get married and buy a home.

8. Nathaniel married Sophia Peabody in 1842. She was a friend of some writers he knew. When he got married, he was 38, and she was 32 They bought the home of Louisa May Alcott’s (author of Little Women) father On June 22, 1846, Nathaniel’s son Julian was born

9. Hawthorne’s writing received immediate success One of his novels was pirated by London publishers, hurting him financially Because of his financial relief, he had a daughter His novels focused on past and present New England life Most of his novels were about Puritans Because of his success, he befriended Herman Mellville, another writer, a neighbor, and, eventually, a promoter of Hawthorne’s work

10. Nathaniel Hawthorne died in Plymouth, New Hampshire on May 19, 1864 on a trip to the White Mountains with his friend Franklin Pierce. The Ex-President had checked on his friend many times during the night, only to find that Hawthorne had stopped breathing.