l of early 19th century New England and one of the two best-selling American novels of the time. It was reprinted eight times between 1824 and 1828. However, it was not until 1866 that Hannah Foster's name appeared on the title page.
Foster's second work, The Boarding School; or, Lessons of a Preceptress to Her Pupils, was published in 1798. The first portion of the work is a description of the finishing school run by Mrs. Maria Williams, which includes exhortations on social conduct, reading and general preparations for survival.
The second part of the novel, containing letters from the students to the teacher and to each other, demonstrates the beneficial effects of Mrs. William's instruction. In Foster's day, The Boarding School may have seemed the predictable work of a minister's wife. Today, it illuminates the gender conflicts underlying Foster's classic, The Coquette.
Thereafter, Hannah Foster returned to newspaper writing and devoted herself to encouraging young writers, and raising a large family.
About 1810, John and Hannah built an elaborate mansion, which has been described as "a very large square house which faced to the south, to the front porch of which was added an ell used as a library and a reception room. The hilly land east of the house was terraced and the daughters became very industrious in keeping the grounds well stocked with flowering shrubs and plants."
Prior to 1827, Reverend Foster presided over the only church in Brighton. As wife of the town's sole minister, and the daughter of an important Boston merchant, Hannah became the acknowledged social leader of the community. A history of the Massachusetts Federation of Women's Clubs credits her with having founded in the early 1800s the first women's club in Massachusetts.
In 1827, a schism occurred in Brighton's First Parish Church, when a breakaway group established the Brighton Evangelical Congregational Society. A short time later Reverend Foster, who was in his sixties and in failing health, relinquished his pulpit.
After her husband's death in 1829, Hannah moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada to live with her daughter, Elizabeth Foster Cushing, the wife of Dr. Frederick Cushing, who was the physician at the Emigrant Hospital there.
Pioneer novelist Hannah Foster died in Montreal in 1840, at age 81.
Two of Foster's daughters went on to become famous writers during the 1800s. Harriet Vaughan Cheney published A Peep at the Pilgrims in 1636, Confessions of an Early Martyr, The Rivals of Acadia and Sketches from the Life of Christ. Eliza Lanesford Cushing published Esther, a dramatic poem, and works for the young. The two sisters wrote in conjunction The Sunday-School, or Village Sketches.
Wikipedia: The Coquette
Wikipedia: Hannah Webster Foster
Heath Anthology: Hannah Webster Foster
Hannah Foster: Brighton's Pioneer Novelist