Elizabeth Rogers Mason Cabot (May 25, 1834 – December 12, 1920) was an American diarist and philanthropist.

Early life

Cabot was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on May 25, 1834, to a prominent Boston family. Her parents were William Powell Mason, a prominent lawyer, and Hannah Rogers Mason, a descendent of

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

president John Rogers and of

Thomas Dudley Thomas Dudley (12 October 157631 July 1653) was a New England colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the tow ...

, governor of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

. Growing up, Cabot lived in Boston and spent her summers in

Walpole, New Hampshire Walpole is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,633 at the 2020 census. The town's central village, where 573 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Walpole census-designated place (CDP) and ...

Philanthropy

Cabot was involved in running the Home for Aged Colored Women in Boston, as well as the

Children's Aid Society Children's Aid, formerly the Children's Aid Society, is a private child welfare nonprofit in New York City founded in 1853 by Charles Loring Brace. With an annual budget of over $100 million, 45 citywide sites, and over 1,200 full-time employee ...

and the Woman's Education Association. She was also a member of the Federal Street Unitarian Church (the congregation continues at the

Arlington Street Church The Arlington Street Church is a Unitarian Universalist church across from the Public Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Because of its geographic prominence and the notable ministers who have served the congregation, the church is considered to b ...

), where she taught

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

. Cabot's diary was published by

Beacon Press Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as James B ...

in 1991 under the title, ''More Than Common Powers of Perception''. The diary was edited by P. A. M. Taylor.

Personal life

She married Walter Channing Cabot, son of

Samuel Cabot Jr. Samuel Cabot Jr. (December 21, 1784 – September 2, 1863) was an American businessman in the early-nineteenth-century China Trade, a member of the wealthy and prominent Cabot family. Early life Cabot was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Decemb ...

, in 1860; the couple had five children and lived in

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri * Brookline, New Hampshire * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookline, Vermont See ...

and

Manchester, Massachusetts Manchester-by-the-Sea (also known simply as Manchester, its name prior to 1989) is a coastal town on Cape Ann, in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is known for scenic beaches and vista points. According to the 2020 population ...

. Cabot died December 12, 1920, at her home in Brookline, Massachusetts.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabot, Elizabeth Rogers Mason American Unitarians American women philanthropists 19th-century women philanthropists 19th-century American women writers American diarists Writers from Boston Burials at Walnut Hills Cemetery (Brookline, Massachusetts) American women diarists