Mary Perkins Ives Abbott (October 17, 1857 in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

– February 9, 1904 in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

) was an American writer, golfer, reviewer and novelist. After marrying Charles Abbott, Mary moved to

Calcutta, India Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

(now Kolkata) with him. There she bore three children- Margaret, Charles Jr., and Sprague. Mary’s husband died in August 1879 and she returned to the United States to live in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where her brother lived. Mary began a career as a successful writer there, penning her first novel, ''Alexia'', in 1889 and then ''The Beverlys: A Story of Calcutta'' in 1890. Both sold well, and Mary later wrote essays for the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

and the

Chicago Evening Post The ''Chicago Evening Post'' was a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, from March 1, 1886, until October 29, 1932, when it was absorbed by the ''Chicago Daily News''. The newspaper was founded as a penny paper during the technologica ...

. As her writing career catapulted her into Chicago’s higher class, she opened a literary

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

. There, she befriended golfer and course designer Charles Blair Macdonald, who introduced Mary and her daughter, Margaret, to the game at his own

Chicago Golf Club Chicago Golf Club is a private golf club in the central United States, located in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. The oldest 18-hole course in North America, it was one of the five founding clubs of the United States Golf Association ...

. She competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics golf tournament, where she finished tied for seventh place. A historic record, both she and her daughter, Margaret Abbott, the first ever female gold medalist at the games, competed in the event. A biographer of writer

Finley Peter Dunne Finley Peter Dunne (born Peter Dunne; July 10, 1867 – April 24, 1936) was an American humorist, journalist and writer from Chicago. In 1898 Dunne published ''Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War'', a collection of his nationally syndicated Mr. Dooley ...

, Elmer Ellis, noted that Abbott, a widow who had lived for some years in Calcutta, moved to Chicago where she reviewed books for the ''Evening Post'' and the two (Abbott and Dunne) became acquainted. Dunne held her to be “the wittiest woman he had ever met”.Eckley, Grace, ''Finley Peter Dunne'', p. 21, (Twayne, 1981) She recognized his genius and helped him throughout his career. The acquaintanceship with Abbott, who was a popular dinner guest in Chicago society, launched Dunne into those social circles and with those connections as well as his own writing, Dunne became prominent in Chicago. In 1902, he would become her son-in-law, when he married her daughter, Margaret.

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* * American female golfers Amateur golfers Golfers at the 1900 Summer Olympics Olympic golfers of the United States Golfers from Massachusetts Sportspeople from Salem, Massachusetts American women novelists 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American novelists 1857 births 1904 deaths {{US-novelist-1850s-stub