Mary Hall Adams (, Barrett; September 16, 1816 – December 8, 1860) was a 19th-century American book editor and letter writer. Her writing include: ''Sabbath School annual for 1846-'', ''Never give up, or, How children may be happy'', and ''The Rainbow and Other Stories: A Juvenile Gift''. Adams died in 1860.
Early years and education
Mary Hall Barrett was born in
Malden, Massachusetts
Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people.
History
Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...
, on September 16, 1816, the daughter of William and Mary Barrett. Her mother worked among the poor of Malden. Her father, owner of the Malden Dye-House, believed in the principles of
Christian Universalism
Christian universalism is a school of Christian theology focused around the doctrine of universal reconciliation – the view that all human beings will ultimately be saved and restored to a right relationship with God. "Christian universalism" ...
. Her parents exemplified those principles at home and abroad. Rev. Dr. Sylvanus Cobb said: "When we commenced our pastoral charge at Malden, Mary Barrett was a girl of 12. Though her father was wealthy, and her associates were of the first class socially, she was ever modest and affable in her manners towards all. There was a combination of intellectuality and benevolence in her expression, and her highest concern was to enrich and adorn the mind. She entered heartily and efficiently into the work of the Sunday-school. Young as she was, she became a teacher and member of the Bible class. She joined the church at 16, and was ever one of the most earnest and faithful workers, and her enlightened and ever-glowing spirit of devotion added to the spiritual interest of the communion."
When quite young, her sister, father, brother and mother all died of consumption, and needed great care before their deaths, which Adams took upon herself to provide. Friends saw that Adams was overdoing herself and becoming frail, but her comforting was so well received by the invalids that they did not notice Adams' wasting frame.
She was never a "rollicking school girl". In addition to the instruction obtained in her home town, she attended schools in
Medford and
Charlestown.
Career
In November, 1889, she married the clergyman Rev.
John Greenleaf Adams, D.D. (1810-1887) and lived for 12 years in her childhood home as a pastor's wife. She shared her thoughts about the marriage via letters to friends: "To be a clergyman's wife has from my childhood been the acme of my desire; and I regard the day of my marriage as the commencement of my duties and pleasures, in anticipation of which my heart is joyous. It may be a way of trials, vexations, grievances. Let them all come! There has been One to sustain and impart fortitude to my heart, and his hand will still guide and uphold me." To another she wrote: "I am very sad at the thought of leaving so many dear friends, and this old home my parents lived and died in; and then, too, my dear mother, upon her dying pillow, gave into my charge my younger sisters to advise and counsel as far as was in my power, and that makes it hard indeed; but there is one whose home I am bound to bless and cheer, so think of me, dear friend, on the evening, about the time I shall stand at the altar, to promise, before God and the world, what my heart readily yields— allegiance to the laws of Christian love and a husband."
![Sabbath-School Annual (1848)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Sabbath-School_Annual_%281848%29.png)
Adams edited the ''Sabbath-School Annual'', published by Rev. James M. Usher,
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 ...
, for three years, and through her influence the best authors of the
Universalist Church filled the book with the most instructive and attractive reading for young children. In a letter to one who assisted her by sending communications, Adams wrote: "I never more than at present felt the necessity of well-directed efforts to keep, to win, to reclaim the young from what is wrong and unholy; to kindle a love of pure and sound instruction within them, a love of Christ and his precepts in their hearts. I know you feel with me the importance of filling our juvenile papers and books with instructive lessons in morality and religion. We must think and talk more of heaven and God. We must not leave 'Father in heaven' and 'better home' to be mentioned only in prayers and in Sunday-school. We must talk of these things in the sunlight, over the needle, around the hearth on Monday or Tuesday, and not consider them Sunday or sick-bed topics nor leave them for the minister."
Later life
When Adams' health was lessening daily, it was thought advisable to move inland, and so Rev. Adams accepted a call from the people of
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
, and removed there in 1852. Adams, being unable to attend to household duties, remained with her Malden friends until her new home was made comfortable for her. Her health for a time seemed to improve. Her memoir says she found congenial friends in her new town. Her first communion in Worcester she describes: "Here for the first time I sat with stranger sisters and brothers, away from that old sanctuary where I was christened, received into the visible church, married, and where my babes have been dedicated to the service and will of the Father. Here, on new ground, amid new faces, with stranger hearts all around me, away from kindred and home, I drew near to my God and Savior for their blessings, and the communication of the influence of the Holy Spirit."
In 1859, Adams' health rapidly failed; in December she had an attack of
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
, from which she never fully recovered. In 1860, Rev. Adams received and accepted a call to the Second society in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
. Just before going there, Adams wrote to a friend: "I shall never drive business any more; I have turned that corner, and left it out of sight. Henceforth I am to all intents and purposes a 'slow coach.' I draw comfort, however, in contemplating the poor snail. He moves slowly, but he moves. He accomplishes his journey and work; and, by the blessing of God, I shall mine, in due time."
Adams died December 8, 1860 in Providence, Rhode Island,
and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery,
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
.
Style and themes
Among her closest friends were
Sarah Carter Edgarton Mayo
Sarah Carter Edgarton Mayo (born in Shirley, Massachusetts, 17 March 1819; died in Gloucester, Massachusetts, 9 July 1848) was an American author and editor.
Biography
She did well in the district school, and attended Westford Academy for a sem ...
,
Charlotte Ann Fillebrown Jerauld
Charlotte A. Jerauld (, Fillebrown; pen name, Charlotte; April 16, 1820 - August 2, 1845) was an American poet and story writer. A zealous Universalist, she contributed to Christian magazines such as ''Ladies' Repository'', the ''Rose of Sharon' ...
, Eliza Ann Bacon Lathrop, Rev.
Edwin Hubbell Chapin
Edwin Hubbell Chapin (December 29, 1814 – 1880) was an American preacher and editor of the ''Christian Leader''. He was also a poet, responsible for the poem ''Burial at Sea'', which was the origin of a famous folk song, ''Bury Me Not on t ...
, Rev.
Thomas Starr King
Thomas Starr King (December 17, 1824 – March 4, 1864), often known as Starr King, was an American Universalist and Unitarian minister, influential in California politics during the American Civil War, and Freemason. Starr King spoke z ...
, Rev.
Hosea Ballou
Hosea Ballou D.D. (April 30, 1771 – June 7, 1852) was an American Universalist clergyman and theological writer.
Originally a Baptist, he converted to Universalism in 1789. He preached in a number of towns in Vermont, New Hampshire, and ...
, Rev. Sebastian Streeter, Dr.
Hosea Ballou II
Hosea Ballou II (October 18, 1796May 27, 1861) was an American Universalist minister and the first president of Tufts University from 1853 to 1861. Ballou was named after his uncle and went by the name "Hosea Ballou 2d. " Publishers, friends, e ...
, Rev.
Thomas Whittemore
Thomas Whittemore (January 2, 1871 – June 8, 1950) was an American scholar and archaeologist who founded the Byzantine Institute of America. His close personal relationship with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and the first president of the ...
, Rev. Lucius Robinson Paige, Rev. Otis A. Skinner, and Rev.
John Wesley Hanson
John Wesley Hanson D.D. (1823–1901) was an American Universalist minister and a notable Universalist historian advancing the claim that Universalism was the belief of early Christianity. He was born at Boston.
He is also notable for his eyewitne ...
. Epistolary addresses written in her early life were kept among the memorials of her surviving friends. In most of these writings, there is an infusion of the religious, which was so strong a peculiarity in her character.
Selected works
* 1847, ''Sabbath School annual for 1846-''
text
* 1850, ''Never give up, or, How children may be happy''
text
* 1850, ''The Rainbow and Other Stories: A Juvenile Gift''
text
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Mary Hall
1816 births
1860 deaths
19th-century American non-fiction writers
19th-century American women writers
American book editors
Women print editors
People from Malden, Massachusetts
American letter writers
Women letter writers
Members of the Universalist Church of America
American women non-fiction writers