Mary Hayden Pike (''née'' Green) (November 30, 1824 – January 15, 1908) was an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. She also wrote under the pseudonyms Mary Langdon and Sydney A. Story, Jr.

Biography

She was born Mary Hayden Green in

Eastport, Maine Eastport is a city and archipelago in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 census, making Eastport the least-populous city in Maine. The principal island is Moose Island, which is connected to the mainla ...

, to Elijah Dix Green and Hannah Claflin Hayden. She was educated in

Calais, Maine Calais is a city in Washington County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,079, making Calais the third least-populous city in Maine (after Hallowell and Eastport). The city has three Canada–US border cro ...

, and acquired religious convictions at age twelve, when she went through

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

in an icy stream. She graduated from the

Charlestown Female Seminary Charlestown Female Seminary was a Christian school in Charlestown, Massachusetts. at Internet Archive Opened in 1830, the female seminary was the second school in Charlestown for young women. Background The establishment of Charlestown Female Se ...

in 1843. In 1846 she married

Frederick A. Pike Frederick Augustus Pike (December 9, 1816 – December 2, 1886) was a U.S. Representative from Maine. Biography Born in Calais, Massachusetts (now in Maine), Pike attended the common schools and the Washington Academy, East Machias, Maine. ...

, who was later elected to the

37th United States Congress The 37th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1861, ...

. Pike's paternal grandfather, Thomas Green, was the first pastor of the

North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse The North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse, also known as the Old Baptist Meeting House, is an historic church on Hillside Street in Yarmouth, Maine. Built in 1796 and twice altered in the 19th century, it is believed to be the oldest ...

in today's

Yarmouth, Maine Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, twelve miles north of the state's largest city, Portland. When originally settled in 1636, as North Yarmouth, it was part of Massachusetts, and remained as such for 213 years. In 1849, ...

. He died in 1814, ten years before Pike was born. Her most well-known writing is ''Ida May'', a sentimental antislavery novel. The book, published in 1854, features the titular character kidnapped from Pennsylvania, her skin forcibly dyed darker, and sold into slavery. Published under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"Mary Langdon", the book immediately drew comparisons to ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U. ...

'', including from

William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the ''New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry ...

, who theorized the novel was really by

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...

. The book sold 60,000 copies in its first two years. ''

Frederick Douglass' Paper ''The North Star'' was a nineteenth-century anti-slavery newspaper published from the Talman Building in Rochester, New York, by abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The paper commenced publication on December 3, 1847, and ceased as ''The North Star' ...

'' heavily promoted the book and, in one review, noted it was "bound to electrify the reading public and to stir the spirits of all who have heads to think and hearts to feel".Clymer, Jeffory A. ''Family Money: Property, Race, and Literature in the Nineteenth Century''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013: 171. The book became popular enough in collective consciousness that abolitionist Senator

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...

touted a formerly enslaved girl named Mary Botts as "another Ida May" to draw antislavery sentiment.Mitchell, Mary Niall. ''Raising Freedom's Child: Black Children and Visions of the Future After Slavery''. New York: New York University Press, 2008: 73–74. Pike soon followed up the success of ''Ida May'' with two other books exploring racial prejudice: ''Caste'' (1856), about a white woman who discovers she is legally black, and ''Agnes'' (1858), about Native Americans.

Works

*''Ida May: a Story of Things Actual and Possible'', 1854 (written under the pseudonym Mary Langdon) *''Caste: A Story of Republican Equality'', 1856 (written under the pseudonym Sydney A. Story, Jr.) *''Agnes'', 1858

References

;Specific ;General * "Pike, Mary Hayden (Green)." ''American Authors 1600 – 1900.'' H. W. Wilson Company, NY 1938.
Mary Hayden Pike's works
Accessed December 10, 2007 1824 births 1908 deaths People from Eastport, Maine Writers from Maine 19th-century American women writers American abolitionists {{US-writer-stub

Biography

Works

See also

References