Elizabeth Prentiss

Sharon Ann James (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

Born 26 Oct 1818
Died 13 Aug 1878
Activity c. 1850-1878

Places

Born in United States
Active in United States

Activities

Primary

Children's/Young Adult writer
Poet

Resources

Prentiss' Works

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Elizabeth Prentiss, best known as the author of the novel

Stepping Heavenward

, was born in 1818 in Portland, Maine. Her father, Edward Payson was a well known preacher in the Puritan tradition. Edward and his wife Louisa had six children, and the Payson home was close-knit and loving. Elizabeth was just nine years old when her father died of tuberculosis at the age of forty-four. This tragedy affected her deeply.

Career options for women were limited, and Elizabeth began teaching in order to help support her family. She taught in Portland and Virginia until the age of twenty-seven. In 1845, she married George Prentiss, minister of a Presbyterian church in Bedford Massachusetts until 1851, and then of a leading church in New York until 1873. From her marriage until her death at the age of

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2226 words

Citation: James, Sharon Ann. "Elizabeth Prentiss". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 January 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11950, accessed 24 November 2024.]