Susan Coolidge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Chauncey_Woolsey

Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (January 29, 1835 – April 9, 1905) was an American children's author who wrote under the pen name Susan Coolidge.

Background

Woolsey was born January 29, 1835 into the wealthy, influential New England Dwight family in Cleveland, Ohio. Her father was John Mumford Woolsey (1796–1870) and mother was Jane Andrews. She spent much of her childhood in New Haven Connecticut after her family moved there in 1852.

Woolsey worked as a nurse during the American Civil War (1861–1865), after which she started to write. The niece of the author and poet Gamel Woolsey, she never married, and resided at her family home in Newport, Rhode Island, until her death. She edited The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mrs. Delaney (1879) and The Diary and Letters of Frances Burney (1880). She is best known, however, for her classic children's novel What Katy Did (1872). The fictional Carr family was modeled after the author's own, with Katy Carr inspired by Susan (Sarah) herself, and the brothers and sisters modeled on Coolidge's four younger Woolsey siblings. They were: Jane Andrews Woolsey was born October 25, 1836 and married Reverend Henry Albert Yardley. Elizabeth Dwight Woolsey was born April 24, 1838, married ♥ Daniel Coit Gilman and died in 1910. Theodora Walton Woolsey was born September 7, 1840. William Walton Woolsey was born July 18, 1842 and married Catherine Buckingham Convers, daughter of Charles Cleveland Convers.

Note: the wikipedia link provides a list of her Works.

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Sarah Chauncey Woolsey was born 29 January 1835 in Cleveland, Ohio. Eldest daughter of John Mumford Woolsey and Jane Andrews Woolsey. Her siblings were Jane, Elizabeth, Theodora, who became Clover, Elsie and Johnnie in the 'Katy' books, her brother William became Phil and an orphaned cousin who lived with them became Dorry. Sarah and her sisters were educated at The Select Family School for Young Ladies in Hanover, New Hampshire. In 1855 the Woolseys moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where many other Woolseys lived, and here Sarah met the author Helen Hunt Jackson, who was to become her greatest friend. During the Civil War Sarah and Helen volunteered for work at the Knight Hospital in New Haven where they worked in the sewing room and also read to the sick soldiers. John Woolsey died in 1870 and the following year Sarah's first book, The New Year's Bargain, was published. In 1873 Sarah, along with her mother and sister Dora, moved to Newport, Rhode Island. Sarah went on to write many books, her stories for children being published under the pseudonym 'Susan Coolidge'. Her best-known work is the series of five books which comprise the 'Katy' series, all of which are still in print today. Sarah died in Newport in 1905.

Bio generously provided by:

Christine R Ward Stilton Cambridgeshire UK Inscription: Eldest daughter of John Mumford and Jane Andrews Woolsey

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 16 2017, 20:33:56 UTC
• Residence: 1860 - New Haven City 4th Ward, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
• Residence: 1900 - Newport city Ward 3, Newport, Rhode Island, United States
  • Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Jan 16 2017, 20:49:58 UTC