Susannah or Susan Heath (September 11, 1795 – March 24, 1878) was an American diarist.
Susannah Heath | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 11, 1795  |
| Died | March 24, 1878 (aged 82) Brookline |
| Occupation | Diarist, painter |
| Parent(s) |
|
Susannah Heath was born on September 11, 1795, one of ten children of Ebenezer Heath and Hannah Williams Heath. The family lived in what is today called the Ebenezer Heath House in Brookline, Massachusetts.[1]
Heath kept a 61-volume diary between 1812 and 1874. The diary is now owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society.[2] The diary has been frequently cited in historical studies of diverse topics including Heath's contempt for her father,[3] meeting the Marquis de Lafayette,[4] Dorothea Dix,[5] the medicinal use of arsenic,[6] and indoor plumbing.[7]
In 1813, Heath painted a watercolor landscape of the view of Boston from her home. Identifiable landmarks in the painting include the Massachusetts State House, the Worcester Turnpike, the Boston Neck, the Zabdiel Boylston House (demolished in 1863), the second building of the First Parish in Brookline, and the Great Elm on Boston Common.[8][9][10]
Susannah Heath never married and died on 24 March 1878 in Brookline.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Crafts, James; Crafts, William F. (William Francis) (1893). The Crafts family. A genealogical and biographical history of the descendants of Griffin and Alice Craft, of Roxbury, Mass. 1630-1890. Boston Public Library. Northampton, Mass., Gazette printing company.
- ^ "Heath Family Papers". Massachusetts Historical Society.
- ^ Blauvelt, Martha Tomhave (2007). The Work of the Heart: Young Women and Emotion, 1780-1830. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-2597-4.
- ^ McGovern, James R. (1975). Yankee family. Boston Public Library. New Orleans : Polyanthos.
- ^ Brown, Thomas J. (1998). Dorothea Dix: New England Reformer. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-21488-0.
- ^ Corrigan, John (2002). Business of the Heart: Religion and Emotion in the Nineteenth Century. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-22196-3.
- ^ Ogle, Maureen (1993). "Domestic Reform and American Household Plumbing, 1840-1870". Winterthur Portfolio. 28 (1): 33–58. doi:10.1086/496603. ISSN 0084-0416. JSTOR 1181497.
- ^ Dewhurst, C. Kurt (1979). Artists in aprons : folk art by American women. Internet Archive. New York : Dutton. ISBN 978-0-525-05857-1.
- ^ Little, Nina Fletcher (1975). Country arts in early American homes. Internet Archive. New York : Dutton. ISBN 978-0-525-08680-2.
- ^ Little, Nina Fletcher (1984). Little by little : six decades of collecting American decorative arts. Internet Archive. New York : E.P. Dutton. ISBN 978-0-525-24265-9.