Abby May
Encyclopedia
Abigail "Abby" Alcott (October 8, 1800 – November 25, 1877) was the wife of Transcendentalist Amos Bronson Alcott
and mother of four daughters, including Civil War novelist Louisa May Alcott
. An activist for several causes, May was one of the first paid social workers in the state of Massachusetts
.
, a presiding judge of the Salem witch trials
. Her father, Colonel Joseph May, was a lauded Unitarian layman. As a child she did not regularly attend a formal school. Rather, she was educated in history, languages, and sciences by her tutor Abigail Allyn in Duxbury, Massachusetts. She was introduced to her future husband, Amos Bronson Alcott in Brookline, Massachusetts. Abigail May later applied for an assistant position in Alcott's school in Boston. They married in 1830 and collaborated on projects such as the failed utopian community Fruitlands
and the Temple School.
alongside her husband and three of her daughters.
, the poor, and the abolition
of slavery, May imbued strong values in her four children. According to her second daughter, author Louisa May Alcott, she "always did what came to her in the way of duty and charity, and let pride, taste, and comfort suffer for love’s sake". Such humanitarian ideals extended beyond her household to the city of Boston, Massachusetts
, where she accepted a full-time job as a social worker in 1848.
Amos Bronson Alcott
Amos Bronson Alcott was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and avoided traditional punishment. He hoped to perfect the human spirit and, to that end, advocated a...
and mother of four daughters, including Civil War novelist Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
. An activist for several causes, May was one of the first paid social workers in the state of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Family life and education
Abigail May was of prominent New England stock. On her mother's side, she was born into the families of Sewall and Quincy. Her mother, Dorothy Sewell, was the great-granddaughter of Samuel SewallSamuel Sewall
Samuel Sewall was a Massachusetts judge, best known for his involvement in the Salem witch trials, for which he later apologized, and his essay The Selling of Joseph , which criticized slavery.-Biography:...
, a presiding judge of the Salem witch trials
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
. Her father, Colonel Joseph May, was a lauded Unitarian layman. As a child she did not regularly attend a formal school. Rather, she was educated in history, languages, and sciences by her tutor Abigail Allyn in Duxbury, Massachusetts. She was introduced to her future husband, Amos Bronson Alcott in Brookline, Massachusetts. Abigail May later applied for an assistant position in Alcott's school in Boston. They married in 1830 and collaborated on projects such as the failed utopian community Fruitlands
Fruitlands (transcendental center)
Fruitlands was a Utopian agrarian commune established in Harvard, Massachusetts by Amos Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane in the 1840s, based on Transcendentalist principles...
and the Temple School.
Children
- Anna Bronson AlcottAnna Alcott PrattAnna Bronson Alcott Pratt was the elder sister of American novelist Louisa May Alcott. She was the basis for the character Margaret "Meg" of Little Women , her sister's classic, semi-autobiographical novel...
(March 16, 1831 - July 13, 1893) - Louisa May AlcottLouisa May AlcottLouisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
(November 29, 1832 - March 6, 1888) - Elizabeth Sewall AlcottElizabeth Sewall AlcottElizabeth Sewall "Lizzie" Alcott is the real-life model for the fictional character Beth March in Little Women, a novel written by her sister Louisa May Alcott...
(June 24, 1835 - March 14, 1858) - May Alcott (March 26, 1840 - December 29, 1879)
Death
The death of Elizabeth Sewall, the model for Beth in Little Women, on March 14, 1858, made Abby May depressed and sad. Nineteen years after Beth's death, Abby May herself died in November 1877. Louisa wrote in her journal: "I never wish her back, but a great warmth seems gone out of life... She was so loyal, tender, and true, life was hard for her and no one knew all she had to bear but her children." Abby May is buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, ConcordSleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is a cemetery located on Bedford Street near the center of Concord, Massachusetts. The cemetery is the burial site of a number of famous Concordians, including some of the United States' greatest authors and thinkers, especially on a hill known as "Author's...
alongside her husband and three of her daughters.
Activism
A woman suffragist and an activist for the temperance movementTemperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
, the poor, and the abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
of slavery, May imbued strong values in her four children. According to her second daughter, author Louisa May Alcott, she "always did what came to her in the way of duty and charity, and let pride, taste, and comfort suffer for love’s sake". Such humanitarian ideals extended beyond her household to the city of Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, where she accepted a full-time job as a social worker in 1848.