Hannah Adams was a Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 author, born in Medfield, Massachusetts

Medfield, Massachusetts

Medfield is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,024 according to the 2010 Census. Medfield is an affluent community about 17 miles southwest of Boston....

 and died in Brookline

Brookline, Massachusetts

Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...

. She was the first woman in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 who made literature a profession.

Biography

She was the second of five children born to Thomas Adams

Thomas Adams

Thomas Adams may refer to:*Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet , Lord Mayor of London*Thomas Adams , pioneer of urban planning*Thomas Adams , American professional basketball player...

and Elizabeth Clark. Her mother died when Hannah was 15 years old. Showing at an early age a fondness for study, she acquired a fair knowledge of Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 and Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 from divinity students boarding with her father, who was himself a man of literary tastes. He became bankrupt

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

 when she was in her seventeenth year, and she and her brothers and sisters were obliged to provide for themselves. During the Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

 she supported herself by making lace, and afterward by teaching. She was a woman of varied learning and indomitable perseverance.

Her writings brought her little money, yet they secured her fame and many friends, among them the Abbé Grégoire

Henri Grégoire

Henri Grégoire , often referred to as Abbé Grégoire, was a French Roman Catholic priest, constitutional bishop of Blois and a revolutionary leader...

, with whom she carried on an extensive correspondence, and also received his aid in preparing her History of the Jews (1812).

She was simple in her manners and of rare modesty. A voyage from Boston to Nahant

Nahant, Massachusetts

Nahant is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,632 at the 2000 census. With just of land area, it is the smallest municipality by area in the state...

, about ten miles, was her only journey by water, and a trip to Providence

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

 her farthest by land. Nonetheless, she was a popular guest in New England society, and once stayed for two weeks at the house of her distant cousin, President John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

.

During the closing years of her life she enjoyed an annuity provided by friends in Boston. Her autobiography, edited with additions by Mrs. Hanah F. Lee, was published in Boston in 1832. She described herself as a Unitarian

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

 Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

.

Her birthplace is preserved in Medfield. She was the first burial in Mount Auburn Cemetery

Mount Auburn Cemetery

Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", with classical monuments set in a rolling landscaped terrain...

 in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

.

Works

• View of Religious Opinions (1st ed. 1784; 4th ed. retitled Dictionary of Religions) This was her principal work. In it, she gave a comprehensive survey of the various religions of the world. The work passed through several editions, and was reprinted in England
  England
  England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
  
  . It was a pioneering work, in that she represented denominations from the perspective of their adherents, without imposing her own preferences. This work was divided into three parts:
  1. An Alphabetical Compendium of the Various Sects Which Have Appeared from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Present Day
  2. A Brief Account of Paganism, Mohammedanism, Judaism, and Deism
  3. An Account of the Different Religions of the World
• A Summary History of New England (1799)
• Evidences of Christianity (1801)
• The Truth and Excellence of the Christian Religion (1804)
• History of the Jews (1812)
• Controversy with Dr. Morse (1814) This refers to a legal dispute she had with Morse in 1801.
• Letters on the Gospels (1824; second edition 1826)