Mary Griffith was an American

United States

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

 writer, horticulturist and scientist. Born Mary Corre, she married John Griffith, a wealthy New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 merchant who died in 1815. After the death of her husband she purchased an estate ("Charlieshope") in Franklin Township

Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey

-Communities of Franklin Township:The following are census-designated places, unincorporated enclaves, and historical communities located within Franklin Township...

, Somerset County

Somerset County, New Jersey

Somerset County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In 2010, the population was 323,444. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Somerville....

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. There she performed experiments in horticulture, natural history, economic entomology, the earth sciences, epidemiology, and optics and vision, publishing her results in scientific and literary journals and newspapers. She also published several novels and stories including Camperdown, or News from Our Neighborhood (1836) which included Three Hundred Years Hence

Three Hundred Years Hence

Three Hundred Years Hence is a utopian science fiction novel by author Mary Griffith. It is the first known utopian novel written by an American woman and was published by Prime Press in 1950 in an edition of 300 copies...

, the first known utopian novel by an American woman. Griffith died in Red Hook

Red Hook, New York

Red Hook is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was reported to be 11,319 during the 2010 census. The name is supposedly derived from the red foliage on trees on a small strip of land on the Hudson River. The town contains two villages; the village of Red Hook and the...

, Dutchess County

Dutchess County, New York

Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 in 1846.

Partial bibliography

• Our Neighborhood, or Letters on Horticulture and Natural Phenomena (1831)
• Camperdown, or News from Our Neighborhood (1836)
• Discoveries in Light and Vision (1836)
• The Two Defaulters (1842)
• Three Hundred Years Hence
  Three Hundred Years Hence
  Three Hundred Years Hence is a utopian science fiction novel by author Mary Griffith. It is the first known utopian novel written by an American woman and was published by Prime Press in 1950 in an edition of 300 copies...
  
  (1950, originally included in Camperdown)