Abby Maria Hemenway (October 7, 1828 – February 24, 1890) was an American teacher, writer and historian born in the state of Vermont.

[1][2] Hemenway returned to Ludlow, became interested in publishing literature specific to Vermont, and attempted to attract supporters for her project.

Prior to Hemenway, publishing history usually meant biographies of famous military and political men and stories about the major events in which they took part.

Hemenway advanced the concept of history as a social science by encouraging local authors to compile information on their areas and submit it to her for editing and publication, which placed the focus of Hemenway's Gazetteer on chronicling the day-to-day activities of Vermont's cities and towns, rather than focusing only on prominent individuals and events.

[7] In preparing for her first volume, Hemenway had to overcome the objections of several Middlebury College professors, some of whom had been working on town histories for Addison County.

[8] Hemenway succeeded, and in 1861 she published the first volume of the Vermont Quarterly Gazetteer, which focused on the towns of Addison County.