Her early environments were characterized by picturesque scenery on the one hand, and sturdy New England teachings on the other, which would later affect the themes and vision of her writing.

In 1849, he became attracted by the Pacific coast, and, leaving his family in their Maine home, went out among the host of California Gold Rush pioneers to seek his fortune.

[7] At fourteen years of age, she moved to her aunt's home, Mrs. Betton, for better educational opportunities, and entered the Putnam Free School in Newburyport, which had the reputation of turning out many accomplished scholars.

Here, she also made herself famous among her schoolmates by writing dramas for their use on days of school exhibition; for these plays, she used historic facts and vivid language.

[8] At the age of seventeen, she gained the Putnam school prize for the best essay on Hamlet, which drew the attention of Thomas Wentworth Higginson, pastor of the Unitarian Church, who soon became her friend, and gave her counsel and encouragement.

[5] About this time, Mrs. Prescott, with her younger children, moved to Derry, New Hampshire, and after Spofford had graduated at the Putnam School, she finished her education at Pinkerton Academy,[9] from 1853 to 1855.

James Russell Lowell was at that time editor of the Atlantic and at first declined to believe that any young lady could have written such a brilliant and characteristic description of Bohemian Parisian life; he insisted that it must be a translation from the French.

[6] The endorsement of the Atlantic opened all other U.S. magazine offices to its writers,[11] allowing her to become a welcome contributor to the chief periodicals of the country, both in prose and poetry.

Her first novel, Sir Rohan's Ghost, published in 1859 in Boston, was a very striking work that showed her talent for skillful plot and effective dramatic denouement, as well as a few flaws, e.g., a crudeness of thought and expression apparent, that she overcame as she gained experience.