Mary Eleanor Freeman

Author Mary Freeman was born in Massachusetts but moved with her family to Vermont when she was 15. She spent a year at Mt. Holyoke University (then called Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary) and after she left began writing children's stories and verse. Her parents died in 1883 and she returned to her Massachusetts hometown of Randolph. Later that year she got a story published in a Boston newspaper, and eventually her stories were published in such magazines as "Harper's". Most of her stories were set in New England and revolved around people who were trapped in poverty or other dire situations and struggled to overcome their circumstances. She was noted for avoiding the overly sentimental, somewhat saccharine style of writing in vogue at the time. In addition to her collections of stories, she published several novels. In 1902 she married Dr. Charles Freeman and moved to his hometown of Metuchen, New Jersey, where she remained until her death in 1930.