Harriet (Atwood) Newell (1793 - 1812)

Born 10 Oct 1793 in Haverhill, Essex, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Samuel Newell — married 9 Feb 1812 in Haverhill, Massachusetts

Died 30 Nov 1812 at age 19 in Mauritius

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Biography

Harriet (Atwood) Newell is Notable.

Harriet Atwood was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, on October 10, 1793. She was the daughter of Moses Atwood and Mary Tenney Atwood.^[1]

Harriet Atwood married Congregational minister Samuel Newell on February 12, 1812,^[2] then joined him as a Christian missionary to India. She was one of the first missionary wives sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Shortly after arriving in Calcutta, the missionary group of which she was a part was expelled from India by the British East India Company. They then sailed for the Isle of France (now Mauritius).

Harriet was pregnant and became very ill on the journey to Mauritius, which took three months. Her baby daughter was born prematurely and died after just five days. Harriet herself died of consumption on November 30, 1812, shortly after the ship landed, at the age of 19.^[3]

After her death, Harriet's husband Samuel Newell arranged to publish her diary and letters in the form of a memoir, accompanied by the text of a sermon given at Harriet's memorial service by Dr. Leonard Woods, a professor of Christian theology at Andover Theological Seminary. This was the first memoir of a missionary wife to be published in America or Britain. The book was a best-seller and was republished numerous times. Many children were named for Harriet Newell, who was regarded as a Christian martyr.

Sources

1. ↑ Vital Records of Haverhill, Vol. I, p. 15
2. ↑ Vital Records of Haverhill, Vol. II, p. 234
3. ↑ Vital Records of Haverhill, Vol. II, p. 450

• Atwood, Charles. History of the Atwood Family, in England and the United States, Boston: Press of George H. Ware, 1888.
• Newell, Harriet. Memoirs of Mrs. Harriet Newell, wife of the Rev. S. Newell, American Missionary to India, who Died at the Isle of France, Nov. 30, 1812, Aged Nineteen Years. Edinburgh: Printed by and for Ogle, Allardice, & Thomson, 1817.
• Stasson, Anneke Helen. Newell, Samuel (1784-1821) and Harriet [Atwood] (1793-1812). "Newell, Samuel (1784-1821) and Harriet [Atwood (1793-1812)]." Boston University School of Theology website.
• Vital Records of Haverhill, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849. Vol. I - Births. Topsfield, Massachusetts: Topsfield Historical Society, 1910.
• Vital Records of Haverhill, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849. Vol. II - Marriages and Deaths. Topsfield, Massachusetts: Topsfield Historical Society, 1911.
• Wikipedia: Harriet Newell
• York, Alwyn. Eminent Congregational Christians: Harriet Atwood Newell, The Foresee (Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, Lake Elmo, Minnesota), February 2012. Archived at archive.org on 13 January 2015.