A writer paid a just tribute to the subject of this sketch when she
wrote: “The secret of Sarah Jewett’s great success outside of its
artistic perfection, is the spirit of loving kindness and tender mercy
that pervades it.” She was born at South Berwick, Maine, September
3, 1849, daughter of Theodore Herman Jewett. Her parents were both
descendants of early English emigrants to Massachusetts. Sarah, owing
to delicate health in childhood, spent much of her time communing with
nature, where she received material and the inspiration that eventually
made her such a popular writer. She was educated at Berwick academy,
in her native city. When a mere girl she began her career as an author
by contributing to Riverside Magazine and Our Young Folks. At nineteen
she sent a story to the Atlantic Monthly, and has been averaging nearly
a book a year ever since. Miss Jewett adopted the pseudonym “Alice
Elliott” in 1881, but after that she used her own name instead.