Susanna Rowson

Susanna Haswell Rowson
BornSusanna Haswell
1762 (1762)
Portsmouth, England
Died2 March 1824(1824-03-02) (aged 61–62)
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Resting placeGraupner Family Vault, St. Matthew's Church, South Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Moved in 1866 to Mount Hope Cemetery, Boston
Pen nameSusanna Rowson
Occupation
Notable worksCharlotte Temple
SpouseWilliam Rowson
RelativesRobert Haswell (brother)
James Gabriel Montresor (uncle)
John Montresor (cousin)
Anthony Haswell (cousin)

Susanna Rowson, née Haswell (1762 – 2 March 1824), was an American novelist, poet, playwright, religious writer, stage actress, and educator. She was the first woman geographer and an early supporter of female education. She also wrote against slavery. Rowson was the author of the 1791 novel Charlotte Temple, the most popular best-seller in American literature until Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin was published serially in 1851–1852, and authored the first human geography textbook Rowson's Abridgement of Universal Geography in 1805.