The Alcotts

Louisa May Alcott
Courtesy of Cornell University Library
Nineteenth Century Periodicals Collection
Louisa May Alcott. [The Century; a popular quarterly.
/ Volume 42, Issue 1, Mar 1891]

Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832, the same day as her father. Her parents were Bronson Alcott and Abigail May. Louisa grew up in poverty. She helped support her family through work as a seamstress, household servant, and teacher. Her youngest sister, May, called Louisa the Wise Old Owl of the family.

In 1854, Louisa published her first book, Flower Fables. This was a collection of stories that she made up to tell her students. Louisa also was a nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war, she became editor of Merry's Museum, a magazine for young girls.

Click to view a larger image
Orchard House c1900
Courtesy of The Library of Congress

The Alcott family moved to Orchard House in 1858 and lived in this home until 1877. Louisa May Alcott wrote her classic story, Little Women, here. The story is about four sisters growing up in New England. Jo March, the main character is Louisa May Alcott.

Alcott was a supporter of women's suffrage. In 1879, she was the first woman to register to vote in the Concord school committee election.

In the latter years of her life, Louisa suffered from ill health due to mercury poisoning and died on March 4, 1888, at the age of 56. She is buried in the little poet's colony (authors' Ridge) in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Click to view a larger image
The Alcott Home
Courtesy of Cornell University Library
Nineteenth Century Periodicals Collection
Concord Books. [Harper's new monthly magazine. / Volume 51, Issue 301, June 1875]

Amos Bronson Alcott
Courtesy of Cornell University Library
Nineteenth Century Periodicals Collection
Concord Books. [Harper's new monthly magazine.
/ Volume 51, Issue 301, June 1875]

Bronson Alcott

Amos Bronson Alcott was born on November 29, 1799 in Wolcott, Connecticut. He was a self-educated man. Early in his life he worked as a peddler, handyman, and gardener. In 1830, he married Abigail May.

His experiment with education resulted in the founding of the Temple School in Boston. Alcott believed school should be a pleasant experience for children. His assistant, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, started the first kindergarten in the United States. The Temple School closed in 1840. Alcott moved his family to Concord.

Courtesy of Cornell University Library
Nineteenth Century Periodicals Collection
Concord History and Life. [The New England magazine.
/ Volume 24, Issue 4, June 1898]

Click to view a larger image
Wayside c1901
[formerly Hillside House,
home of the Alcotts]
Courtesy of The Library of Congress

In the book, Henry Hikes to Fitchburg, "Henry's friend filled the wood box in Mrs. Alcott's kitchen."

From 1845 to 1852, Bronson, Abigail, and their four daughters, Louisa, Anna, Elizabeth, and May lived in in the home they called Hillside. The name was changed to Wayside after Hawthorne purchased it from the Alcotts in 1852.

Abigail May Alcott died in 1877. Bronson Alcott died on March 4, 1888 in Boston. The Alcott family are buried on Authors' Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery located in Concord.