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Elizabeth Stuart Phelps was a famous nineteenth century author. She is best known for “Gypsy Breyton”, which became a popular girls series and her best-selling novel, “The Gates Ajar” which was published in 1868.
Elizabeth was born with the given name of Mary Gray Phelps in 1844 at Boston, Massachusetts. Being the daughter of Austin Phelps and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, she comes from very good parentage. Her father was at one time pastor of Pine Street Congregational Church in Boston and became Professor of Sacred Rhetoric at Andover Theological Seminary. He is also known for his little book, “The Still Hour”. Her mother was also a noted author. In fact, her mother was one of the earliest writers to create a series for girls. Perhaps her most noted work was the “Kitty Brown” series for girls, but she also wrote such titles as the popular “The Sunny Side” and “The Country Minister’s Wife”.
At the age of four, Mary moved with her family from Boston to Andover. Here she grew up in the midst of strong intellectual and spiritual influences. She received an excellent education which fitter her for the life of an author and her religious background undoubtedly helped shape her work.
Mary had two brothers, Moses, born in 1849, and Amos, born in 1852. Only a few months after the birth of Amos, Mary’s mother Elizabeth died from the recurrence of an earlier illness. When Mary’s mother died, Mary took the name of her mother in full. She was from that time on known as Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, perpetuating her mothers name
and work in her own writings.
Elizabeth’s was not a rigid and cold intellectuality. Her imagination was vivid and she had a warm heart. Mary kept in close touch with the great movements of the times and engaged in them. She was active in many causes, including a variety of charities, temperance work, and reform work. Her work in these areas kept her heart warmly in sympathy with the struggling masses in society. At one point, the life of factory girls attracted her attention. She studied the conditions first hand and sought to be of help in improving their circumstances. She wrote a book, “A Silent Partner” as a result of her observation and efforts on their behalf.
She worked toward abolition and temperance and once slavery was abolished, Elizabeth turned her thoughts and labors toward the betterment of woman’s condition. Much of her writing was now concerned with social issues and women's rights. She saw women’s rights as the next great national and world-wide movement. She believed in a larger, sweeter, purer womanhood and so wrote with a purpose.
She became author of a popular girl series, “Gypsy Berynton”, and included in her other works are: “Up Hill”, “Avis”, “Hedged In”, “The Trotty Book”, “Old Maid’s Paradise”, and perhaps her most famous, “Gates Ajar”, which passed through twenty editions in one year. “Gates Ajar” was written in 1868, offering a comforting view of the afterlife to women who had lost loved ones during the Civil War.
In 1888, Elizabeth was married. She became the wife of Reverend Herbert D. Ward. They collaborated on three Biblical Romances and in 1896 she wrote her autobiography, “Chapters From a Life”. She died on January 28, 1911.
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