The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Lowell, Maria White

LOWELL, Maria White, American poet: b. Watertown, Mass., 8 July 1821; d. Cambridge, Mass., 27 Oct. 1853. She was the first wife of James Russell Lowell, whom she married in 1844. The best known of her poems are ‘The Alpine Shepherd’ and ‘The Morning Glory,’ which appeared in the collection printed privately at Cambridge in 1855. The death of Mrs. Lowell, occurring the same night that a child was born to Mr. Longfellow, called forth the latter's poem beginning:

“	Two angels, one of life and one of death, Passed o'er our village as the morning broke.”

Mrs. Lowell is known for her influence on her husband in the cause of abolition and for her own writings against slavery.