AKA Mercy Otis

Born: 25-Sep-1728 [1]
Birthplace: Barnstable, MA
Died: 19-Oct-1814
Location of death: Plymouth, MA
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Burial Hill, Plymouth, MA

Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Historian, Poet

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: History of the American Revolution

American writer, sister of James Otis, born at Barnstable, Massachusetts, and in 1754 married James Warren of Plymouth Massachusetts, a college friend of her brother. Her literary inclinations were fostered by both these men, and she began early to write poems and prose essays. As member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1766-74) and its speaker (1776-77 and 1787-88), member (1774 and 1775) and president (1775) of the Provincial Congress, and paymaster-general in 1775, James Warren took a leading part in the events of the American revolutionary period, and his wife followed its progress with keen interest. Her gifts of satire were utilized in her political dramas, The Adulator (1773) and The Group (1775); and John Adams, whose wife Abigail was Mercy Warren's close friend, encouraged her to further efforts. Her tragedies, "The Sack of Rome" and "The Ladies of Castile" were included in her Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous (1790), dedicated to General Washington. Apart from their historical interest among the beginnings of American literature, Mercy Warren's poems have no permanent value. In 1805 she published a History of the American Revolution, which was colored by somewhat outspoken personal criticism and was bitterly resented by John Adams (see his correspondence, published by the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1878). James Warren died in 1808, and his wife followed him on the 19th of October 1814.

Father: James Otis (b. 1702, d. 1778)
Brother: James Otis (American patriot, pamphleteer)
Husband: James Warren (b. 1726, m. 1754, d. 1808, five sons)

Author of books:
Observations on the New Constitution (1788)
Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous (1790, poetry)
History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution (1805, history, 3 vols.)

Wrote plays:
The Adulateur (1772)
The Defeat (1772)
The Group (1775)

New! NNDB MAPPER

Create a map starting with

Mercy Otis Warren

Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.

Do you know something we don't?
Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile

Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications