Mary Newmarch Prescott

Mary Newmarch Prescott (1849–1888) was a 19th-century American author and poet, popular as a magazine-writer. She was the author of Matt's Follies, a juvenile tale, and Poems (1912).

Biography
Mary Newmarch Prescott was born in Calais, Maine, August 2, 1849.

Her parents were Joseph Newmarch Prescott (1807–1881) and Sarah Jane (Bridges) Prescott (1811–1883). Mary had several siblings, including the writer, Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford, as well as Annie, William, Katherine, Otis, Edith, and Sarah. When Mary was still very young, the family removed to Newburyport, Massachusetts, Many notable people were allied with the Prescott family, notably Sir William Pepperrell, John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos, and the historian, William H. Prescott, while more recently, Secretary of State, William M. Evarts and the Hoar brothers, Ebenezer and George.

Her father, Joseph Prescott, was then a lumber merchant in Calais; afterward he studied and practised law. In 1849, he became attracted by the Pacific coast, and, leaving his family in their Maine home, went out among the host of California Gold Rush pioneers to seek his fortune. He was one of the founders of Oregon City, Oregon, and three times elected its mayor. In the midst of arduous work, he was seized with lingering paralysis, that made him an invalid for life.

At the age of 15, she published the first of the hundreds of sketches and poems. Close to nature, even in colloquial writing, she did not exaggerate. Her writings were almost entirely confined to the magazines of the day, her only publishers' volume being Matt's Follies. Her contributions to Our Young Folks and the several publications of the Scribners and Harpers were well-regarded by her readers.

Mary Newmarch Prescott died June 14, 1888, in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Selected works

 * Matt's Follies: And Other Stories, 1896 (text)
 * The Pet of the Family: Stories, Sketches, Poems and Pictures for the Youth (with Mrs. D. P. Sanford, Clara Doty Bates, Emily Huntington Miller), 1896 (text)
 * Poems, 1912 (text)