User:Eddie891/Mary Gardner Lowell

Mary Gardner Lowell

Biography
Mary Gardner was born in 1802 to Samuel Pickering Gardner and Rebecca Russell Lowell. Both her mother and father were descended from wealthy families involved in mercantile business.

She was married to Francis Cabot Lowell Jr. in 1826, who was her first cousin. The couple had at least two children; one who died in childhood in 1830 and a son, George.

Travel to Cuba
Lowell accompanied her husband to Cuba with their newly born son.

Later life and death
She died in 1854.

Publication of diary
Her diary of her travel to Cuba was published as part of the New England Women's Diaries Series in 2003 as New Year in Cuba: Mary Gardner Lowell's Travel Diary, 1831-1832 by Northeastern University Press and edited by Karen Robert. A review in The New England Quarterly found the prose typical of a diary, "at times plodding and at times enlightening." The review approved of the introduction by Robert and concluded that the publication was chiefly important for "preserving the everyday fears and perceptions of a woman of means." A review of the work published in the Journal of the Early Republic described the account as an interesting read, also praising the introduction. It considered there to be too few explanatory footnotes, but concluded it was "both a pleasure to read and a work that could prove useful in a number of undergraduate classes." A reviewer in Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers found the diary a "wonderful read" for its insights and praised the lack of footnotes, citing it as lending weight to the argument "that the most accessible diaries require less supportive scaffolding".