Author: Brooks, Mary Abigail
Biography:
BROOKS, Mary Abigail, formerly Gowen (c. 1794-1845: ancestry.com)
pseudonym Maria del Occidente
Born in Medford MA, she was the daughter of William Gowen, a goldsmith with literary tastes, and Eleanor (Cutter) Gowen. Her father died bankrupt when she was 13. In 1810 she married her guardian John Brooks (d 1823), the husband of her deceased sister. They had a son, Horace (1814-94), but the marriage was not happy. Her given name was Abigail but she changed it to Mary Abigail in 1819 and thereafter wrote as Maria or Maria del Occidente. After the death of her husband, she went to live with a brother in Cuba and inherited his estate. As a widow she travelled widely. She twice attempted to commit suicide because of an unhappy love affair. On a visit to England in 1830-31 she made the acquaintance of Southey, who admired Zophiel and wrote to Caroline Bowles, "I do not know of any poet whose diction is so naturally good as Mrs. Brooks's." (The London edition of 1833 opens with a dedicatory poem to Southey, who was instrumental in its publication.) Brooks died in Matanzas, Cuba, on 11 Nov. 1845 and was buried in the graveyard of the church in Limonar. Her son Horace later erected a monument to her in the Rose Hill cemetery, Hagerstown MD. (ancestry.com 3 Mar. 2026; Appleton; Wikipedia 3 Mar. 2026; RPW; Medford Historical Register [1898] 150-3) HJ
Other Names:
- Mrs. Brooks
- Maria Gowen Brooks