Sarah Josepha Hale (October 24, 1788 - April 30, 1879) was an American writer. She was born in Newport, New Hampshire to Captain Gordon Buell and Martha Whittlesay Buell. Early on in her life, she was educated by her mother, and later on, Hale was an autodidact. In 1813, she married David Hale, a lawyer and Freemason. She is probably best known for her successful appeal to President Abraham Lincoln for a national holiday known as Thanksgiving Day. In 1823, with the monetary support of her husband's Freemason lodge, she published a collection of her poems entitled The Genius of Oblivion. From 1827 until 1836, Hale served as editor of Lady's Magazine and from 1837 until 1877, she served as an editor of Godey's Lady's Book. During this time, Hale wrote many novels and poems, publishing nearly fifty volumes of work, by the end of her life.
Hale is also well known as the author of the popular Nursery rhyme, Mary Had a Little Lamb.
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