Gloucester Harbor
This image of Gloucester Harbor dates from 1817, years after Judith Sargent's birth in 1751, but the harbor would have looked quite similar during her childhood with its bustling wharves and fishing schooners. In the early eighteenth century, Gloucester was the most successful port on the Massachusetts coast, and the Sargent family accumulated considerable wealth through trade with England and the West Indies. Courtesy of the Cape Ann Historical Association.
Trading Vessels
Judith's first husband, John Stevens Jr., owned ten vessels like this one. Courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum.
Home of Judith Sargent and John Stevens Jr.
William Stevens, Judith's father-in-law, built this house on Gloucester's Middle Street. Judith lived here with John Stevens' parents during the early years of their marriage. Judith and John built a home for themselves (below) on land just next door. Photograph by Bonnie Hurd Smith.
Home of Judith Sargent and John Murray
John Stevens built this handsome, high-style Georgian mansion in 1782. Judith and John lived here together until 1786, when John Stevens left Gloucester for the West Indies to avoid debtor's prison; he died there in 1787. When Judith married John Murray in 1788, the two resided here until 1794, when they moved to Boston. Today, the house is known as the Sargent House Museum and it is open to the public. Photograph by Bonnie Hurd Smith.
Universalist Meeting House
On Christmas Day of 1780, the Gloucester Universalists dedicated their new meeting house&emdash;the first Universalist meeting house built in America. They called John Murray as their pastor. The Universalists (including Judith, her father, Winthrop, and other members of her family) had worked hard for this day, having been expelled from the First Parish Church for nonattendance, and having had articles of value seized by tax assessors in lieu of fees they refused to pay to the established church. The Universalists took their case to the Supreme Judicial Court in the early 1780s to test their right to freedom of religion. They won, and that decision is considered the first such ruling in America. Courtesy of the Cape Ann Historical Association.
Independent Christian Church of Gloucester (Unitarian Universalist)
The Gloucester Universalists dedicated their new church in 1809. Photograph by Bonnie Hurd Smith.
View of Boston in 1790
This is how Boston looked when Judith and John traveled from Gloucester to Philadelphia in 1790. You can order Bonnie Hurd Smith's book about their journey, which took them through western and southern Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Courtesy of The Bostonian Society/Old State House.
View of Boston in 1791
This view of Boston more cleary shows the city's bustling harbor. Courtesy of The Bostonian Society/Old State House.
Boston's Beacon Hill, from Derne Street, 1811
Boston's Beacon Hill still had its monument to the Revolutionary War when Judith lived in that city. Designed by Charles Bulfinch, the monument may be seen today in the side yard of the Massachusetts State House. Courtesy of the Boston Athenaeum.
Franklin Place, or the Tontine Crescent
The Murray family, including Judith, John, and Julia Maria, took up residence here in 1794. Built by the renowned Boston architect Charles Bulfinch, Franklin Place was Boston's first townhouse development and among the city's most fashionable residences. Boston's first public library and the Massachusetts Historical Society were housed above the center arch. The building no longer stands, but it is remembered by today's Franklin Street which retains the curve of Bulfinch's original design. Courtesy of The Bostonian Society/Old State House.
Another View of Franklin Place
The great urn placed out front was moved in the early 1800s to Mount Auburn Cemetery in nearby Cambridge and installed as part of the monument there to Charles Bulfinch. Courtesy of The Bostonian Society/Old State House.
Interior of Franklin Place
Judith Sargent Murray's cousin Henry Sargent painted this wonderfully detailed rendition of his Franklin Place townhouse. We can imagine that Judith's formal room looked very similar. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Boston's Universalist Meeting House
In 1793, Boston's Universalists called John Murray to serve as their pastor. He divided his time between Gloucester and Boston for a year, but it became difficult. In 1794, he became he devoted himself to the Boston congregation full time. This building no longer stands, but it was located in what is now Boston's North End. Courtesy of the Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School.
The Theatre on Federal Street, Boston, ca. 1794
Two of Judith Sargent Murray's plays were performed here, in 1795 and 1796. We have the manuscripts of these two plays (The Medium, or Happy Tea-Party, later renamed The Medium, or Virtue Triumphant, and The Traveller Returned) but a manuscript of her third play, The African, has yet to be found. It seems to have been performed only once, in 1805. When Judith's first play was staged, she became the first American (male or female) to be so honored. At the time, "indigenous" productions (meaning, American) were viewed as immature and unworthy of consideration. Courtesy of The Bostonian Society/Old State House.
Boston's Concert Hall
Judith Sargent Murray attended numerous performances here, often accompanied by her daughter, Julia Maria, or one of the many nieces, nephews, or children of family friends who visited "Aunt Murray" to supplement their education. Courtesy of The Bostonian Society/Old State House.
The New State House
In 1795, Judith witnessed the laying of the corner stone of the new state house&emdash;drawn into place by fifteen white horses that were "emblematic" of the fifteen United States. Courtesy of The Bostonian Society/Old State House.
Ladies Academy at Dorchester
In 1803, Judith's cousin Judith Saunders and her friend Clementine Beach asked Judith to help them start this female academy in Dorchester on what is now Meeting House Hill. It opened in 1804. Photograph by Bonnie Hurd Smith.
Holworthy Hall, Harvard University, 1811
Judith Sargent Murray oversaw the education of six nephews and two sons of family friends who attended Harvard College. She made regular visits to the Cambridge campus where "the boys" usually boarded in nearby private homes. Courtesy of Harvard University Archives.
Wadsworth House, Harvard Square
Judith's cousin Rebecca Smith married Samuel Webber, a professor of mathematics at Harvard College. When he became president of Harvard, Judith dined with them regularly at their residence. Photograph by Bonnie Hurd Smith.
Fresh Pond Hotel, Cambridge, ca. 1800
When Boston became unbearably hot during the summer months, fashionable citizens headed west for the "salubrious waters" of Fresh Pond. There, at the grand Fresh Pond Hotel, guests could bathe, dine, and listen to orchestral music. Today, the building stands on Lakeview Avenue, near Fresh Pond. Courtesy of the Cambridge Historical Society.
Salem in 1765
Judith and John Murray had many ties to Salem, Massachusetts. They were married here in 1788, in a private home. Their friends the Plummers and their cousins Thomas and Elizabeth Elkins Saunders lived in Salem, and Judith and John no doubt passed the Salem Court House (depicted here) many times on their travels from Gloucester to Boston. In 1805-1806, the first Universalist meeting house was built in Salem, and John attended its dedication. Courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum.
Saunders House, Chestnut Street
Judith's cousins Thomas and Elizabeth Elkins Saunders lived in this grand mansion at 39 Chestnut Street (left). They built the house on the right, #41, for their daughters. Photograph by Bonnie Hurd Smith.
Glocester Place
When Judith's brother, Winthrop, moved to Natchez, Mississippi, and became the first Governor of the Mississippi Territory, he lived in this home he named for the place of his birth. After Judith moved to Natchez in 1818, she must have visited Winthrop's mansion frequently and enjoyed the company of his children, all of whom she had helped raise. Courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
Judith's Grave Stone in Natchez
Judith Sargent Murray is buried in the Bingaman family cemetery on the Fatherland Plantation in Natchez, Mississippi. On her stone, Julia Maria (her daughter) inscribed "Dear Spirit: The monumental stone can never speak thy worth." Courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
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