Played by Dyana Martin
Harriet Livermore
I was born into a wealthy prominent family. When I was five my mother died, and from then on I was
raised by nursemaids and sent to boarding schools, where I received an excellent education.
When the love of my life died in the War of 1812, I decided to become a preacher and dedicate my life
to religion. My fame spread and I was invited to preach a sermon in the House of Representatives
Chamber in 1827, where John Quincy Adams was in attendance. I was so well received that I spoke there
three more times in my career.
I tried to blend a message of conversion, repentance, and salvation in my sermons. I traveled to
Jerusalem four times. And through other teachers, I believed the millennium was at hand and wrote:
"Millennium! the days are near,
When wicked ones shall quake with fear,
and in consuming fire wail.
That they did Joseph's peace assail."
I remember visiting John and his sister at their home in Haverhill, where I irritated John by correcting his
pronunciation. He, in turn, wrote about me in his poem
Snowbound as the "not unfeared, halfwelcomed guest."
I became one of the best known female preachers in America. My painting still hangs in the hallway of
Whittier's home in Amesbury.
Note. Whittier had many out of the ordinary guests. One was religious leader Mary Baker Eddy. When she
arrived he was flushed and coughing in a room with his wood stove going and the windows closed. Mary
suggested that he open the window. He thanked her for the call and showed her out. She sent him a
copy of her book
Science and Health and later laid claimed that she had cured him by her Christian
Science.
Another caller, Ullie Akerstrom, was an actress playing at the Amesbury Opera House. She gave him her
portrait, some flowers, and a volume of her poetry entitled
Toot Yer Horn and Other poems. Politely
Whittier read some of it and sent her an autographed picture and note.
But his most important and long lasting relationship with a woman was the beautiful friendship he
shared with Celia Thaxter.
