Louisa Caroline Huggins Tuthill facts for kids

Louisa Caroline Huggins Tuthill (born July 6, 1799 – died June 1, 1879) was a very successful American author in the 1800s. She wrote many books for kids and young adults. She also wrote the first history of architecture published in the United States. This book was called History of Architecture from the Earliest Times (1848).

Early Life and Learning

Louisa Caroline Huggins was born on July 6, 1799, in New Haven, Connecticut. Her parents were Ebenezer Huggins and Mary (Dickerman) Huggins. Her family had lived in New Haven for a long time. One of her ancestors was Theophilus Eaton, the first Governor of the New Haven Colony.

Louisa went to school in New Haven and Litchfield, Connecticut. The schools for young ladies in these towns were known for being very good. The school in New Haven taught subjects almost as advanced as those at Yale College. Louisa was the youngest child of a rich merchant who had stopped working. This meant she had many chances to learn. She also spent a lot of time with smart and cultured people. This helped her education even more.

Becoming a Writer

In 1817, Louisa married Cornelius Tuthill (1795–1825). He was a lawyer from Newburgh, New York. After they married, they lived in New Haven. Both Louisa and Cornelius loved reading and writing. Their home became a popular place for writers and thinkers to gather.

Louisa wrote poems from when she was a child. She loved books as far back as she could remember. When she was a girl, she secretly wrote essays, plays, stories, and poems. But she burned almost all of them before she got married. She strongly believed that women should not be writers.

However, Cornelius Tuthill thought differently. He encouraged her to keep studying and writing. Because he asked her to, she wrote regularly for a magazine called The Microscope. This magazine was published for about two years.

Cornelius Tuthill died in 1825 when he was only 29 years old. He left behind Louisa and their four children. To find comfort during this sad time, Louisa started writing more often. She wrote for different magazines. She always wrote without putting her name on her work. She didn't even keep copies of her writings. Between 1827 and 1839, she also wrote several small books. She wrote them for the fun of it, and they were published without her name. Some of these books became popular in Sunday school libraries.

Public Recognition

In 1839, Tuthill moved to Hartford, Connecticut. She wanted to be with her son, Charles Henry Tuthill (1818–1850). He was studying law there. This was the year her name first appeared on a book. It was a reading book for young ladies. It had a new idea: the selections were examples of rhetoric rules. The examples came from the best English and American authors. This book, called The Young Ladies' Reader, was very popular. It was printed many times.

After this, she started publishing more openly. In the same year, she published The Young Lady’s Home. This book had stories and essays. It aimed to help young ladies finish their education after school. It showed her creative imagination and wide reading. It also showed her good judgment and understanding of social life. This book was also printed many times.

Books for Young Readers

Her next books were a series of small volumes for boys and girls. These were her most famous and loved writings. They were small books, about 150 pages each. Some popular titles include:

• I will be a Gentleman (1844) – printed 20 times!
• I will be a Lady (1844) – also printed 20 times!
• Onward, right Onward (1845) – printed 10 times.
• Boarding School Girl (1845) – printed 6 times.
• Anything for Sport (1846) – printed 8 times.
• A Strike for Freedom, or, Law and Order (1850) – printed 3 times in its first year.

These books had a graceful style and ideas that adults enjoyed. But they also had a special charm that made children love them. While writing these children's books, she also wrote for older readers. In 1846, she published a story called My Wife. It was about fashionable life and gave good advice to young people about marriage.

Other Works and Later Life

Louisa Tuthill loved fine arts, especially architecture. She had the chance to study these subjects deeply. She studied architecture for her own enjoyment and to teach her children. She even used the large library of architect Ithiel Town. Her studies led to her publishing a book on the History of Architecture in 1848. In the same year, she edited a beautiful yearly book called The Mirror of Life. She wrote several parts of this book herself.

In 1843, she moved to Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts. In 1847, she moved to Philadelphia. In 1849, The Nursery Book came out. Many people thought it was a book of nursery rhymes for children. But it was actually a collection of advice for new mothers. It gave tips on how to care for a baby. The advice was given through pretend letters between a new mother and an experienced aunt. The book covered many topics about raising a child in its early, important stages.

Tuthill also worked on a series of books called Success in Life. There were six small books, each about 200 pages long. Each book showed how to succeed in a certain job. They used many examples from real people's lives. The titles were:

• The Merchant (1849)
• The Lawyer (1850)
• The Mechanic (1850)
• The Artist
• The Farmer
• The Physician

In 1851, she lived in Princeton, New Jersey. Louisa Caroline Huggins Tuthill died on June 1, 1879. She was buried at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven.