Biography

Noted author of Native American histories inspired by her time out west with her husband, Seth Eastman, whom she married in 1835. Mary was born in Virginia and received an exemplary education. After her time out west, she relocated to Washington, D.C. where she resided until her death.  Mary initially supported slavery, writing a rebuke to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, entitled Aunt Phillis' Cabin. Fanny Seward may reference her in her 1862-1863 diary in the company of Dr. Mrs. Peter Parker on a social call to their Washington, D.C. home.