Maria Susanna Cummins

Maria Susanna Cummins (1827–1866) was an American novelist best known for her sentimental first novel, The Lamplighter, which achieved enormous popular success in the mid-19th century. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, she was encouraged by her father to become a writer and became one of the most celebrated writers in America during her lifetime. She died at the age of 39 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.