Haven, Emily Bradley Neal

(Sept. 13, 1827-Aug. 23, 1863). One of the best known popular Episcopal writers of morally instructive novellas in the nineteenth century. She was born in Hudson, New York. She married Joseph C. Neal of Philadelphia on Dec. 12, 1846. He was editor of Neal's Saturday Gazette and Lady's Literary Museum. He published her stories in the Gazette. Neal died in 1847, but she remained in Philadelphia and helped to edit the Gazette. She took a special interest in the children's section and wrote under the pseudonym “Cousin Alice.” She had been raised a Baptist, but in 1849 she was confirmed at St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia. In that same year the General Protestant Episcopal Sunday School Union published the first of her books in a series called “Home Books for Children.” These were novels with minimal plot and major emphasis on character formation. On Jan. 1, 1853, she married Samuel L. Haven. They moved to Mamaroneck, New York, where she continued her writing. She died at 35 of tuberculosis in Mamaroneck.