On September 14, 1727, Mercy Otis was born to Mary Allyne and Colonel James Otis of Barnstable, Massachusetts. As she grew, her father, unconventionally for a member of the colonies, allowed his daughter to attend tutoring sessions with her brother as he prepared for Harvard. On November 14, 1754, Mercy Otis married a Plymouth merchant, James Warren who continued to encourage his wife's intellectual pursuits. The Warrens had five sons, James (1757) Winslow (1759), Charles (1762), Henry (1764) and George (1766). Since "Her husband had a distinguished political career" (wiki 1), Mrs. Warren came to know the leaders of the American Revolution personally. Thus, Mrs. Warren was in or near the center of pivotal political discussions which inspired her to begin writing. Pictured here in her early thirties, Mrs. Warren's writings would later include political satires, plays, verse and history. One of the first published women authors in America and best remembered as authoress of the three volume, first history of the American Revolution (1805). Mercy Otis Warren's writing earned her congratulations from contemporaries such as "George Washington and Alexander Hamilton who remarked, 'In the career of dramatic composition at least female genius in the United States has outstripped the male'".
The women of Mercy Warren Chapter, NSDAR contribute greatly to their community through donating their time and talents towards supplying our friend, Georgia Briggs and her Bear with Me project, Wings of Love, Inc. with hundreds of stuffed animals and handmade bags; annually purchases general supplies for newborns entering the foster care system; adopting a family at Christmas, both through our friend, Giselle of Springfield Children and Family Services. We collect Pop Tabs for Shriners Hospital, make and collect "pink" scarves for the women who participate in the annual march with Rays of Hope and the Baystate Health Breast Network, and support our troops and veterans through distribution flags and marching in the annual Veterans Day Parade in Springfield. For these chapter reasons, and many more, I am proud to be a Daughter serving MDAR through Mercy Warren Chapter, NSDAR, and hope that if you are in search of meaningful community service, or just a friendly and supportive group of women, you will contact us!
Samantha Seamans-Frizzell
Mercy Warren Chapter Regent
“Start where you are.
Use what you have.
Do what you can." ~ Arthur Ashe
The portrait of Mercy Warren, painted by American artist, John Singleton Copley (c 1763), hangs in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.
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