Maria S CumminsMaria Susanna Cummins was an American novelist. She wrote the extremely popular novel The Lamplighter (1854). Maria Susanna Cummins was born in Salem, Massachusetts on April 9, 1827. She was the eldest of four children born to Honorable David Cumminsand Maria F. Kittredge. The Cummins family lived in the Dorchester area of Boston, Massachusetts. Cummins' father encouraged her to be a writer from an early age. She attended Mrs. Charles Sedgwick's Young Ladies School in Lenox, Massachusetts. In 1854, she released The Lamplighter, a sentimental story that was highly successful and made its author famous. According to one reviewer, it is "one of the most original and natural narratives". Within eight weeks, it sold 40,000 copies, reaching 70,000 by the conclusion of its first year in print. She authored several other books, including Mabel Vaughan (1857), but none of them were as successful. Cummins also contributed to some of the popular publications of her time. Cummins died on October 1, 1866, in Dorchester, following a period of sickness at the age of 39. Read More Read Less