Mary L. Booth (1831–1889)

Mary Louise Booth was born in Millville (present-day Yaphank), New York, and was descended on her mother's side from refugees from the French Revolution.

She began writing and translating works from French at an early age. At age 14, she taught school briefly in Brooklyn, and then moved to Manhattan, where she made vests by day and wrote and studied by night. She contributed to various journals and became a freelance reporter for the New York Times. Over time, she began making a living as a translator. Among her translated works were André Chénier by Joseph Méry; The King of the Mountains by Edmond François Valentin About; Secret History of the French Court: or, Life and Times of Madame de Chevreuse by Victor Cousin; and Blaise Pascal's Lettres provinciales (Provincial Letters). She also wrote her own book, History of the City of New York, published in 1859, the first of its kind, which was a popular success. During the American Civil War, she translated works of prominent French writers who favored the Union cause, including America before Europe by Count Agénor Gasparin; Paris in America by Édouard René de Laboulaye; and The Results of Slavery and The Results of Emancipation by Augustin Cochin, earning praise and encouragement from President Abraham Lincoln and numerous statesmen. She also fought for women's rights and served as secretary at the state women's rights conventions held in Saratoga in 1855 and New York City in 1860. In 1867, she was named editor of the new magazine Harper's Bazar, a family, fashion, and domestic arts magazine, and helped make it successful (after her death its name was changed to "Harper's Bazaar").
She died of a heart condition in 1889 at age 57.