Nathaniel Hawthorne arrived in the world on the 4th of July 1804 within the historic streets of Salem Massachusetts. His family had deep roots there stretching back to a great-great-great-grandfather named William Hathorne who emigrated from England.
Nathaniel Hawthorne probably added the w to his surname in his early twenties after graduating from college. He did this in an effort to disassociate himself from notorious forebears including John Hathorne one of the judges who oversaw the Salem witch trials.
Hawthorne returned to writing and published The Scarlet Letter in mid-March 1850 including a preface that refers to his three-year tenure in the Custom House. It was one of the first mass-produced books in America selling 2,500 volumes within ten days and earning Hawthorne $1,500 over 14 years.
While on a tour of the White Mountains he died in his sleep on the 19th of May 1864 in Plymouth New Hampshire. His son Julian learned of his father's death the next day coincidentally being initiated into the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity on the same day by being blindfolded and placed in a coffin.
He became friends with Herman Melville beginning on the 5th of August 1850 when the authors met at a picnic hosted by a mutual friend. Edgar Allan Poe wrote important reviews of both Twice-Told Tales and Mosses from an Old Manse admitting that the style of Mr. Hawthorne is purity itself and his tone is singularly effective wild plaintive thoughtful and in full accordance with his themes.