author
Martha Noyes Williams
1813–1879
An American writer and compiler best remembered for a vivid travel memoir, she turned unusual firsthand experience into a lively account of China and a dramatic Civil War–era sea capture. Her books also reached toward comfort and reflection, showing a quieter, devotional side to her work.
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About the author
Born in 1813 and dying in 1879, Martha Noyes Williams was an American author whose surviving books suggest both curiosity about the wider world and a strong interest in religious consolation. She is credited with A Year in China; and a Narrative of Capture and Imprisonment, When Homeward Bound, on Board the Rebel Pirate Florida, published in 1864, and with Voices from the Silent Land; or, Leaves of Consolation for the Afflicted, an earlier collection of verse and prose.
Her best-known work combines travel writing with adventure memoir. The book records a year spent in China and then recounts the capture of the homebound vessel on which she was traveling during the American Civil War, giving her narrative an unusual mix of observation, danger, and personal testimony.
Williams often appeared in print as "Mrs. H. D. Williams," reflecting common 19th-century naming conventions for married women. A memorial record places her birth on December 31, 1813, and her death on July 12, 1879, and a surviving grave-page image appears to preserve a portrait of her.