Mary Abigail Dodge (March 31, 1833 – August 17, 1896) was an American writer and essayist, who wrote under the pseudonym Gail Hamilton. Her writing is noted for its wit and promotion of equality of education and occupation for women. She was an abolitionist. Biography Mary Abigail Dodge was born March 31, 1833, in Hamilton, Massachusetts. She was born on a farm, the seventh child of Hannah and James Dodge. A childhood accident left her blind in one eye. At 12, she was sent to a boarding school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before enrolling at the Ipswich Female Seminary. She graduated in 1850, and proceeded to teach there for four years, until she got a position at Hartford Female Seminary. She disliked the job, however, and decided to write poetry. Editor Gamaliel Bailey read her work in 1856 and, by 1858, she had moved to Washington, D.C. to serve as a governess for his children. From there, she sent in her publications to anti-slavery newspapers. She disliked attention, however, and chose the pen name Gail Hamilton, combining the last part of her middle name with her place of birth. Among her writings were political commentaries, making her one of the first female political correspondents in Washington. Her essays were best known for their harshness towards men. In 1860, after Bailey's death, Dodge returned to her native town and contributed to The Atlantic Monthly. Her father died in 1864 and she helped support her mother until she died in 1868. By 1871, she returned to Washington to live with the family of James G. Blaine, who was married to her first cousin, but returned to Hamilton in summers. Dodge became known for her personality as much as her writing. When asked for a description for a compilation about eminent women of the day, she responded with a variation of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Bells" that she was "Neither man nor woman / I am neither brute nor human / I am a ghoul!" One of her admirers later wrote, "She is incisive, even combative, by nature, and thoroughly enjoys a good, hot old-fashioned controversies." Dodge was also interested in publishing matters and criticized the assumption that women writers were "an eternal child" when it came to understanding the business side of authorship. In 1868, after reading an article in The Congregationalist titled "Pay of Authors", she realized her royalty payment of