A New England Tale Jane Elton, orphaned as a young girl, goes to live with her aunt Mrs. Wilson, a selfish and overbearing woman who practices a repressive Calvinism. In their rural New England village, Jane grows up yearning to break free from Mrs. Wilson's tyranny and find her place as a citizen of the evolving American Republic Catharine Maria Sedgwick (December 28, 1789 - July 31, 1867), was an American novelist of what is sometimes referred to as "domestic fiction." She promoted Republican motherhood.Catharine Maria Sedgwick was born December 28, 1789 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Her mother was Pamela Dwight (1752-1807) of the New England Dwight family, daughter of General Joseph Dwight (1703-1765) and granddaughter of Ephraim Williams, founder of Williams College.