Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1804-1864) - An American writer whose old New England
family was involved in the Salem Witch Trials and Quaker persecutions. His
reflections on his family's past became the theme of many of his works.
His clear, musical style made him one of America's most emulated authors.
Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe (1834) - The story of Dominicus Pike, a
tobacco peddler. He meets a traveller on the road who tells him of the
murder of Mr. Higginbotham who was strung up to the branch of a pear-tree.
