In a memoir Elizabeth's sister Sarah Stuart Robbins described Andover as a closely knit community where "strict Puritan rules governed every household," and at home the Reverend Stuart demanded absolute order and discipline, his children believing him to be "chosen and set apart." Reading and writing were emphasized, and it is not surprising that Elizabeth and two of her sisters, Sarah and Abbie, became professional writers.
Because Abigail Stuart was chronically ill, Elizabeth was often called on to care for her siblings and assume a mother's social role. As a consequence she learned early how to manage a home. Elizabeth was more like her father than her mother, however. As Carole Farley Kessler has pointed out, she was said to resemble him both physically and intellectually. An excellent student, Elizabeth received her early education in Andover; at age sixteen she was enrolled in the Mount Vernon School in Boston, where she studied for two years.
Even as a child she had written stories for her family and friends. Her first published fiction was written while she was a student at the Mount Vernon School. During that time she became a protégée of the Reverend Jacob Abbott, a founder of the school and later the author of the successful Rollo books, an educational children's series.
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