Stewart (Maria W. Miller) is born in Hartford.

Orphaned at 5, Maria Stewart becomes a servant to clergyman’s family, makes her way to Boston, marries shipping owner James Stewart in 1826, and moves to today’s 81 Joy Street (then 8 Belknap Street) in 1829. She becomes an abolitionist and suffragist, and is considered the first woman in the U.S. to speak in public about politics, slavery and women’s rights in the U.S. Stewart begins writing for The Liberator in 1831, delivers a particularly memorable speech in 1832,* and is considered the first African-American woman journalist and political writer in the U.S. Denied her husband’s estate after his death and criticized for being so outspoken, Stewart leaves Boston in 1833,* and dies in Washington, D.C. in 1879.