Frances Matilda Abbott

Frances Matilda Abbott (August 18, 1857 – September 21, 1939) was an American suffragist and naturalist. The first woman from Concord, New Hampshire, to earn a bachelor's degree, Abbott often wrote on suffrage for national newspapers and participated in many suffragist organizations. She also authored texts on Concord wildlife and genealogy for local audiences, leading to her inclusion on several contemporary lists of notable American women. Her father, who was elected the Mayor of Concord six times, was descended from early settlers of Concord,

At the age of fourteen, Abbot became a paid contributor to the monthly newspaper Our Young Folks. ), Abbott analyzed their member register alongside Vassar alumnae records to track college-graduated women's post-college accomplishments and wage earnings. By calculating the frequency of career outcomes and marriages amongst college-educated women, Abbott commented on contemporary concerns that college would cause women's marriage rates to drop. Though she worried about declining marriage rates among young women, she noted the importance of college education for women, writing that "Woman, having once tasted of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, will not be content to renounce it." Abbot edited the first Woman's Edition of the Concord Monitor in 1896 and spearheaded a 1910 campaign to reduce working women's hours by closing Concord stores early on Mondays. Abbott also held life memberships in the Concord Female Charitable Society, the Woman's Auxiliary to YMCA, and the Woman's Hospitality Association. Ten years later, she published a guide to Concord's flora and fauna based on her personal observations called Birds and Flowers about Concord, New Hampshire. Her book sought to make local wildlife accessible to other Concord residents, especially children, through a series of diary narratives describing her encounters with local species. By including other nature watchers' observations, Abbott's book catalogued 201 distinct birds and 540 flowers in Concord.

Abbott also took on genealogical and historical projects. She co-authored texts on Concord and New Hampshire history and edited numerous local memoirs and biographies. For her prolific writing nationally and locally, she was included in several contemporary lists of notable American women and New Hampshire residents.

Later life A lifelong Concord resident, Abbott died in Concord on September 21, 1939, at the age of 82.