In her early 20s Harriet Livermore suddenly gave up life as a socialite and became a wandering evangelist preacher. She traveled to the Holy Land five times, wrote books, and tried to establish a Jewish homeland – all before 1850.

MORE: Famous People  

Harriet Livermore Was Early Female Evangelist

Memorials are not always made of bronze. A few years ago, for example, the Sheraton Harborside asked me to select a few historical figures to receive a special tribute. Seven penthouse condominiums would be named in their honor and decorated in their memory. I finally toured the Port of Call Luxury Condominiums the other day and, take it from me, life at the top is pretty suite.

I took the assignment seriously, perhaps obsessively, pouring over the biographies of dozens of notables, then painstakingly whittled down the list like they do on American Idol. I wanted a diverse group of characters, all of whom had really spent time in Portsmouth. Celia Thaxter, who ran her own hotel on Appledore Island was an obvious choice.

Maverick filmmaker Louis de Rochemont was selected, and his rooms are decorated in posters from his own movies that I found on Ebay. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass, peace treaty emissary Jutaro Komura, former mayor Mary Dondero and naval hero Isaac Hull all made the cut. Each has his or her name on the door and life story on display in a specially appointed apartment. It’s not the Smithsonian, but it’s a homey and heartfelt tribute.

Escaping "the sorrows of life"

I am most proud of bringing a little recognition to the least likely candidate. Few Portsmouth figures have experienced a more amazing life than Harriet Livermore (1788-1868), though her story is largely unknown. Born into one of New Hampshire’s powerful families, Livermore gave up wealth and status to become an itinerant preacher in an age when upper class women were seen, but seldom heard, in public. Casting aside fineries, she traveled the world more than many sea captains and lived a harsher life. Her mission was to rid the world of the encroaching evil in the "stinking age" in which she lived.

Born in Concord, this self-confessed "pilgrim stranger" began her days as a New Hampshire socialite. Her grandfather Samuel Livermore married Jane Browne, daughter of a prestigious Portsmouth minister during the peak of the city’s British rule. Yet he managed to adapt from a King’s Attorney to a trusted Congressman and Senator after the Revolution. Harriet’s father too served in the fledgling United States Congress, but his wife died when his daughter was just five. Harriet, who began speaking out boldly even as a child, was all but abandoned to nursemaids and private finishing schools.

Harriet Livermore almost led a normal life. She dressed in fine clothes, played cards, danced and read novels. While at nearby Atkinson Academy, she met the man of her dreams, but both families opposed the union. When he died years later in the War of 1812, Harriet resolved to bring her sorrow to the Lord. She wanted to become a preacher and leave the "vain, thoughtless" life of a socialite behind. Her three male cousins were clerics, but the calling was not considered proper work for a woman, even one as dynamic and brilliant as she.

Harriet tried one Protestant faith after another. Casting about for a doctrine she could believe in, she eventually embraced the apocalyptic Adventist vision. She began writing books, traded her aristocratic clothing for homespun, and separated from her wealthy family. In a gesture of religious transformation, she cut off three feet of dark silky tresses and thereafter appeared with close cropped hair. This severe look in an attractive educated woman confounded, and yet captivated, listeners as she preached of doomsday and atonement in homes, in schools, on docks and street corners – anywhere people would listen. Christ would return to Earth in 1847, Harriet predicted, and she was preparing the way and giving sinners the chance to repent.