Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. Some of his most famous works include The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts where he would later work as a surveyor for the Salem Custom House. Hawthorne married Sophia Peabody in 1842 and they had three children together. He is considered one of the major figures of the American Renaissance and helped establish the new nation's first cultural efflorescence.