John Stevens Cabot Abbott was an American historian, preacher, and educational writer who was born in Brunswick, Maine, on September 19, 1805 and died on June 17, 1877. His parents were Jacob Abbott and Betsey Abbott. His brother was Jacob Abbott, and he worked with Jacob Abbott to run Abbott's Institute in New York City and write his series of short histories of famous people. Abbott graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825 and then went to Andover Theological Seminary to prepare for the ministry. From 1830 to 1844, when he retired from the Congregational Church ministry, he preached in Massachusetts at Worcester, Roxbury, and Nantucket. Because of how well "The Mother at Home" did, he turned his attention to writing full-time starting in 1844. He wrote a lot of books, including popular histories and books about Christian ethics. It is said that his books got people interested in history. He is most famous for writing the very popular History of Napoleon Bonaparte (1855), which tells about different parts and events in Napoleon's life.