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Harriet N. Cook
Harriet Newell Cook (1814 – 1843) was an American religious writer whose ministry through educational writings shared biblical truths with young readers in the early 19th century. Born in Maine to Asa Rand, a reverend, and Grata Payson Rand, she grew up in a devout family steeped in Protestant faith. Little is known of her formal education, but her parents’ influence and access to religious texts shaped her ability to craft instructional works, reflecting a self-taught theological grounding typical of her era’s women writers. Cook’s preaching career took form not through sermons but via her pen, beginning with contributions to religious publications before authoring Scripture Alphabet of Animals (circa 1842), a popular book using nature to illustrate scriptural lessons for children. Her works, aimed at Sunday school audiences, preached moral and spiritual insights, emphasizing God’s creation and providence, though she never held a formal pulpit role due to gender norms of the time. Married status and family details beyond her parents remain unrecorded, as her brief life ended at age 29, likely in Maine, with her legacy tied to her written ministry rather than spoken preaching.
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Harriet N. Cook discusses the unique characteristics of the night-hawk, the only animal mentioned in the Bible starting with the letter 'N'. This bird, similar to the owl, is nocturnal, dwelling in dark woods and flying silently at twilight to catch insects with its wide mouth and bristled borders. Belonging to the same family as the whip-poor-will, the night-hawk lays its eggs on the ground with a layer of withered leaves instead of building a nest.
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The Night-Hawk
I believe this is the only animal of any kind mentioned in the Bible, the name of which begins with N. It is named in the 11th chapter of Leviticus, among other birds, such as the owl, the cuckoo and the raven, which the children of Israel were not allowed to eat. It is somewhat like the owl in its shape, and in its large, full, round eyes. It flies at evening, and hides itself during the day from the bright light of the sun. It likes to live in lonely, dark woods, and when it comes out at twilight to get the insects that it lives upon, you could hardly hear the sound of its wings, it flies so very gently. It has a very wide, gaping mouth, which helps it to seize upon moths and flies, and its mouth is bordered with a row of stiff bristles, so that the insects may not escape again after they have been caught. The night-hawk belongs to the same family with the whip-poor-will; and, like that bird, it places its eggs on the ground in the shade of some thicket, with only a layer of withered leaves under them instead of making a nest.
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Harriet Newell Cook (1814 – 1843) was an American religious writer whose ministry through educational writings shared biblical truths with young readers in the early 19th century. Born in Maine to Asa Rand, a reverend, and Grata Payson Rand, she grew up in a devout family steeped in Protestant faith. Little is known of her formal education, but her parents’ influence and access to religious texts shaped her ability to craft instructional works, reflecting a self-taught theological grounding typical of her era’s women writers. Cook’s preaching career took form not through sermons but via her pen, beginning with contributions to religious publications before authoring Scripture Alphabet of Animals (circa 1842), a popular book using nature to illustrate scriptural lessons for children. Her works, aimed at Sunday school audiences, preached moral and spiritual insights, emphasizing God’s creation and providence, though she never held a formal pulpit role due to gender norms of the time. Married status and family details beyond her parents remain unrecorded, as her brief life ended at age 29, likely in Maine, with her legacy tied to her written ministry rather than spoken preaching.