Leonora Sansay

Leonora Sansay (December 11, 1773 – interred November 12, 1821) was an American novelist. She was the author of Secret History; or, The Horrors of St. Domingo, in a Series of Letters Written by a Lady at Cape Francois to Col. Burr, late Vice-President of the United States, Principally During the Command of General Rochambeau (Philadelphia, 1808) and Laura (Philadelphia, 1809), and possibly three other novels: Zelica: The Creole (London, 1820); The Scarlet Handkerchief (London, 1823); and The Stranger in Mexico (not extant).

Biography

She was born Honora Davern in Philadelphia on December 11, 1773, to Rosa and William Davern, the latter of whom died at sea a few weeks after her birth, probably in January 1774. On Valentine's Day 1779, her mother married a Philadelphia innkeeper named William Hassel (sometimes Hassal); Sansay's stepfather maintained Hassal's Tavern (or The Half Moon — a generic name for an English pub), which was located across from the State House (Independence Hall), where local politicians and members of Congress often met informally.

Rosa and William Hassel had two children of their own, Sansay's half-siblings, Mary (born November 12, 1781) and William (born December 24, 1784). Incidentally, it was Mary who has often been mistakenly credited with the authorship of Secret History and Laura (the mistake derives from the name of the author-character of Secret History, also named Mary and a handwritten note on the flyleaf of a copy in the possession of the Library Company of Philadelphia).