The daughter of Harriet Howard and Judge Samuel Prescott Phillips Fay, Maria Fay lived in Cambridge, Mass., and was educated at the Ursuline Convent at Mt. Benedict in Charlestown, Mass. In 1835 the family moved to what came to be called Fay House, which currently houses the administrative offices of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. One of seven children, Maria did not marry and remained at home with her parents in their home which was a center of social life in Cambridge. She remained there until 1859, following the death of her mother in 1847 and her father in 1856. In 1885 she sold the house to the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women, the precursor of Radcliffe College and the Radcliffe Institute.
From the description of Diary, 1835 May 19-June 18. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232009041
