Personal Reflections of Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathanial Hawthorne. Considered to be one of the greatest American writers of the 19th century. But did you know that he hated portraits, and it is now thought that he was a mild manic-depressive? Born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4, 1804. A decendant of a long puritan line of Hathorne's. His ancestry included his great-great grandfather, John Hathorne who was a judge at the Salem witch trials 112 years before Nathanial was born. Judge John Hathorne charged many with the crime of witchcraft,and ....