An illness lasting many months ended tonight in the death of Miss Sarah Orne Jewett, Litt. D., author of many books and regarded as one of the foremost women writers of America. Since last March Miss Jewett had been at her old home here, where for many years she had been accustomed to pass her Summers, and it was in this old home that her death occurred at 6:40 this evening. It was while living in Boston early in the present year, at the residence of her friend, Mrs. James T. Fields, widow of a famous Boston publisher, and herself an author of various books, that Miss Jewett had an attack of apoplexy which caused paralysis on one side of her body, and, although her mind remained clear, she became nearly helpless physically. It is believed that another attack of the brain hemorrhage from which she first suffered was the immediate cause of death. The house where Miss Jewett was born, on Sept. 3, 1849, has been in the possession of the Jewett family since 1740. Miss Jewett was the daughter of Dr. Theodore H. and Caroline F. (Perry) Jewett. Miss Jewett was best known to the literary world through her stories of New England country life. These were published both in book form and in the magazines. Her father was a country physician. Delicate health in childhood compelled Miss Jewett to spend most of her time in the open air. She therefore accompanied her father every day on his rounds among his patients. During these trips she stored up material which later found its way into print. Afterward, gaining somewhat in strength, Miss Jewett attended the academy in her native village. Her career as an author began when she was quite young. While she was at the Berwick Academy, she was only seventeen then, several short stories under her name appeared in "Our Young Folks," and the Riverside Magazine. She ventured to send a story to the Atlantic Monthly when she was nineteen years of age, and since then hardly a year has passed without a volume from her. Although nearly all of her life was spent between the house in which she was born in Maine and at the home of Mrs. James T. Fields, these places were not the only ones with which Miss Jewett was acquainted. She traveled throughout this country and made several trips abroad. Among Miss Jewett's principal writings were "Deephaven," in 1877; "Old Friends and New," published in 1880; "Country Byways," which was published in the following year; "A Country Doctor," in 1884; a series of stories of the nations, which was published in 1887; "Tales of New England," in 1888, and "The Country of the Pointed Firs," published in 1897. Other stories were "A Marsh Island," "The Story of the Normans," her last book being "The Tory Lover," published in 1901. Miss Jewett was a contributor besides, to many magazines. In 1901 she received the degree of Doctor of Letters from Bowdoin College.