 Meanwhile, however, Timothy Fuller’s political ambitions had not been realized and his law practice shrank to the point where he decided in 1833 to move to Groton, Massachusetts, and operate (like many other Americans of the time) a family farm. The farm had not yet begun to turn a profit, however, when Margaret’s father died of cholera in October, 1835. Timothy had not drawn up a will, and by the male-oriented law of the time, title to the farm passed to his brothers, leaving his widow and children living on the farm dependent on the charity of Margaret’s uncles. Margaret felt understandably bitter, and though only in her twenties was forced to assume responsibility for supporting her mother and young siblings. She had begun work on a biography of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, having achieved fluency in German remarkably quickly, but gave up on it, and the European trip it would have entailed, so she could teach school full time and earn a salary. 