Helen Louisa Bostwick Bird

Helen Louisa Bostwick Bird (January 5, 1826 – December 20, 1907) was an American author and poet. Nearly all of her literary work was done in Ohio, where her contemporaries included Alice Williams Brotherton and Kate Brownlee Sherwood.[1] Some of her poems are found in a volume entitled Four O'Clocks, published in 1888.[2]

Early years and education

Helen Louisa Barrow, a daughter of Dr. Putnam Barrow, was born January 5, 1826, at North Charlestown, New Hampshire, where the first twelve years of her girlhood were passed. Here she received an elementary common-school education, which was supplemented by special private tuition under Rev. Alonzo Ames Miner, of Boston.[3]

Career

In 1838, she removed with her father and mother to a farm near Ravenna, Ohio, where, in 1844, at the age of eighteen, she married Edwin Bostwick; he died September 9, 1860. Their daughter, Florence, lived to be only fifteen years old, and daughter, Marion, died at the age of thirty.[3]

Nearly all of Bird's literary work was done in Ohio, chiefly within the period of her first widowhood. She began writing for the press at the age of eighteen, and was for many years a valued contributor to various newspapers and magazines, including the National Era, the New York Independent, the Home Monthly, the Ohio Farmer, the Home Journal, the Saturday Evening Post, and the Atlantic Monthly. Bird's best poems, most of which were produced subsequently to the publication of Coggeshall's pioneer collection, were contained in a volume entitled Four O'Clocks, which was issued in Philadelphia in 1888.[4] She also wrote for children.[5]

Personal life

In 1875, she married Dr. John F. Bird, and removed with him to Philadelphia, where he died January 20, 1904, and where she continued to reside during the remainder of her life. She died December 20, 1907.[3]

References
  1. Bond, Utter & Weisenburger 1943, p. 447.
  2. Randall & Ryan 1912, p. 74.
  3. Venable 1909, p. 106.
  4. Venable 1909, p. 107.
  5. Coggeshall 1860, p. 550.

Attribution
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Coggeshall, William Turner (1860). The Poets and Poetry of the West: With Biographical and Critical Notices (Public domain ed.). Follett, Foster.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Randall, Emilius Oviatt; Ryan, Daniel Joseph (1912). History of Ohio: The Rise and Progress of an American State. 5 (Public domain ed.). Century History Company.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Venable, Emerson (1909). Poets of Ohio: Selections Representing the Poetical Work of Ohio Authors, from the Pioneer Period to the Present Day (Public domain ed.). The Robert Clarke Company. p. 106.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Bibliography
  • Bond, Beverley Waugh; Utter, William Thomas; Weisenburger, Francis Phelps (1943). The history of the state of Ohio. Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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