Elizabeth Oakes Smith
Elizabeth Oakes Smith was a notable 19th-century American author and advocate for women's rights, born in North Yarmouth, Maine. Following the early death of her father, her family moved to Portland, where she received her education. Despite aspirations to become a teacher, she married Seba Smith at sixteen, managing a bustling household that included their six children and boarders from her husband's newspaper, The Eastern Argus. During financial hardships caused by the Stock Market panic of 1837, Smith began writing to support her family, gaining recognition with her poem "The Sinless Child" in 1842, which was later published in her first collection.
Her activism gained momentum after attending the Women's Rights Convention in 1850, leading her to write influential articles and embark on a public lecture tour advocating for women's rights and social reforms. Throughout her career, she contributed to various periodicals and edited literary publications, achieving success with her endeavors. However, following her husband's death in 1868, Smith faced financial difficulties again. In her later years, she wrote her autobiography, A Human Life, which remained unpublished at her death in 1893. Despite her struggles, Smith's legacy as a pioneering figure in the feminist movement and literature endures.
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Subject Terms
Elizabeth Oakes Smith
Author
- Born: August 12, 1806
- Birthplace: North Yarmouth, Maine
- Died: November 15, 1893
- Place of death: Hollywood, North Carolina
Biography
Elizabeth Oakes Smith, a nineteenth century author and advocate of women’s rights, was born in North Yarmouth, Maine. When she was two years old, her father died at sea. Subsequently, her mother remarried and moved the family to Portland, Maine. Smith was educated in Portland’s public schools. She aspired to become a teacher, but at the age of sixteen, she married Seba Smith, on her mother’s insistence. Seba Smith was the editor of a local weekly publication, The Eastern Argus.
After her marriage, Smith settled into domestic life. She managed a household, which included their six children and an array of apprentices and printers of The Eastern Argus who boarded in their home. Despite her abundant domestic duties, Smith found time to contribute poems and short stories to her husband’s newspaper. She also edited the paper during her husband’s frequent business travels.
During the Stock Market panic of 1837, Smith’s husband lost all to the family’s money. In the face of financial devastation, the Smiths moved to New York in order to live with relatives. While in New York, Smith helped to support the family by writing. She published works in periodicals such as The Snowden’s Ladies Companion and Godey’s Lady’s Book. In 1842, she established her literary reputation with the publication of her poem titled “The Sinless Child” in the Literary Messenger. This work, acclaimed by critics and fellow authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, was published a year later in Smith’s first collection titled The Sinless Child, and Other Poems.
In 1850, Smith attended the Women’s Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts. Influenced by the convention’s speakers, Smith decided to devote her time to promoting the feminist cause. She began a series of ten articles titled Woman and Her Needs, which were published in Horace Greeley’s Tribune. The following year, Smith became the first American woman to join a public lecture tour. From 1852 to 1853, she traveled throughout the nation lecturing on women’s rights, prison reform, and abolition.
In 1853, Smith returned to New York and began to edit the Weekly Budget with her husband. In 1859, the Smiths purchased Emerson’s United States Magazine and renamed it The Great Republic. Their publishing endeavors were successful and enabled them to purchase a large estate on Long Island, which they named The Willows.
For the next decade, the Smiths lived a semiretired life at The Willows, enjoying their time together until Seba Smith’s death in 1868. Upon her husband’s death, Smith again found herself in financial ruin. In 1870, she sold The Willows and left for North Carolina to live with one of her children. During the trip, her ship wrecked. All of Smith’s possessions, including a large collection of her written works, perished in the wreck.
Smith spent the remainder of her years living with various family members and writing her autobiography, which she titled A Human Life. In her final years, Smith wrote in her journal that she was ashamed that her writing could only reflect the dreams of her childhood and not the actual success of her life. As a result of these sentiments, Smith burned much of her correspondence and unpublished works. She failed to complete her autobiography and it remained unpublished at the time of her death in 1893.