Frances Sargent Osgood
Frances Sargent Osgood (1811-1850) was an American poet and writer known for her contributions to literature in the 19th century. Born in Boston and raised in Hingham, Massachusetts, she began her literary career at a young age, publishing poetry under the pseudonym Florence in various magazines. In 1835, she married artist Samuel Stillman Osgood, and the couple moved to London, where she mingled with notable literary figures, including poets Eliza Cook and Mary Russell Mitford. Osgood published her first collection of poems, "A Wreath of Wild Flowers from New England," in 1838, followed by "The Casket of Fate" in 1839. After returning to the United States, she remained productive throughout the 1840s, publishing numerous works, including children's literature and poetry collections.
Her relationship with the renowned poet Edgar Allan Poe has drawn interest from biographers, with some speculating about the nature of their bond amid her challenges in marriage and public gossip. Osgood's literary output included significant collections such as "Poems of 1846" and "Poems of 1850." She passed away from tuberculosis in 1850, just a year after Poe, leaving behind a rich but often overshadowed legacy within American literature.
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Frances Sargent Osgood
Author
- Born: June 18, 1811
- Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts
- Died: May 12, 1850
Biography
Frances Sargent Locke was born in Boston and raised in Hingham, Massachusetts. Although she was largely tutored privately, as a young woman she attended the Boston Lyceum for Young Ladies for a year in 1828. She began writing while still very young. Under the pseudonym of Florence, she began publishing poems in literary magazines such as Juvenile Miscellany and Ladies’ Magazine, both published in Boston. She met the artist Samuel Stillman Osgood in 1834, and married him the following year. They moved to London so that he could pursue his studies of art. While in England, Frances Sargent Osgood became acquainted with poets Eliza Cook and Mary Russell Mitford, among a host of other artists. Her first daughter, Ellen Frances, was born in 1836.
While in England, she continued to publish in both American and English literary periodicals. Osgood published her first book of poems in 1838, A Wreath of Wild Flowers from New England. Before returning from England, she followed her first collection with a smaller one, The Casket of Fate, in 1839. The collections were well-received, if perceived as somewhat youthful in hue. Within the year, the Osgoods had returned to the United States, where they would eventually settle in New York. Osgood continued to place poems and occasional essays in a variety of periodicals, such as Graham’s Magazine, Ladies’ National Magazine, and The Columbian Magazine.
In addition to her poetry, she also wrote books for children. She was incredibly prolific throughout the 1840’s, publishing The Poetry of Flowers and the Flowers of Poetry in 1841, The Snow-Drop: A New-Year’s Gift for Children, in 1842, and The Rose—Sketches in Verse, also in 1842; she published Puss in Boots in 1844, and The Cries of New York in 1846. She published short stories and novels as well, often focusing on domestic situations.
In 1845, she met Edgar Allan Poe; some biographers have speculated that she may have fallen in love with him, and for a couple of years they spent much time together. As her marriage suffered, Osgood eventually found herself in the middle of a triangle where she was openly maligned in New York newspapers by gossips. Nevertheless, her writing continued, and she published a large collection of verse in Poems of 1846; this would be followed with an even larger collection, Poems of 1850, which reached more than four hundred pages in length. She died of tuberculosis in 1850, having only survived her more famous (and far less prolific) friend Poe by one year.