Alice
and Phoebe Cary
ALICE was born in the Miami Valley, eight miles north of Cincinnati, Ohio, April 26, 1820, and she died in New York, February 12, 1871.
PHOEBE was born near Cincinnati, September 4, 1824, and her life work closed by her death at Newport, R. I., July 31. 1871.
Their parents were people of considerable culture. The education of Alice and Phoebe was limited to the meager opportunities of a newly settled country. Alice commenced writing verses at the age of eighteen years. For ten years she contributed prose and verse to newspapers. Her sketches of rural life, first published in the "National Era," under the signature of "Patty Lee," attracted considerable attention. In 1849 the
"Poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary" appeared in book form in Philadelphia.
In 1850 the sisters removed to New York and devoted themselves entirely and successfully to literary work. Alice became a constant contributor to leading literary periodicals. She also continued to write poems and novels, which appeared in book form. Her published volumes, besides the one mentioned above, are
"Clovernook Papers," in two series, published in 1851 and 1853;
"Clovernook Children," 1854; "Hagar, a Story of
To-Day," 1852; "Lyra and other Poems," 1853; enlarged editions, including
"The Maiden Flascala," 1855; "Married, not
Mated," 1856; "Pictures of Country," 1859;
"Lyrics and Hymns," 1866; "The Bishop's
Sons," 1867; "The Lover's Diary," 1867; and
"Snow Berries, a Book for Young Folks," 1869.
Phoebe's poems were more independent in style and more buoyant in tone than those of her sister. One of her first poems, printed in 1842, attracted much attention. Her works, besides her contributions to her sister's volumes, are
"Poems and Parodies," 1854; "Poems of Hope, Faith and
Love," 1868; and most of the "Hymns for all
Christians," compiled in 1869, by Rev. Dr. Deems.
The writings of Alice and Phoebe are "marked with great sweetness and pathos," and their home became a noted resort for their literary friends.
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