Leitch, Mary Sinton, 1876-1954

Mary Sinton Lewis Leitch was born 8 September 1876 in New York City, the daughter of Carlton Thomas and Nancy Dunlap McKeen Lewis. She received her early education in private preparatory schools and then attended Smith College and Columbia University and schools in France and Germany. In New York, she served as an inspector of women's prisons and later became a contributing editor to Harper's Monthly, the New York Herald, and the New York Evening Post. On leaving these positions, she began a world tour on sailing ships and tramp steamers in order to gain insight into native languages and customs. She married John David Leitch on 17 October 1907 and settled in Lynnhaven, Virginia. She became one of the founding members of the Poetry Society of Virginia, serving as its president in 1933 and co-president in 1944-1945. In 1932, Mrs. Leitch edited the highly praised Lyric Virginia Today (vol. 1). Mrs. Leitch died 20 August 1954. Her works include The Wagon and the Star (1922), The Unrisen Morrow (1926), The Black Moon (1929), Spider Architect (1937), From Invisible Mountains (1943), Himself and I (1950), and Nightingales on the Moon (1952).