Ford, Emily Ellsworth Fowler, 1826-1893

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Emily Ellsworth (Fowler) Ford (1826-1893), a granddaughter of Noah Webster (1748-1843) the lexicographer, and daughter of William Chauncey Fowler (1793-1881) a professor of rhetoric and oratory and English literature at Amherst College (1838-1843), grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts and moved to Brooklyn, New York in late 1853 upon her marriage to Gordon Lester Ford (1823-1891), a businessman and lawyer. Ford came from a prominent family, well-connected within both social and literary circles. Her family was friends with the Dickinson family, also of Amherst, and Ford and Emily Dickinson were childhood friends. Together they discussed literature and formed an adolescent group that wrote recreationally. Ford's literary aspirations continued into adulthood where she became a prolific writer of poetry and narrative, and achieved publication in various newspapers and magazines, along with My Recreations (1872), a collection of her poetry. Her publications are represented throughout some of the better-known nineteenth-century magazines and journals, such as The Atlantic Monthly, Scribner's, Harper's, and the New York Tribune. Ford was also active within several charity organizations including the Brooklyn Orphan Asylum and helped to organize fundraisers. She had four surviving daughters Kathleen Gordon (Ford) Turle (b.1856), Mabel Percy (Ford) Mayo-Smith (b.1863), Rosalie Greenleaf (Ford) Barr (b.1859), Emily Ellsworth (Ford) Skeel (b.1869), and three sons, Worthington Chauncey Ford (b.1858), a prominent historian and writer, Malcolm Webster Ford (b.1862), a well-known amateur athlete, and Paul Leicester Ford (b.1865), an historian and popular novelist. The children were educated and raised with the Ford family library, renowned for its vast holdings and collections.

From the guide to the Emily Fowler Ford papers, 1744-1893, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Ford, Emily Ellsworth, 1826-1893. Emily Ellsworth Ford letter to Richard Grant White, [manuscript], 1875 Sep 15. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Cooper, Madge Huntington. Ford, Roelker, Turle family papers, 1811-1984 (bulk 1850-1960). New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Dickinson, Austin, d. 1895. Letter : [Amherst?] to Emily Ellsworth Fowler Ford [New York?] [ca. 1850?] University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
referencedIn Dickinson Family. Dickinson family library. 1810-1943. Houghton Library
referencedIn Park, Alice, 1861-ca.1962. Posters, 1903-1926 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn John William Hill correspondence and miscellany, 1854-1879 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Ford, Gordon Lester, 1823-1891. Gordon Lester Ford papers, 1830-1910, bulk (1850-1869). New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Ford, Emily Fowler, 1826-1893. Emily Fowler Ford papers, 1837-1898. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Dickinson family papers, 1757-1934. Houghton Library
referencedIn Gordon Lester Ford papers, 1830-1910, 1850-1869 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Goodrich Family Papers, 1732-1905 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
creatorOf Ford, Emily Ellsworth (Fowler), 1826-1893. Rosalie Ford Barr papers, 1885-1954 (bulk 1898-1909). University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
referencedIn Laura Winthrop Johnson papers, 1862-1889 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn George Eliot collection of papers, 1841-1899, 1841-1879 The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature.
referencedIn Henry Adams papers, 1871-1938 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Goodrich family. Goodrich family papers, 1732-1905 (inclusive), 1787-1860 (bulk). Yale University Library
referencedIn Ford, Roelker, Turle family papers, 1811-1984, 1850-1960 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Suffrage Posters, Banner, Pennant, ca.1903-1926 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Phillipps, Adelaide, 1833-1882. Adelaide Phillipps letters, ca. 1860-1881. Campbell University, Wiggins Memorial Library
creatorOf Johnson, Laura Winthrop, 1825-1889. Laura Winthrop Johnson papers, 1862-1889. Campbell University, Wiggins Memorial Library
referencedIn Henry C. Bowen papers, 1860-1889 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Emily Fowler Ford papers, 1744-1893 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn James Russell Lowell papers, 1835-1919. Houghton Library
creatorOf Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886. Letter : [Amherst?], to Emily Ellsworth Fowler Ford, [New York?] [ca. 1880?] University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
creatorOf Adelaide Phillipps letters, ca. 1860-1881 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn George Eliot letters, 1873-1874 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Adams, Henry, 1838-1918 person
associatedWith Alice Park, 1861-ca. 1962 person
associatedWith Bowen, Henry Chandler, 1813-1896 person
associatedWith Carpenter, Esther B. person
associatedWith Chittenden, C. B. person
associatedWith Conway family. family
associatedWith Conway, Mildred. person
associatedWith Cooper, Madge Huntington person
associatedWith Cooper, Madge Huntington. person
associatedWith Dickinson, Austin, d. 1895. person
associatedWith Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886. person
correspondedWith Dickinson family. family
associatedWith Dickinson family, collector. family
associatedWith Eliot, George, 1819-1880 person
associatedWith Ellsworth family. family
associatedWith Ford family family
associatedWith Ford family. family
associatedWith Ford, Gordon Lester, 1823-1891 person
associatedWith Ford, Kathleen person
associatedWith Ford, Kathleen. person
associatedWith Ford, Mabel person
associatedWith Ford, Mabel. person
associatedWith Ford, Malcolm Webster, 1862-1902 person
associatedWith Ford, Paul Leicester, 1865-1902 person
associatedWith Ford, Rosalie person
associatedWith Ford, Rosalie. person
associatedWith Ford, Worthington Chauncey, 1858-1941. person
associatedWith Fowler family family
associatedWith Fowler family. family
associatedWith Fowler, William Chauncey, 1793-1881. person
associatedWith Goodrich, Chauncey. person
associatedWith Goodrich, E. E. person
associatedWith Goodrich family. family
associatedWith Goodrich family. family
associatedWith Goodrich family. family
associatedWith Goodrich, Julia. person
associatedWith Hill, Emma. person
associatedWith Hill, J. W. (John William), 1812-1879 person
associatedWith Hubbard, R. M. D. person
associatedWith Johnson, Laura Winthrop, 1825-1889. person
correspondedWith Lowell, James Russell, 1819-1891 person
associatedWith May, Gertrude. person
associatedWith Park, Alice, 1861-ca.1962. person
associatedWith Phillipps, Adelaide, 1833-1882. person
associatedWith Sherman family. family
associatedWith Skeel, Emily Ford, 1867-1958. person
associatedWith Webster, Noah, 1758-1843. person
associatedWith White, Richard Grant, 1821-1885, person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Massachusetts
Hildesheim (Germany)
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Subject
Poets, American
Authors and publishers
Opera
Women poets, American
Occupation
Singers
Poets
Activity

Person

Birth 1826

Death 1893

Information

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SNAC ID: 85591286