Cary, Phoebe, 1824-1871

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Phoebe Cary (September 4, 1824 – July 31, 1871) was an American poet, and the younger sister of poet Alice Cary (1820–1871). The sisters co-published poems in 1849, and then each went on to publish volumes of their own. After their deaths in 1871, joint anthologies of the sisters' unpublished poems were also compiled.

phoebe Cary was born on September 4, 1824, in Mount Healthy, Ohio near Cincinnati, and she and her sister Alice were raised on the Clovernook farm in what is now North College Hill, Ohio. While they were raised in a Universalist household and held political and religious views that were liberal and reformist, they often attended Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist services and were friendly with ministers of all these denominations and others.

While they occasionally attended school, the sisters were often needed to work at home and so were largely self-educated. The sisters' mother died in 1835 and two years afterwards their father married again. Their stepmother was wholly unsympathetic regarding their literary aspirations. For their part, while they were ready and willing to aid to the full extent of their strength in household labour; the sisters persisted in a determination to study and write when the day's work was done. Sometimes they were refused the use of candles to the extent of their wishes and the device of a saucer of lard with a bit of rag for a wick was their only light after the rest of the family had retired.

More outgoing than her sister, Cary was a champion of women's rights and for a short time edited Revolution, a newspaper published by Susan B. Anthony. In 1848, their poetry was published in the anthology Female Poets of America edited by Rufus Wilmot Griswold and with his help, Poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary was published in 1849. Poet John Greenleaf Whittier had been invited to provide a preface; but refused. He believed their poetry did not need his endorsement and also noted a general dislike for prefaces as a method to "pass off by aid of a known name, what otherwise would not pass current".

The sisters' anthology garnered much acclaim, and in 1850 they moved to New York City. There, they often hosted evening receptions on Sundays, some of which were attended by well-known figures such as P. T. Barnum, John Greenleaf Whittier and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. While in New York, Phoebe published two volumes of exclusively her own poetry: Poems and Parodies and Poems of Faith, Hope and Love. Additionally, her lyrics appeared in many church hymnals, on Sunday School cards and in household scrapbooks. One of her enduring hymns, "Nearer Home" (first line "One sweetly solemn thought"), was often sung at funerals, including Alice's and her own. In hymnals it has long been matched to the tune OZREM, composed in 1850 by Isaac B. Woodbury. Canadian composer Robert Ambrose, nonetheless, in 1876 fashioned a longer, more choral tune, specifically for Cary's lyrics. The Cary–Ambrose score became one of the most popular and widely selling pieces of sheet music in the 19th century.

In the joint housekeeping in New York, Phoebe took, from choice (Alice being for many years an invalid), the larger share of the household duties, and hence found less leisure for literary labor. She wrote very little prose, and her poetry was so different in style, so much more buoyant in tone and independent in manner, that the verses of one sister were rarely ascribed to the other.

In 1868, Horace Greeley wrote a brief joint biography of Alice and Phebe (as he spelled her name).

Alice died in 1871 from tuberculosis; Phoebe died five months later of hepatitis on July 31, 1871, in Newport, Rhode Island. Both were buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.

Note: In early volumes, "Cary" was spelled "Carey" in and on Phoebe and Alice Cary's books, and later editions and volumes changed the spelling to "Cary".

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Alice and Phoebe Cary Collection, 1852-1870, n.d. University of Virginia. Library. Special Collections Dept.
referencedIn Griswold, Rufus W. (Rufus Wilmot), 1815-1857. Papers, 1835-1856. Houghton Library
referencedIn Brainard, Charles Henry, 1817-1885. Papers, 1795-1884 and undated Houghton Library
referencedIn Driscoll, Emily,. American women writers, 1850-1936 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Autograph File, C Houghton Library
referencedIn Carnahan, Lucy,. Papers of Alice and Phoebe Cary, 1852-1870. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Abbott, Jacob, 1803-1879,. Petition signed by 83 American authors to the Committee on Ways and Means, January 17th, 1866. Brown University Archives, John Hay Library
creatorOf Carnahan, Lucy,. Papers of Alice and Phoebe Cary, 1850-1869, n.d., n.y. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Alice and Phoebe Cary Collection, 1858-1890 University of Virginia. Library. Special Collections Dept.
creatorOf Cary, Phoebe, 1824-1871. Papers, 1852. Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Price, Florence, 1888-1953. The envious wren / [words by] Alice & Phoebe Carey ; [music by] Florence B. Price. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Hart, John S. (John Seely), 1810-1877. John S. Hart letters to R. W. Griswold [manuscript], 1850 Jun 27 and Dec 3. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Cary, Phoebe, 1824-1871. Autograph letter signed : [n.p.], to "My dear Friend", [n.d.]. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Commonplace book, 1890-1898. Connecticut Historical Society
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company contracts, 1831-1979 (inclusive) 1880-1940 (bulk). Houghton Library
creatorOf Cary, Phoebe, 1824-1871. Whittier : poem in the author's autograph signed, 1867 Dec. 14. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Alice and Phoebe Cary Collection, n.d. University of Virginia. Library. Special Collections Dept.
referencedIn Alice and Phoebe Cary Collection, n.d. University of Virginia. Library. Special Collections Dept.
creatorOf Cary, Phoebe, 1824-1871. Correspondence [no addressee] 52 E. Twentieth St., Monday afternoon; [no addressee], Monday Morning; My dear friend, nine letters, August 30, [18]50-December 15, [18]56; Dr. Bigelow, Feb. 22, [18]56; [resolution for Dr. Bigelow]; a holograph poem to Dr. Geo. [?] Bigelow; carte de visite photograph / Phoebe Cary. University of Wisconsin - Madison, General Library System
referencedIn Cary Club (Marion, Iowa). Records of the Cary Club of Marion, Iowa, 1883-1980. University of Iowa Libraries
creatorOf Cary, Phoebe, 1824-1871. Letters. Dartmouth College Library
referencedIn Alice and Phoebe Cary Collection, 1855-1870, n.d. University of Virginia. Library. Special Collections Dept.
referencedIn William R. and Louise Fielder Sheet Music Collection Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Sorosis (New York, N.Y.). Records, 1856-1983. Smith College, Neilson Library
referencedIn Alice and Phoebe Cary Collection, 1850-1869 University of Virginia. Library. Special Collections Dept.
referencedIn Gilder, Richard Watson, 1844-1909,. Papers of Alice and Phoebe Cary, 1855-1870. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Risley, Hanson A. Papers, 1774-1908. Duke University Libraries, Duke University Library; Perkins Library
referencedIn American Women Writers, 1850-1936 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Sorosis Records, 1856-1972 Sophia Smith Collection
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company correspondence and records, 1832-1944. Houghton Library
referencedIn Norton, Ada C.,. Scrapbook [manuscript], 1858-1890. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Cary, Phoebe, 1824-1871. Autograph letter signed : New York, to the Editor, Young folks, 1868 Dec. 7. Pierpont Morgan Library.
creatorOf Cary, Phoebe, 1824-1871. Papers of Alice and Phoebe Cary, n.d. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Cary, Phoebe, 1824-1871. Letters, 1851-1863, New York. Brown University Archives, John Hay Library
creatorOf Cary, Phoebe, 1824-1871. The three wrens, n.d. University of Virginia. Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
correspondedWith Brainard, Charles Henry, 1817-1885 person
associatedWith Cary, Alice, 1820-1871. person
associatedWith Cary Club (Marion, Iowa) corporateBody
associatedWith Driscoll, Emily V. person
associatedWith Fielder, William R. Fielder, Louise person
associatedWith Griswold, Rufus W. (Rufus Wilmot), 1815-1857 person
associatedWith Hart, John S. (John Seely), 1810-1877. person
associatedWith Houghton Mifflin Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Norton, Ada C., person
associatedWith Price, Florence, 1888-1953. person
associatedWith Risley, Hanson A. person
associatedWith Sorosis (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith University of Wisconsin--Madison. Libraries. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Newport RI US
Hamilton County OH US
New York City NY US
Subject
American literature
Poetry
Women poets
Women's rights
Occupation
Poet
Poets
Women's rights activists
Activity

Person

Birth 1824-09-04

Death 1871-07-31

Female

Americans

English

Information

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