Frances Sargent Osgood

Frances Sargent Osgood
Osgood in an 1848 anthology
Born	(1811-06-18)June 18, 1811 Boston, Massachusetts
Died	May 12, 1850(1850-05-12) (aged 38) New York City

Frances Sargent Osgood (née Locke) (June 18, 1811 – May 12, 1850) was an American poet and one of the most popular women writers during her time. Nicknamed "Fanny", she was also famous for her exchange of romantic poems with Edgar Allan Poe.

Frances Sargent Locke was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Joseph Locke, a wealthy merchant, and his second wife, Mary Ingersoll Foster. Her father's first wife, Martha Ingersoll, was the sister of Mary, his second wife. Mary was also the widow of Benjamin Foster, by whom she had two children: William Vincent Foster and Anna Maria Wells, who would also become a published poet and close associate of Frances. Joseph and Mary had seven children, including another writer, Andrew Aitchison Locke. She grew up in Hingham, Massachusetts and as a young woman she attended the prestigious Boston Lyceum for Young Ladies. Her poetry was first published when she was fourteen in a bimonthly periodical of children's poetry called Juvenile Miscellany by editor Lydia Maria Child.

In 1834, while composing poems inspired by paintings, Frances met Samuel Stillman Osgood, a young portrait artist at the Boston Athenaeum. He asked her to sit for a portrait. They were engaged before the portrait was finished and married on October 7, 1835.

After their marriage, the couple moved to England. On July 15, 1836, their first daughter, Ellen Frances, was born. In 1838, while in England, she published her collection of poems A Wreath of Flowers from New England which included Elfrida, a dramatic poem in five acts. She then published another volume of poetry, The Casket of Fate.

Due to her father's death, the Osgoods returned to Boston in 1839. After the birth of their second daughter, May Vincent, on July 21, 1839, they moved to New York City. Osgood became a popular member of the New York literary society and a prolific writer. Many of her writings were published in the widely popular literary magazines of the time. She sometimes wrote under the pseudonyms "Kate Carol" or "Violet Vane". Her book, The Poetry of Flowers and the Flowers of Poetry was published in 1841. Some of her other published works were The Snowdrop, a New Year Gift for Children (1842), Rose, Sketches in Verse (1842), Puss in Boots (1842), The Marquis of Carabas (1844) and Cries in New York (1846).