Elizabeth Jessup Eames

Elizabeth Jessup Eames (pen name, Stella; June 26, 1813 - November 1856) was a 19th-century American writer of prose and poetry.[1] She was a regular contributor to The New-Yorker for some years before her marriage (under the signature of "Stella"); and since that period, her writings frequently appeared in Graham's Magazine, the Southern Literary Messenger, and later, in The Columbian.[2]

Biography

Elizabeth Jessup was born in Schodack, New York, June 26, 1813.[3] Her father, Isaac Jessup (d. 1853, was a Deacon and served as County Treasurer of Will County, Illinois. Her siblings included brothers, and a sister, Sarah (d. 1863).[4]

Eames lived till age 17 in a secluded village on the banks of the Hudson River.[2][5] She suffered from poor health.[2]

She began publishing in 1831, over the signature of "Stella".[3] In 1834, she removed with her parents to Channahon, Will County, Illinois.[3]

For several years, she was a contributor to Horace Greeley's The New-Yorker, and later, frequently wrote for the New-York Tribune. Many of her more carefully finished poems appeared in Graham's Magazine and the Southern Literary Messenger.[5] Greeley once made her an offer for the manuscript volume, which was declined.[3]

Eames was Greeley's first love. Her father strongly opposed the match, insisting that his daughter should marry Walter S. Eames, supposed to be rich, in preference to a poor printer. Greeley retained for Eames a warm regard to the last. Her poetry especially attracted the attention of Edgar Allan Poe, who also was struck with Eames' beauty and charm.[6] Eames was the friend and contemporary of Margaret Fuller at the time she had charge of the literary department of the New-York Tribune.[3]

She married Walter S. Eames, an Illinois farmer, February 1837. They removed to New Hartford, New York near Utica,[5] where he was engaged in mercantile business. Their children were, William L. (1838-1868), Albertine (1840-1872), Fannie S. (b. 1842), and Charles E. (b. 1844).[7]

After her marriage, she published as "Mrs. E. J. Eames".[3] She wrote a number of beautiful poems, many of which were published in a volume issued just before her death.[6]

Mr. Eames died September 1851, drowned in the Hudson River.[3] Mrs. Eames died at Channahon, November 1856,[1] of consumption.[8][lower-alpha 1] Her papers passed into the possession of her children.[3]

Critical reception

Rufus Wilmot Griswold, in his Female Poets of America, said of Eames: “She writes with feeling, but she regards poetry as an art, and to the cultivation of it she brings her best powers. While thoughtful and earnest, therefore, her pieces are for the most part distinguished for a tasteful elegance.” He selected for publication "The Crowning of Petrarch", "The Death of Pan", "Cleopatra", the "Sonnets" to Milton, Dryden, Addison, and Tasso, and a number more of her productions.[3]

Selected works
"The Lost Shell Ballad" (1858)
  • The Lost Shell Ballad

See also

Notes
  1. The New Orleans Crescent reported that Eames died at the residence of her brother in Charbon, Ohio.[9]

References
  1. "Mrs. Elizabeth J. Eames". The Baltimore Sun. 13 November 1856. p. 4. Retrieved 18 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. May 1858, p. 255.
  3. Jesup 1887, pp. 165-66.
  4. Wm. Le Baron, Jr. & Company 1878, p. 265.
  5. Griswold & Stoddard 1878, p. 246.
  6. Beecher & Talmage 1886, p. 267.
  7. Oneida Historical Society at Utica 1889, p. 86.
  8. "Death of an Authoress". The Spirit of Democracy. 26 November 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 18 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Death of a Poetess". The New Orleans Crescent. 1 December 1856. p. 1. Retrieved 18 January 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

Attribution


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