Biography
Born in Eaton (central New York), Emily Chubbuck's early years were spent in extreme poverty. She was forced to go to work in nearby woolen mills at the age of ten; her health was damaged at that time, from which she never fully recovered. (For a sense of what the atmosphere of a woolen mill was like in early 19th century, see Melville's short story "Bachelors of Paradise, Tartarus of Maids.") Through self-education, she attained sufficient knowledge to become a teacher in the district schools (from 1832 to 1840). It was at this time that she began to contribute poems to periodicals. She began publishing under her famous pen-name, "Fanny Forester," in 1844. Most of her early work (sketches as well as poems) appeared in the New York Mirror. In 1845 she published a collection of sketches, Trippings in Author-Land. Her greatest success came with the collection of short stories, poems, sketches, and essays entitled Alderbrook (1847, 2 volumes).
In 1847 Emily Chubbick married the Rev. Adoniram Judson; she accompanied her husband to Burma during his years of missionary work and remained there until Adoniram's death in 1850. She returned to Boston in 1851 with her daughter and and two stepsons. Her nature poems were very popular during the mid-nineteenth century, and she published several prose works and An Olio of Domestic Verses (1852) after her return to the U.S. She died in Hamilton, NY, four years after her return from Burma.--Sharon M. HarrisResidence
New York
Writings
Poems: "My Bird"
Papers
Bibliography