A poet and editor, Mary E. Hewitt (1818-1894) published verse in various periodicals including The Knickerbocker and the Southern Literary Messenger. She edited the 1850 gift book, The Gem of the Western World, a memorial to poet Frances S. Osgood and Heroines of History, a compilation of the lives of illustrious women as depicted through “truthful and soul stirring incidents.” Described by Edgar Alan Poe as “sincere, fervent, benevolent, with a heart full of the truest charity,” Hewitt was born in Malden, Massachusetts and spent much of her life in New York City, where her portrait adorns its historical society.

Portrait courtesy of the New York Historical Society Collections