SIGOURNEY, Mrs. Lydia Huntley

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Lydia Sigourney from Letters of Life cropped.jpg

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Lydia Huntley Sigourney, one of the most famous female writers of the nineteenth century, was born in Norwich, Connecticut on September 1, 1791.  As a young woman, Lydia taught in her hometown.  In 1819, she married Charles Sigourney and became the mother of five children.  Unfortunately, she lost three children as infants and her son Andrew at age nineteen.

During her adult life, Sigourney lived in Hartford as she wrote and engaged in philanthropic work.  "The Sweet Singer of Hartford," as she was known, contributed to Godey's Lady's Book, Graham's Magazine, and other periodicals.  Lydia also wrote many books, including Young Ladies' Offering; or, Gems of Prose and Poetryand penned a memoir of poet Felicia Hemans.

Her friends and supporters included Nancy Maria Hyde, Daniel Wadsworth, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Sarah Josepha Hale, George R. Graham, and Rufus Wilmot Griswold.

Lydia passed away on June 10, 1865 and was buried in Hartford's Spring Grove Cemetery. Her memoir, Letters of Life, with an Appendix by her daughter Mary Huntley Sigourney Russell, was published by D. Appleton and Company, in 1866.

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