Helen L. Bostwick

Helen L. Bostwick (née, Barron; after first marriage, Bostwick; after second marriage, Bird; January 5, 1826 – December 20, 1907) was an American author and poet. Buds, Blossoms, and Berries, stories for children, was published in 1863.^[1] Some of her poems are included in a volume entitled Four O'Clocks, published in 1888.^[2] Nearly all of her literary work was done in Ohio, where her contemporaries included Alice Williams Brotherton and Kate Brownlee Sherwood.^[3] Bird died in 1907.

Helen Louisa Barron, a daughter of Dr. Putnam Barron,^[4] was born January 5, 1826, at North Charlestown, New Hampshire, where the first twelve years of her girlhood were passed. Here she received an elementary common-school education, which was supplemented by special private tuition under Rev. Alonzo Ames Miner, of Boston.^[5]

In 1838, she removed with her parents to a farm near Ravenna, Ohio, where, in 1844, at the age of eighteen, she married Edwin Bostwick; he died September 9, 1860. Their daughter, Florence, died at the age of fifteen, and daughter, Marion, died at the age of thirty.^[5]

Bird began writing for the press at the age of eighteen. Nearly all of her literary work was done in Ohio, chiefly within the period of her first widowhood. For many years, she was a valued contributor to various newspapers and magazines, including The National Era, the New York Independent, the Home Monthly, The Ohio Farmer, the Ladies' Home Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, and the Atlantic Monthly. Bird's best poems, most of which were produced subsequently to the publication of Coggeshall's pioneer collection (Poets and Poetry of the West with Biographical and Critical Notices. , 1880), were contained in a volume entitled Four O'Clocks, which was issued in Philadelphia in 1888.^[6] She also wrote for children.^[7] "How the Gates Came Ajar" (1869) was composed by Bird, with music by Eastburn.^[8]

In 1875, she married Dr. John F. Bird, and removed with him to Philadelphia, where he died January 20, 1904, and where she continued to reside during the remainder of her life. She died December 20, 1907.^[5]

• Buds, Blossoms, and Berries, 1863
• "How the Gates Came Ajar", 1869 (lyrics)

• Four O'Clocks, 1888

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Coggeshall, William Turner (1860). "HELEN LOUISA BOSTWICK". The Poets and Poetry of the West: With Biographical and Critical Notices (Public domain ed.). Follett, Foster. ISBN 9780608430140.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Randall, Emilius Oviatt; Ryan, Daniel Joseph (1912). "HELEN LOUISA BOSTWICK BIRD". History of Ohio: The Rise and Progress of an American State. Vol. 5 (Public domain ed.). Century History Company.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Venable, Emerson (1909). "HELEN LOUISA BOSTWICK BIRD". Poets of Ohio: Selections Representing the Poetical Work of Ohio Authors, from the Pioneer Period to the Present Day (Public domain ed.). The Robert Clarke Company. p. 106.

• Bond, Beverley Waugh; Utter, William Thomas; Weisenburger, Francis Phelps (1943). The history of the state of Ohio. Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.

• Works by or about Helen L. Bostwick at the Internet Archive