Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-08-07
Phmhe Cary.

| The friends of the Cary sisters will be panied,
| though not surprised to learn that Phoebe Cary
died in Newport, Il. l., on Monday night. From
| a touching sketch of her elder Sister, written by
/ her a few weeks ago for a paper called the
Ladies' Repository, we gather some particulars
OF. her early life The sisters were the daughters
| of Robert and Elizabeth Cary. The father was
farmer. His place, which had been reclaimed
| from the original wilderness, was about eight
miles north of Cincinnati, and lying in the Mi
/ ami valley. Here Alice was born in 1920, and
| Phoebe Ave years later. They grew up simple
| country girls. They owed most of their early
| education to their mother, who appears to have
| been a woman of unusual intelligence. They
saw few books or newspapers hut, wandering
as they did daily among the picturesque scenes
of the Miami valley acquired that familiarity
with and fondness for nature which showed
themselves so pleasantly in their writings in
after years.
Before they had ripened into womanhood they
were contributing poems and sketches to one of
the Cincinnati weekly papers, Their literary
efforts attracted the notice of DIR. Bailey of the
National Era published at Washington, and
they were invited to write for his columns. The
first money Alice earned with her pen-$10-
came from that Journal In 1850 the sisters vens
tured upon their first volume, a collection of
their poetical writings gathered from variou-
sources, which they christened Poems of Alice
and Phoebe Cary" 1t was published by Phil
adelphia house. OF the contents about one
third were furnished by the younger sister.
In the summer following they resolved upon
the bold step Of coming to New York, latter the
manner of children in the story book to "seek
their fortune" If this epoch in their lives
Phoebe wrote:
"Many sad and trying changes had come to
the family, and home was not what it had been.
They had comparative youth, though they were
much older in years than in experience and
knowledge Of the world; they had pleasant vi
sions of home and name that might be earned
by literary labor; and so the next spring the
bold venture was made. Living in a very hum
BILE and economical way, writing for whatever
papers would accept their contributions, and
taking any remuneration that was offered, how
ever small, they did, even from the first, some
how manage TO live without debt and with little
obligation" The sisters never separated. they
lived together for many years in house of their
own in Twentieth street, near Fourth avenue,
a place rendered pleasant to troops of visitors
by the receptions which they were in the
habit of giving everyaSunday evening 1t was
one of the few spots in this city where the liter
airy and artistic classes met on common ground
and in delightful social intercourse. 1t was full
of books and pictures, and not only the Carys'
own friends but cultivated strangers were always
sure of a warm welcome there. Alice published
seven or eight books; Phoebe but two, both
poems. The elder sisters muse was tender and
emotional. But Phoebe, though not without
vein of sentiment, had a stronger dash of hu-
NOR in her composition, and was very success
full in burlesque. She was q full, round, and vi
vacious body, an admirable talker, and even I'M
der her recent affection cheerful companion.
But the death of Alice last winter broke IN the
even tenor Of her life.
There was something very touching and beau
tifu in the way Phoebe Cary tried to realize her
own and sister Alice's convictions concerning
death as the mere departure to another and
higher state of existence, which should be q
cause Of JOY rather than sorrow. On her return
with her friends from her sisters funeral she
threw open the windows of the recessed room
which had been the scene of her sufferings, of
her years of endurance, of her patient, faithful
work and filed il with flowers (Which Alice an
loved. The evening was then spent in reading
her sisters poems, and when the time for sepa-
| ration came she declined all offers of co mpan-
ionship and preferred to sleep as she had always
! done-alone, with the door open between her and
her sisters room.
She wore no mourning, that being opposed to
thelr principles, but every morning she walked
hrst to Alice's bedside that having been her
Si' lor thirty wears. Who can tell how the
vIohsh heart poured itself out in the solitude Of
that lonely room; for that she died OF a broken
heirt thefe can be no doubt.
hef craving for the presence of her friends
Was inc most remarkable feature of her illness
louie "a, anu zee me Often" she said to one of
ineni qe ~ 80 want to see my friends. All the
love that ieit for Alice seems to be poured ont
upon them" Another time sbI soiJ. esSo,',as
times think Shall never get up a0ain Ihave
no disease, there is nothing the matter with me
but have not the energy to i've / cannot 90;
nothing tastes good TO me. had the strongos.
fancy to-day; thought ! should like a certain
dish, but when it was brought to me could not
even look at it," She had a certain droll I'M.
NOR which was irresistible, aud she expended il
mainly on the doctor, who was quite nonplussed
by her case and knew not what to do for her
, After time she aroused herself sufficiently %
: ! undertake journey to Cambridge, Mass.
where 1t was hoped the kindness and care Of