Ann Eliza Bleecker Ann Eliza Bleecker ( October 1752 – November 23 , 1783 ) was an American poet and correspondent . Following a New York upbringing , Bleecker married John James Bleecker , a New Rochelle lawyer , in 1769 . He encouraged her writings , and helped her publish a periodical containing her works . The American Revolution saw John join the New York Militia , while Ann fled with their two daughters . She continued to write , and what remained of the family returned to Tomhannock following Burgoyne ' s surrender . She was saddened and affected by the deaths of numerous family members over the years , and died in 1783 . Bleecker ' s pastoral poetry is studied by historians to gain perspective of life on the front lines of the revolution , and her novel " Maria Kittle " , the first known Captivity novel , set the form for subsequent Indian Capture novels which saw great popularity after her death . Childhood . Ann Eliza Schuyler was born in October 1752 , in New York City in the Province of New York . She was the sixth child born to Margareta Van Wyck ( 1722 – 1777 ) and Brandt Schuyler ( abt 1716 – 1752 ) , successful merchants and members of the American Dutch aristocracy . After a long illness , Ann Schuyler ' s father died just before she was born in 1752 . As a child , Ann Schuyler was known for her precocious writing ability , and was often asked to recite her poems , which ranged from sentimental or humorous to sophisticated or satirical . She would often compose impromptu poems at the request of friends . Ann ' s mother remarried in 1760 ; she and her new husband Anthony TenEyck ( 1712 – 1775 ) had one daughter , Susanna TenEyck ( 1776 - ? ) . The TenEycks were also part of the Dutch elite , so Ann Schuyler ' s childhood seemed to be filled with security , abundance and happiness . Marriage to John James Bleecker . On March 29 , 1769 , Ann Schuyler married a lawyer from New Rochelle , John James Bleecker ( 1745 – 95 ) . The couple moved to Poughkeepsie shortly after their marriage . John gave up the practice of law and took up agriculture in 1771 , when they moved to his pastoral country estate in Tomhannock , eighteen miles ( 29 km ) north of Albany , in the Schaghticoke region which was settled by Dutch families . " The Bleecker home reflected their wealth by its furnishings and its setting . " " From the beautiful gardens flourishing with beauty , to the young orchard bounded by a thick forest . . . to the west , vast cultivated fields and the roaring river of Tomhhanock . " Bleecker considered her home a " retreat " and most of her pastoral poetry was written in the first five years of her life in Tomhhanock . She corresponded with friends and relatives , writing about her isolation and the beauty of her surroundings . An example excerpt from her poem " " : During this time she also had two daughters — Margaretta , born October 11 , 1771 , and Abeltje ( Abella ) , born June 5 , 1776 . On November 11 , 1775 , her husband was one of several appointed Deputies ( or delegates ) from Albany County to the Provincial Congress . Her husband encouraged her writing , he called it " her genius " . In the winter of 1779 , Bleecker published a periodical called the " " Albany Gazette " " . The " Gazette " was composed entirely of her political essays , poems , and short stories , produced for the sole purpose of sharing entertainment and news with friends and relatives . Impact of the American Revolution . In 1777 , the Bleeckers ' pastoral lives were interrupted by the American Revolutionary War . British troops , under the command of General John Burgoyne , invaded Tomhannock from Canada ( as part of Burgoyne ' s Saratoga campaign to capture the Hudson River ) . In response , John Bleecker joined the New York Militia , and Ann Bleecker fled southward . Ann Bleecker was forced to flee to Albany on foot with her two daughters , infant Abella and 6 - year - old Margaretta . Along the way , Abella died of dysentery . Joined by her mother and sister Caty Swits , Ann Bleecker continued on to Red Hook , but her mother died en route there . An excerpt of a poem she wrote , " " , describing how she felt about her daughters death : After Burgoyne ' s surrender on October 17 , 1777 ( part of the aftermath of the Saratoga Campaign ) , Ann Bleecker , her daughter and sister ( all that remained of the family ) , and possibly a slave child returned to Tomhannock . Unfortunately , Caty Swits ( 1743 – 77 ) died during the return journey . Ann Bleecker was devastated by the loss of three generations of women in her family . Her husband continued to serve in the militia . In 1779 , Ann Bleecker was forced ( it is unclear whether due to British troop activity , Native American activity , or some other reason ) to flee with her surviving daughter to Albany again . But further trauma was yet to come . On hearing in 1781 that her husband had been captured by Loyalist forces or possibly " a band of wandering British soldiers " , she suffered a miscarriage and nervous breakdown . Ann Bleecker never fully recovered from all these traumatic events . Her daughter , Margaretta Faugeres , later described how Bleecker developed a tendency toward depression and there was a melancholy reflection in her writings : Ann Eliza Bleecker died November 23 , 1783 . She is buried in the cemetery of the Reformed Dutch church in Albany . Literary impact . Bleecker did not write for posterity ; she wrote letters to her friends and relatives which contained poems and short stories , which were later collected and published by her daughter . Posthumous publication . In 1793 , a significant part of Bleecker ' s work , after first appearing in " The New - York Magazine " in 1790 and 1791 , was published by her daughter , Margaretta V . Bleecker Faugères , who was also a poet . She edited her mother ' s writings and added some of her own poems and essays to a collection entitled " " ; she included thirty - six poems , twenty - three letters , an unfinished short historical novel , " The History of Henry and Ann " , and " The History of Maria Kittle " , a captivity narrative set during the French and Indian War . Due to its popularity , " The History of Maria Kittle " was republished separately in 1797 . Maria Kittle . Bleecker ' s epistolary novel " " took the Indian Captivity story genre in new directions , as it was possibly the first American fictional account focusing on Native Americans . In the late 18th century , Indian Captivity stories subsequently became very popular . " Maria Kittle " has many features typical of the Indian Captivity story ; there are many graphic scenes of violence , and it describes Native Americans as terrible savages who cruelly kill babies and women , and tells the story of Maria ' s journey as a captive . But by the end of the story , Maria gets rescued , and the real emotion comes out as three women in the story tearfully recount their stories of maternal loss to others . This story has many similarities to Bleecker ' s own experience with the death of her own daughter as a result of fleeing from the British Army . In telling her tale of loss , Bleecker hoped to help women overcome their tragedies . Yet these stories also helped foster racism toward Native Americans . Bleecker ' s writing was exciting for the time , and her sense of style added dimension to a new type of novel , the didactic novel . Her expression was influenced by the " eighteenth - century British cult of sensibility " . She wrote in a mannered , and often exaggerated way , to express her moral lesson . In addition , she used the epistolic literary device , structuring the story as a series of letters to her half - sister , Susan Ten Eyck , in which she interrupted the narrative to comment on the action and address Susan directly . Poems . Ann Eliza Bleecker ' s pastoral poems exemplified a new style of American poetry , and , due to her experience of the American Revolutionary tumult , a new sense of national identity . These poems , written in the pastoral tradition , conveyed both the beauty of the colonial New York countryside and the horrific impact of war , suffering , death , and destruction . Because Bleecker was writing from the interesting perspective of a terrified young mother , her articulate depictions of the Revolutionary War are still read by historians today .