Mrs. Sarah Jane (Clarke) Lippincott
“Grace Greenwood”
Journalist and Serial Writer
1823 – 1904 A.D.

Her pen name, “Greenwood,” fits her tastes and talents. As a child the fields and forests were her delight. In daring deeds she outdid the boys in the little village of Pompey, N.Y., where she was born. One of her delights was to ride young horses bareback.

At school in Rochester she cared nothing for and learned little about mathematics and science, but she could write verses and sketches with so much skill that publishers sought her productions before she was fourteen years old. Her writings were as fresh and racy as a mountain brook. In later years as well, her productions were full of joyous health. No one could be like her, nor could she be like anyone else. She was simply and intensely herself. The following are some of her writings:

Greenwood Leaves, History of my Pets, Poems, Recollections of My Childhood, Haps and Mishaps of a Tour in Europe, Forest Tragedy and Other Tales, Stories of Many Lands, History for Children, and Victoria, Queen of England. The latter brought out simultaneously in London and New York. She wrote for many periodicals either as an editor or contributor and delivered several notable lectures and addresses.

In 1853 Miss Clarke married Leander K. Lippincott of Philadelphia. A single verse from one of her poems gives a glimpse of both as a horsewoman and poetess.

“As I spring to his back, as I seize the string reign,
The strength to my spirit returneth again,
The bonds are all broken that fettered my mind,
And my cares borne away on the wings of the wind;
My pride lifts its head, for a season bowed down,
And the queen in my nature now puts on her crown.”

During the war she rendered excellent service to the cause of the sick soldiers by lecturing for the fairs of the Sanitary Commission. She also read and lectured to the soldiers in camp, and President Lincoln called her “Grace Greenwood, the patriot.”

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Reference: Woman: Her Position, Influence and Achievement Throughout the Civilized World. Designed and Arranged by William C. King. Published in 1900 by The King-Richardson Co. Copyright 1903 The King-Richardson Co.