Abbie M. Gannett (July 8, 1845 – March 22, 1895) was an essayist, poet and philanthropist, author of the poem "Tis Love That Makes the World Go Round".

Early life

Abbie M. Gannett was born in

North Brookfield, Massachusetts North Brookfield is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,735 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place North Brookfield, please see the article North ...

, on July 8, 1845. Her girlhood was passed in that town. Her love for the country and her early associations is shown in her dainty volume of poems, ''The Old Farm Home'' (Boston, 1888).

Career

Gannett taught school for a few years in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. She was well known in the women's clubs as a reader of thoughtful essays on current themes. She tilled the Unitarian pulpit on a few occasions and served on the Maiden school board. Her essays, poems, sketches and stories had a wide publication, many of them appearing in the leading magazines and periodicals. She was deeply interested in the welfare of women and their higher education. Her paper on ''The Intellectuality of Women'', printed in the ''International Review'', excited wide comment. She espoused the cause of the neglected

Anna Ella Carroll Anna Ella Carroll (August 29, 1815 – February 19, 1894) was an American political activist, pamphleteer and lobbyist. She wrote many pamphlets criticizing slavery. She played a significant role as an adviser to the Lincoln presidential cabine ...

with enthusiasm. By a series of articles in the ''

Boston Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. Beginnings ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James Wentworth of the firm of D ...

'' and other papers she did as much as any one woman to bring her case to public notice. She joined the

Woman's Relief Corps The Woman's Relief Corps (WRC) is a charitable organization in the United States, originally founded as the official women's auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in 1883. The organization was designed to assist the GAR and p ...

and attended the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

encampment in Minneapolis to advocate that lady's cause. She won recognition for her and was appointed chairman of a national relief committee to raise funds for Carroll. The effort was successful. Not content with that, Gannett visited Washington and argued Carroll's case before the military committees of both Senate and House.

Personal life

Abbie M. Gannett became the wife of Captain Wyllys Gannett, a nephew of the Unitarian clergyman of Boston, and himself a writer of sketches of travel and sea stories. Captain Gannett served through the Civil War in the 24th Massachusetts and the

55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment The 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was the sister regiment of the renowned Massachusetts 54th Volunteers during the latter half of the American Civil War. The enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation by United States President Abraham L ...

. After living a few years in St. Louis, the Gannetts went to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, where they made their home for a short time. For many years they lived in

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...

. They had three children. She died on March 22, 1895, in Malden.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gannett, Abbie M. 1845 births 1895 deaths 19th-century American women writers 19th-century American writers People from North Brookfield, Massachusetts American women essayists American women poets American women philanthropists Woman's Relief Corps people 19th-century American philanthropists Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century 19th-century women philanthropists