Cynthia Roberts Gorton

Cynthia M. Gorton ( Roberts; pen name, Ida Glenwood; February 27, 1826 - August 10, 1894) was a blind 19th-century American poet and author. For 20 years, Gorton lectured on behalf of the temperance movement.

Early life and education

Cynthia M. Roberts was born on the summit of one of the highest hills of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, February 27, 1826. She lived in a humble home with her poor and religious parents. Her father, Samuel Roberts, died when she was one year old. She was the youngest of a family of five children, who, at times, were placed with family and friends to aid Cynthia's widowed mother.

As a young child, she was known for her "foolish habit of making rhymes," which was at times frowned upon by adults and other children. Her childhood was somewhat solitary, and she was seen as a 'deep thinker' with a philosophical bent and an appreciation of nature.

Her mother passed away when Cynthia was 14, while Cynthia a pupil in the Emma Willard School, in Troy, New York. As a pupil in the seminary, for three years she had looked forward to the acquirement of a liberal education. She took great delight in school compositions and she wrote in such a style as to attract the favorable notice of her instructors. About that time her eyes, always full of laughter, began to show the incipient signs of dark shadow and severe inflammation which, later became blindness. She was solicited, by the preceptress, after her mother's death to continue her studies as a "teacher-scholar," but the state of her eyes would not permit it.

Career

At the age of 21, she married Fred Gorton, a prosperous paper manufacturer. Six years after, during a painful and lingering illness, she became completely blind. With the return of physical strength, her mind became active and prolific, but she was dependent on others to transcribe her thoughts to paper.

Her first prose work, ''The Fatal Secret'', was written wholly with a pencil, but so rapidly did she do this that her hand, all unconsciously to herself, formed an almost new alphabet, unreadable except by those who had followed the transformation. That was a serious impediment. Fortunately, the typewriter became available and was hailed by her with joy, and for seventeen years, covering the greater part of her literary life, she used it with nearly as much facility and precision as those with their full sight. She published two books, her household and public duties having prevented her from preparing the manuscripts of her other productions for publication. During her long literary career, she was widely known as "Ida Glenwood," this being her chosen pen-name. She was called " The Sweet Singer" and "The Blind Bard of Michigan."

Her first published poem appeared in the Philadelphia ''Inquirer'', the editor, Mr. Harding, having accidentally seen it in her husband's office. He encouraged her to work and in a short time, many journals both in city and country were pleased to give publicity to her contributions. She wrote many serials, stories and poems for the Detroit "Christian Herald" and other papers and periodicals. These included ''The Fatal Secret, or a Romance of Mackinac Island'', ''Kate Wynans and the Forger's Daughter'', ''Ma Belle Queen'', ''The Mistress of Rosedale'', ''Tangled Threads'', ''Black France'', and others.

In the temperance movement, she became an earnest and efficient temperance worker, presiding at public meetings, lecturing and reciting original poems which were received by press and people with great enthusiasm. Her short career as a platform speaker began with the recitation of a poem entitled ''Adolphus and Olivia, or a tale of Kansas''. Her oratorical powers were unusual, and her remarkable memory enabled her to recite for 1.5 hours a poem of historical and tragic interest. Of this Gov. Reuben Fenton said, at its second rehearsal, "One must conclude, after listening to 'The Blind Bard of Michigan,' that if we would find the best and deepest poetical thoughts, we must look for them in the emanations from the imprisoned soul." For 20 years, Gorton lectured many times before large and enthusiastic audiences finally relinquishing her speaking engagements because of exhaustion.

Becoming an expert with the typewriter, she was a prolific letter writer to "shut-ins," who belonged to the various societies where she was a member. Her days were also full of good works, of a highly religious character.

Personal life

Gorton lived in Fenton, Michigan, where she died on August 10, 1894, aged 68. She was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Fenton.

Selected works

* ''Fatal secret'', 1873
* ''The wife's appeal: a poem'', 1873
* ''Lily Pearl and the Mistress of Rosedale'', 1892

References

Attribution

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Bibliography

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External links

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Select poems by Cynthia M. Roberts Gorton
at ''The Magazine of Poetry''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorton, Cynthia M. Roberts
1826 births
1894 deaths
19th-century American women writers
19th-century American poets
American women poets
Blind writers
American blind people
People from Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Writers from Massachusetts
Emma Willard School alumni
Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century