L. Virginia Smith French

L. Virginia French was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in 1825; and died at McMinnville, Tennessee, 31 March 1881. Her maiden name was Smith. She was educated at Washington Female Seminary, Pennsylvania. In 1848 she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, established a school, and under the signature of "Inconnue" contributed to local magazines and newspapers as well as Graham's Magazine and Harper's. Considered and hailed as a prodigy by the established poets of her day, she was regarded in later life as the South's most eminent female poet. In 1852 she became an associate editor of the "Southern Lady's Book," a fashion magazine published in New Orleans, and in January 1853, married John L. French, of McMinnville, Tennessee, and for some time edited the "Crusader," a magazine published at Atlanta, Georgia. Her works include "Wind Whispers," (New York, 1856); Iztalilxo," a tragedy (1859); and "Legends of the South" (Atlanta, 1867).