Background
Elizabeth Margaret Chandler was born on December 24, 1807 at Centre, Delaware, United States. She was the youngest of the three children of Thomas Chandler, descended from English Quaker settlers along the Delaware River, and his wife, Margaret Evans of Burlington. Her mother died while Elizabeth was a baby, and Thomas Chandler removed to Philadelphia, where he placed his daughter in the care of her grandmother Evans.
Education
Elizabeth attended schools managed by the Society of Friends and was strictly trained in religion by her grandmother. When she was nine her father died, and this loss, combined with her religious education, made her unchildishly reflective. At thirteen she left school, but she had acquired the habits of reading and writing, which were her favorite occupations throughout her short life.
Career
Friends published some of her essays and poems, anonymously, for she was timid and feared publicity. At sixteen she was writing much for the press and her articles were copied by various newspapers. She had never cared for the amusements of her day and seldom went out except to meetings of the Friends. She had become much interested in philanthropy, especially in the anti-slavery cause, and most of her writing was now concerning the wrongs of slavery. Her best known poem, "The Slave Ship, " published in the Casket, received a prize and was copied by Benjamin Lundy, editor of the Genius of Universal Emancipation, who asked its author to become a regular contributor. Many of her poems on slavery appeared in the Genius, among them "The Wife's Lament, " "The Recaptured Slave, " and "The Slave's Appeal. " In 1829 she took charge of the "female department" of the Genius, where she soon published an "Appeal to the Ladies of the United States" concerning slavery, which is said to have caused some women to emancipate their slaves. In 1830 she went with her brother and aunt to make a new home in the Territory of Michigan. There on a farm, which they christened "Hazelbank, " in Lenawee County, she continued by mail her editorial work for the Genius. Her work was interrupted by an illness, called "remittent fever, " which after some months ended in her death. Two volumes of her writings were published after her death: Essays, Philanthropic and Moral (1836) and Poetical Works of Elizabeth Margaret Chandler; with a Memoir of Her Life and Character (1836), by Benjamin Lundy. Her work is inspired by a burning moral purpose, but viewed as literature, her best poetry is not her slavery verse but that expressing her love of beauty and tenderness for associations, as in "The Brandywine, " "Schuylkill, " "The Sunset Hour, " and "Summer Morning. "
Personality
A portrait of her shows a full oval face, with large dark eyes under heavy arching brows, dark hair piled high on her head, a bow mouth, and an expression of happy alertness not suggestive of her serious nature.