Author: Elwes, Adelaide
Biography:
ELWES, Adelaide, formerly Brent (1786-1825: ancestry.com)
pseudonym "A Lady of Virginia"
The Potomac Muse, published in Virginia in 1825, was copyrighted to Alfred W. Elwes, who sent a copy to Thomas Jefferson as "a token of the great respect which the author and myself bear for one of the founders of American independence." (The title "The Potomac Nurse" in WorldCat is a typographical error.) His statement implies that he himself is not the author. Authorship however has been variously attributed to him, his wife Adelaide, and Judith Wormeley, none of whom is known to have published any other poetical works. Judith Wormeley died in 1716, so her name can be discounted. Adelaide (Brent) Elwes was born in Virginia on 25 Dec. 1786, married Elwes in Maryland in 1820, and died at Pensacola FL on 12 Oct. 1825. (ancestry.com 30 Aug. 2025; Knight; "To Thomas Jefferson from Alfred W. Elwes, 22 April 1825," Founders Online, National Archives 12 Nov. 2018) HJ
Other Names:
- Mrs. Alfred Elwes
- Mrs. Alfred W. Elwes