Author: Pogson, Sarah
Biography:
POGSON, Sarah, later SMITH (1774-1870: Death notice)
She was one of the illegitimate children whom John Pogson of Woodside House, Essex, had with Jane Wood; in his will, probated in 1784, he made provision for them by leaving them £3000, but he left his plantations in St. Kitts to his two legitimate sons. (Wredenhall Robert Pogson, q.v., was a son of one of the heirs.) She emigrated to Charleston SC in 1793. Her publications there were produced anonymously "by a lady," generally (with the exception of her tragedy) on behalf of philanthropic causes. It is likely, given her age, that she and her mother emigrated together, and a "Mrs. Pogson" subscribed for two copies of her 1818 Essays--but "Mrs." could have been a courtesy title for herself. She later married Judge Peter Smith of Peterboro NY (d 1837), whose wife had died in 1818 and who had moved to Schenectady, where Pogson published in 1826 under her full married name. But the marriage was so short-lived that some biographical accounts of Smith do not even mention it. The couple separated and she returned to Charleston, where she remained for the rest of her life. (ancestry.com 30 June 2020; Death notice, The World [New York] 10 Aug. 1870; "Peter Smith," madisoncountry.ny.gov/329/Smithfield 30 June 2020)
Other Names:
- Sarah (Pogson) Smith