Mary E. Nealy

Mary E. Nealy was raised in Louisville, KY and married at age 17 to Hugh Nealy. Early in their marriage, her husband was disabled in a railroad accident, and Nealy had to support the family. She began publishing poetry and commentary of visual art in such journals as The Southern Literary Messenger, Godey’s Lady’s Book, and Home Journal. When her two eldest sons volunteered in the Civil War in 1861, Nealy moved the family to DC to be nearer to them.

In DC, Nealy was a special correspondent to the The Evening Star and was active in “King’s Reunions,” the salon of Horatio King, and the Washington Literary Society, founded by her close friend Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren.