A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Stephens, Ann S.
STEPHENS, ANN S.,
Is a native of Derby, Connecticut. In 1831 she was married to Mr. Edward Stephens, and soon after removed to Portland, Maine, where her literary career commenced. In 1835 she established a periodical called "The Portland Magazine," which was edited by her for two years, and attained considerable popularity, owing, chiefly, to her own contributions to it. In 1837 Mr. and Mrs. Stephens removed to New York, where they have since resided. Soon after her settlement in that city, she became editor of "The Ladies' Companion," and subsequently editor of the "Ladies' National Magazine;" an interesting and popular work. She has also been a regular contributor to most of the leading American periodicals. For one of her stories, "Mary Derwent," she received a prize of four hundred dollars, yet it can by no means be considered her best. In truth, she is one of the most successful Magazine writers of the day; and her sketches and novellettes, if collected, would fill several volumes. As a poetess, Mrs. Stephens is comparatively but little known; the few pieces of hers that have appeared are marked by the same picturesque detail and easy flow of language with her prose sketches. She excels in drawing pictures with her pen—in placing before her readers, by a few graphic lines and glowing words, a character or scene, whether in high or low life, amid the palaces of royalty or the wild depths of the western forests, with such vividness and power that it seems to stand real presence" before the eye.