Annie Chambers Ketchum

Annie Chambers Ketchum (religious name, Sister Amabilis; November 8, 1824 – January 27, 1904) was an American educator, lecturer, and writer. She was a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and became a Capitular Tertiary of St. Dominic in her later years. Chambers served as principal of the High School for Girls in Memphis, Tennessee, where she established a girls school. She opened a normal school for advanced pupils in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Ketchum did not write for publication previous to the civil war, but her first productions brought instant recognition of her merit and ability. Two volumes of verse and two novels were published by her. Ketchum was the founding editor of The Lotus, a monthly magazine, and she published the textbook, Botany for academies and colleges: consisting of plant development and structure from seaweed to clematis. Noted for her poetic talent, her "Semper Fidelis," published in Harper's Magazine, was said to be one of the most finished productions of American literature in its day.

Early life and education Annelizah (nickname, "Annie") Chambers was born near Georgetown, Kentucky, November 8, 1824, in Scott County, Kentucky. Her siblings included Fielding Thomas, Fenora Thomas, Beline, Renette, and Le Wilma. She was the youngest living daughter of Violetta Bradford and Major Benjamin Stuart Chambers, a lawyer. Major Chambers was one of the twenty who made the "forlorn hope" at the Battle of the River Thames in 1813, and one of the six who came out alive from that massacre. Violetta was the eldest daughter of Judge Fielding Bradford of Kentucky who with his brother, John, founded the Kentucky Gazette, at Lexington, Kentucky, in August, 1787, the first newspaper west of the Allegheny Mountains.

In early childhood, while growing up at Acacia Grove (now called Cardome), Ketchum was often found reading books which children usually considered dull. She benefited from the best educational advantages. In the classics, she was equally adept with belles-lettres, natural sciences, and mathematics. In modern languages, music and drawing, she excelled. She had good knowledge of Greek, Latin and French, and a fair knowledge of Italian and German. She was tutored at home until she attended Georgetown Female College where she graduated with the M.A. degree.

Early career Subsequent to her father's death, she married her cousin, William Bradford, on December 22, 1844, after her father's death, she married her cousin, William Bradford. Within a few years, she was left alone, raising two children.

She was appointed principal in 1855 of the High School for Girls in Memphis, Tennessee, where she partnered with the Young Men's High School to establish a co-educational class in elocution. She met Charlotte Cushman, a famous actress who gave her lessons in public speaking. During school vacations, she gave a series of popular lectures which then paid for the girls school's equipment for chemistry, physics and astronomy.

Upon her return to the U.S., she resided in New York City, writing for journals and building up over 100 lectures on literature, science and art. which included illustrations she had made during her visits to European gardens. In Will Hale's 1903 summary of Southern periodicals, he expressed his great respect for her as a scientist and writer.

Ketchum's writings were numerous and included Nellie Bracken: a tale of forty years ago, (a novel published in 1855 by Lippincott); Gypsying (letters of travel); Christmas Carillons: and other poems, (a volume of poems published by Appleton in 1888), as well as a large number of lectures on science, literature and art. She composed an entirely original work on botany, Botany for academies and colleges: consisting of plant development and structure from seaweed to clematis, as a textbook for academies and colleges, containing in its three hundred duodecimo pages twice as much instruction as could be found in other textbooks in use.

Ketchum died at St. Vincent's Hospital, New York, January 27, 1904.

Selected works Hines. A story of New Orleans. Nelly Bracken, a tale of forty years ago., 1855 Benny : a christmas ballad., 1870 Lotos-flowers, gathered in sun and shadow, 1877 Christmas carillons, and other poems., 1888 Botany for academies and colleges: consisting of plant development and structure from seaweed to clematis, 1889