Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson (1737 - 1801)

Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson

Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson or Betsy Graeme was an American colonial writer and poet.

Elizabeth Graeme was born and raised in a wealthy and influential Philadelphia family. In 1764-65, she traveled to London, where she met several leading literary and scientific figures. She soon established something of a literary salon at her native Graeme Park Manor.

Elizabeth Fergusson left few literary works other than a translation of The Adventures of Telemac from the French and a long poem on female suffering, The Abandoned Wife. She is remembered more for her letters and actions during the American War of Independence (1775-83), in which her family suffered considerably. Her husband Henry H. Fergusson was arrested and outlawed, and Graeme Park was confiscated at the end of the war.