Brasseya Allen
possibly first woman in Maryland to publish a book of poetry
Brasseya Johnson Allen (1762 – December 29, 1831) was a poet who is thought to be the first woman to publish a book of poetry in Maryland.
Allen was a daughter of William Johnson, a landholder in the county of Wicklow, Leinster, Ireland, was born at Temple Lyon, her father's mansion, situated in that county. In 1782 the family moved, it seems, to Arklow, a seaport-town in the same county. She married the Rev. John Allen, a Methodist minister. Her husband had been ordained in Ireland and, in 1795, he took charge of St. George's Church, Harford County, Maryland, in connection with a school. He became, in 1875, a professor in St. John's College, Annapolis, and, in 1821, he held a professorship in the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He died in 1830, at the age of seventy.
The public source identifies “Brasseya Allen” as possibly first woman in Maryland to publish a book of poetry. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Brasseya, Allen and possibly.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 13, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q106978322. VIAF identifies the subject as 44251255. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1762, 1831, 1782 and 1795.
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This entry incorporates text from “Brasseya Allen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.