Kate Brownlee Sherwood (, Brownlee; September 24, 1841 – February 15, 1914) was an American poet, journalist, translator and story writer of the long nineteenth century, as well as a philanthropist, and patron of the arts and literature. Sherwood was also the founder of the Woman's Relief Corps and served as its second president.
After marriage, she entered into her husband's journalistic work, where she learned to typeset, proofread, and manage all the details pertaining to the work in order to assist him. She contributed to various magazines and periodicals, and from 1883, was an editor of the Woman's Department of the National Tribune at Washington, D.C., a paper devoted to the interest of soldiers.
She is best known as the author of army lyrics and poems written for the celebration of military occasions. She was the author of: Camp-Fire and Memorial Poems (1885); Dreams of the Ages; a Poem of Columbia (1893); The Memorial of the Flowers (1888), and Guarding the Flags (1890). Sherwood's memorial poem, Albert Sidney Johnston, was written at the invitation of the executive committee for the Unveiling Ceremonies of the General Albert Sidney Johnston Equestrian Statue, held under the auspices of the Army of the Tennessee Louisiana Division (Ex-Confederate) at New Orleans. Helen Louisa Bostwick Bird and Alice Williams Brotherton were contemporary poets from Ohio.
Early life and education
Sherwood was born Katharine Margaret Brownlee in either Mahoning County, Ohio or Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania on either September 24, 1841 or September 25, 1841. She was of Scotch descent. Her ancestors were Revolutionary patriots. Her father was a classical scholar, and both parents were fond of song and poetry. One of the earliest recollections of the child is hearing them recount the ballads and lyrics of Scottish romance and adventure, which impressed upon her mind and cultivated her tastes for that style of poetry.
She was a daughter of Judge James and Rebecca (née Mullin) Brownlee of Poland, Ohio; granddaughter of Alexander and Margaret (née Smith) Brownlee and of George and Katharine (née Hammer) Mullin and a descendant of James and Margaret (née Craig) Brownlee, who came to America in 1800. James Brownlee Sr. was the Laird of Torfoot, in the parish of Avondale, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and his grandson, James, was successor, by inheritance; but he chose America and emigrated from Scotland to the United States in 1828, and settled in Trumbull County, Ohio, and became associate judge of the third judicial district of which it was a part. She was educated in Poland Union Seminary.
At twelve, she was sent to school at Poland, Pennsylvania, and afterwards to a Presbyterian academy.
Career
Writer
She met Isaac R. Sherwood, an editor of Bryan, Ohio, while he was a student at the Ohio Law College. On September 1, 1859, at the age of 18, they married. Later, Isaac became a General, Secretary of state and Congressman from Ohio. When he was the editor of the Canton, Ohio Daily News-Democrat, she learned everything in the line of newspaper work from typesetting to leader-writing. While he was in Congress, she served as Washington correspondent for Ohio journals. In 1883, General Sherwood became the sole proprietor of the Toledo Journal; Kate Sherwood assisted in the editorial management of the paper, until 1886, when Condict C. Packard and E. J. Tippett purchased the establishment. For 10 years, she edited the woman's department of the soldier organ, the National Tribune of Washington D.C. Her career as a journalist and society woman was varied and busy. She was one of the first members of the Washington Literary Club, and the Sorosis of New York City; she also served as vice-president for Ohio in the first call for a national congress of women.