Sophia May Eckley

Sophia May Eckley, (born 1823, died 1874 (aged 50)), was an American poet and spiritualist medium who had a close relationship with the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Life and career Eckley was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1823. Her parents were Edward Francis Tuckerman, III, a wealthy merchant, and Sophia May Tuckerman. Both of her parents came from prominent Massachusetts families. Through her mother, Eckley was a second cousin of Louisa May Alcott and a descendant of the early English colonist John May. Eckley's siblings included the botanist Edward Tuckerman and the poet Frederick Goddard Tuckerman. In 1848, she married David Eckley, Jr., with whom she had two sons. One of her sons, William, died the year following his birth. In the 1850s, Eckley moved with her family to Florence, Italy. In 1863, Eckley and her husband separated, and she moved to Paris with her son, David, the following year. Eckley lived in Paris until her death in 1974.