E’en a moment spun
From cycles of eternity.
Henrietta Cordelia Ray was considered a cultivated, virtuous woman.
She was born in New York City, one of seven children of Charlotte Augusta Burrough and Charles B. Ray, a blacksmith turned Congregational minister and leading abolitionist.
Ray hoped to also make her mark in literature.
Ray’s poetry appeared in several periodicals, which encouraged her efforts to publish a complete collection.