Mary Chace Peckham (or Chase; 1839–1893) was an American author and reformer.[1]
Born at Nantucket on July 15, 1839, she was the daughter of Charles Miller Peck and Adriana (Fisher) Peck.[2] She attended high school in Providence, graduating with high honors and selected as the poet of the alumni association.[1] She was a teacher in that city from 1857 until 1865.[2] While in Providence, she worked with women in the state's prisons and, during the Civil War, ministered to soldiers in nearby hospitals.[1]
On June 13, 1865, she married Stephen F. Peckham, a chemical engineer, and accompanied him to Southern California.[1] On their return to Providence in 1866, she engaged in literary work, and in 1873, on moving to Minneapolis, devoted herself to philanthropy.[2] She returned to Providence in 1880 and became active in the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association, serving on the executive committee and speaking on behalf of the group.[1] In this role, she worked with Julia Ward Howe, Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony.[1] She was also an active member of the Association for the Advancement of Women.[2]
She wrote prose and poetry, and contributed to the religious, educational and secular press for twenty-five years. Two volumes of her work were published, the second a volume of poems collected after her death.[1]
She died at Ann Arbor, Michigan, on March 20, 1892.[1]