Mary Bassett Clarke
"A Woman of the Century"
Born	Mary Bassett November 18, 1831 Independence, New York, U.S.
Died	August 2, 1908 (aged 76)
Resting place	Oak Grove Cemetery, Hopkinton, Rhode Island, U.S.
Pen name	Ida Fairfield
Occupation	writer
Language	English
Alma mater	Alfred University
Spouse	William Lewis Clarke ​ ​ (m. 1859)​
Children	Ada John Charles
Parents	John Chandler Bassett Martha (St. John) Bassett

Mary Bassett Clarke (née, Bassett; pen name, Ida Fairfield; November 18, 1831 – August 2, 1908) was an American writer of the long nineteenth century. She was a contributor to The Flag of Our Union, Rural New Yorker, as well as periodicals issued by the Seventh Day Baptists. Autumn Leaves was published in 1894.

Mary Bassett was born in Independence, New York, November 18, 1831. She was the daughter of John Chandler Bassett, a well-to-do farmer of western New York, and Martha (St. John) Bassett. She was the seventh in a family of twelve children who lived to maturity. She was educated in Alfred University. Although ill-health limited her opportunities, she was graduated from the university in 1857.^[1]

At the age of fifteen, she began writing for publication, under the pen-name "Ida Fairfield," in The Flag of Our Union. With some interruption by ill-health, she continued many years to be a contributor to that paper, to the Rural New Yorker, as well as local papers and periodicals. For several years her writings, both prose and verse, were principally given to periodicals issued by the Seventh Day Baptists, of which religion she was a member.^[2] A collection of her poems, Autumn Leaves, was published in 1894 (Buffalo).^[3]

She married William Lewis Clarke (1835–1920) on September 8, 1859, and removed to Ashaway, Rhode Island.^[2] He served as president of the Missionary Board,^[4] and as a Massachusetts State Senator. The Clarke's had three children: Ada Augusta (b. 1861), John Thomas (b. 1863), and Charles Welling (b. 1865). She died August 2, 1908.^[5]

• 1894, Autumn Leaves

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Cutter, William Richard (1915). New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation (Public domain ed.). Lewis Historical Publishing Company.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Moulton, Charles Wells (1894). The Magazine of Poetry. Vol. 6 (Public domain ed.). Charles Wells Moulton.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Utter, George B. (1917). The Sabbath Recorder. Vol. 83 (Public domain ed.). George B. Utter.
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Charles Wells Moulton.

• Works related to Woman of the Century/Mary Bassett Clarke at Wikisource
• Works by or about Mary Bassett Clarke at the Internet Archive