 On January 10, 1854, age 15, she eloped and was married to Iredell E. Bryan.Prior to 1858, she had already had poems and a story published by a small newspaper, and by 1859 became literary editor of the "Georgia Literary and Temperance Crusader", where she stayed for about a year.After moving to Clarkston, Georgia in 1874 she joined on with the "Sunny South" as an associate editor and began to publish a number of novels.