1834 – 1868) was a 19th-century American poet and writer known in the press by her pen names, Carrie Carlton and Topsy-Turvey (or Topsey Turvey).

The family moved from Fayette to New Bedford, Massachusetts where the father, mother, and Florella, the old child, died.

[6] In 1862, early in the Civil War era,[7] she published a book of poetry, Wayside Flowers, in Milwaukee, using the pen name "Carrie Carlton", who was identified at the time as being "Mrs. M. H.

Elizabeth and the children sailed from New York City for San Francisco, expecting Charles to follow in a few weeks.

During his family's voyage, Charles, who was employed in the Milwaukee post office, dropped dead,[12] and just prior to landing at San Francisco, Elizabeth's baby son, Archie Dean, also died.

For some time, he was in poor health and died in a San Francisco County hospital on August 11, 1866,[14] being about 38 years old.

[1] The US$5 a week she received from the Sunday Mercury barely sufficed to keep her from poverty, but when extra writing came in to add to the amount, she forgot the necessaries of life and indulged in luxuries.

While she sought other kinds of employment, Elizabeth only achieved success at writing, as she lacked an instinct for business.

[1] Besides her Wayside Flowers, issued in 1862, there was Inglenook, a story of early Californian life for children,[2] which made up the first of four books in the "Stories from Gold Lands series", published in 1868 by A. Roman & Co.[16] The Letter Writer was a humorous view of Californian correspondence, such as a daughter addressing her mother as "Honored Madam," or a miner writing East for goods in a stately manner.

[2] As "Mrs. Washington Wright", Elizabeth launched a monthly periodical in 1867, Every Day Life, focused on California literature and fashion.

The last project of her life was devoted to the amelioration of poor working conditions for women, and, had she not died, Elizabeth would have been the recognized leader of this movement.

"[1] Elizabeth's daughter, who lived in Northern California, preserved her mother's scattered poems and writings, and possibly among them were some which were published through the press without a name or a claim.