[1] She was an active member of the Rochester community; she founded the first sewing school for working-class children and was involved establishing the Home for Aged Women.
She edited a popular religious publication, The Parish Visitor, taught an adult biblical class for Sunday School, and was the president of the Christ Church Missionary Society (1881–85).
Towards the beginning of her career as an author, she wrote for magazines such as Atlantic Monthly and Harpers, in addition to her publications with the American Sunday School Union.
During the last 11 productive years of her life she was in charge of editing the Parish Visitor, a religious publication intended for distribution in prisons, homes, and hospitals.
[1] Due to the sheer volume of her work, Guernsey was criticized for poorly constructed plots, but nevertheless, the content and morals of her stories were representative of the community’s preferred juvenile teachings.