[1] Her grandparents were among the first settlers of the Genesee Valley and traced their lineage back to Hollanders.

In early life, he worked on a farm, but later helped to construct the Erie Canal.

[3] At a very early age, Fenner wrote for the Rural New Yorker.

Her first published poem, "In Memoriam," dedicated to her mother on the anniversary of her father's death, in 1873, was written while she could not raise her head from her pillow.

Francis Drake Fenner (1832-1894) on July 24, 1861,[5] one month after completing her studies at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary.