Her early womanhood was passed under stimulating influences, being a member of one of those famous conversation classes which Margaret Fuller instituted in the decade of 1830-40.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos Bronson Alcott, Abby May, James Freeman Clarke, and Theodore Parker were among those who strongly influenced her thought.
The dawn of New England Transcendentalism, brought golden opportunities to the young aspirant for intellectual culture.
A great awakening and a new sense of the surpassing riches of life was the result to Cheney of attending for three successive seasons the conversations of Margaret Fuller.
Few teachers have shown to such a degree the power of personality.
Cheney wrote:— "I absorbed her life and her thoughts, and to this day I am astonished to find how large a part of what I am when I am most myself I have derived from her. . .
.She did not make us her disciples, her blind followers.
She opened the book of life and helped us to read it for ourselves."
It is significant that Cheney and her elder sister, Mary Frances, were among the first parishioners of Theodore Parker when he came from West Roxbury, Massachusetts to Boston, 1846.
He would become her inspirer, friend, and comforter in time of sorrow.

For a year or two before her marriage, Cheney was the secretary of the School of Design for Women in Boston, of which she was one of the founders in 1851.
Short-lived, the school yet served to show the existence of talent among American women, and is remembered as "one of the failures that enriched the ground for success."

On May 19, 1853, she married the artist, Seth Wells Cheney.
Twin ambitions, art and literature, were native to Cheney.
Choosing the latter for her field of occupation, she also cultivated her taste for the former.
As an artist's wife, she made her first visit to Europe, sailing with her husband for Liverpool in August, 1854.
The year following their return (in June, 1855) witnessed the birth of a daughter, Margaret Swan, in September, 1855, and the death of Mr. Cheney in April, 1856, in South Manchester, Connecticut, his native place.
He was one of the earliest crayon artists in America.
Seth Cheney's crayon portraits were among the delights of his time.
The foremost women of Boston were glad to sit for him.
Among his portraits of men, one of Theodore Parker which was highly prized.
An exhibition of a number of these works was arranged some years after by Sylvester Rosa Koehler, curator of engravings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Cheney was one of the subscribers toward the establishment in 1856, under the leadership of Dr. Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska, of the first women's hospital, the New England Hospital for Women and Children.
A few years later, she was interested with others in the addition of a clinical department to the medical school for women in Boston, which merged in Boston University.
In 1863, she was one of the three women corporators of the New England Hospital for Women and Children, which they had started in 1862 in a house on Pleasant Street. "
Accepting the position of secretary, Cheney, to quote the words of Dr. Zakrzewska, "devoted herself to the work, and became one of the most powerful advocates and supporters of this institution — an institution now firmly established and professionally recognized, and which by its efficiency and conscientious work has not only educated women as physicians and nurses, but has opened the way for the former to a professional equality with medical men, as the Massachusetts Medical Society was the first to admit women as members."
Succeeding Lucy Goddard as president of the hospital in 1887, Cheney continued in office for fifteen years, or until her resignation on account of failing health in October, 1902, at which time she became Honorary President.
Her early womanhood was passed under stimulating influences, being a member of one of those famous conversation classes which Margaret Fuller instituted in the decade of 1830-40. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos Bronson Alcott, Abby May, James Freeman Clarke, and Theodore Parker were among those who strongly influenced her thought. The dawn of New England Transcendentalism, brought golden opportunities to the young aspirant for intellectual culture. A great awakening and a new sense of the surpassing riches of life was the result to Cheney of attending for three successive seasons the conversations of Margaret Fuller. Few teachers have shown to such a degree the power of personality. Cheney wrote:— "I absorbed her life and her thoughts, and to this day I am astonished to find how large a part of what I am when I am most myself I have derived from her. . . .She did not make us her disciples, her blind followers. She opened the book of life and helped us to read it for ourselves." It is significant that Cheney and her elder sister, Mary Frances, were among the first parishioners of Theodore Parker when he came from West Roxbury, Massachusetts to Boston, 1846. He would become her inspirer, friend, and comforter in time of sorrow.
For a year or two before her marriage, Cheney was the secretary of the School of Design for Women in Boston, of which she was one of the founders in 1851. Short-lived, the school yet served to show the existence of talent among American women, and is remembered as "one of the failures that enriched the ground for success."
On May 19, 1853, she married the artist, Seth Wells Cheney. Twin ambitions, art and literature, were native to Cheney. Choosing the latter for her field of occupation, she also cultivated her taste for the former. As an artist's wife, she made her first visit to Europe, sailing with her husband for Liverpool in August, 1854. The year following their return (in June, 1855) witnessed the birth of a daughter, Margaret Swan, in September, 1855, and the death of Mr. Cheney in April, 1856, in South Manchester, Connecticut, his native place. He was one of the earliest crayon artists in America. Seth Cheney's crayon portraits were among the delights of his time. The foremost women of Boston were glad to sit for him. Among his portraits of men, one of Theodore Parker which was highly prized. An exhibition of a number of these works was arranged some years after by Sylvester Rosa Koehler, curator of engravings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Cheney was one of the subscribers toward the establishment in 1856, under the leadership of Dr. Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska, of the first women's hospital, the New England Hospital for Women and Children. A few years later, she was interested with others in the addition of a clinical department to the medical school for women in Boston, which merged in Boston University. In 1863, she was one of the three women corporators of the New England Hospital for Women and Children, which they had started in 1862 in a house on Pleasant Street. "Accepting the position of secretary, Cheney, to quote the words of Dr. Zakrzewska, "devoted herself to the work, and became one of the most powerful advocates and supporters of this institution — an institution now firmly established and professionally recognized, and which by its efficiency and conscientious work has not only educated women as physicians and nurses, but has opened the way for the former to a professional equality with medical men, as the Massachusetts Medical Society was the first to admit women as members." Succeeding Lucy Goddard as president of the hospital in 1887, Cheney continued in office for fifteen years, or until her resignation on account of failing health in October, 1902, at which time she became Honorary President.
Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney