Born in New York City in 1865, Frances Aymar Mathews was educated at home by private tutors. She was the daughter of an auctioneer and the granddaughter of Matthew Livingston Davis, a biographer of Aaron Burr. Mathews began her literary career by contributing articles and short stories to popular periodicals of the era, including Harper's Bazaar, Godey's Lady's Book, and Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly.
Mathews transitioned into playwriting with her 1881 society drama, Bigamy. In 1889, she made history as the first woman in America to publish a collection of one-act comedies, titled To-night at Eight. Her theatrical career was marked by both ambition and controversy; in 1887, she filed a plagiarism lawsuit against prominent producers Daniel Frohman, David Belasco, and Henry C. De Mille, though the suit was ultimately rejected. She also penned A Soldier of France (1897), a blank-verse historical drama about Joan of Arc written for actress Fanny Davenport, which proved to be a critical failure despite its lavish production.
Her greatest theatrical triumph came with the 1902 play Pretty Peggy, starring Grace George. The play, which depicted the romance between 18th-century actress Peg Woffington and David Garrick, featured innovative staging where costumed actors in the audience interacted with the performance. In addition to her work for the stage, Mathews was a successful novelist. She wrote the historical romance My Lady Peggy Goes to Town (1901) and its sequel, My Lady Peggy Leaves Town (1913). Mathews spent her later years residing in Indianapolis before returning to New York City, where she died in 1925.
