Mary Ashley Townsend (September 24, 1832- June 7, 1901) was an American poet and writer. She was born in Lyons, New York, about 1836. Her maiden name was Van Voorhis. She was educated in her native town and married Gideon Townsend, of New Orleans, Louisiana. She began to write for publication about 1856, and under the pen-name of "Xariffa" made a reputation as the author of "Quillotypes," a series of humorous papers that appeared in the New Orleans "Delta" and were widely copied by the southern and western press. Her other works are "The Brother Clerks" (New York, 1859); "Poems" (Philadelphia, 1870); "The Captain's Story" (1874); and "Down the Bayou, and other Poems" (Boston, 1884). Her most important short poems are "Creed," "A Woman's Wish," "The Bather," and "The Wind." She was officially appointed to deliver the poem on the opening of the New Orleans exposition in 1884, and that at the unveiling of the statue of General Albert Sidney Johnston in 1887.