Posted on by Tara Brooky

Uncovering Lucy Randolph Cautley

Passport photo of Lucy Randolph Cautley when she was 54 years old. From Ancestory.com

Mrs. Cautley, who published under the name of L.R. Cautley was born July 19th, 1854 in Richmond, Henrico, Virginia. Her maiden name is Lucy Randolph Daniel.

It is unclear when she married her husband Richard K. Cautley. But it would be sometime after 1880 census which reordered her as single and living in Virginia still, she was 26 at the time. It is likely that after she married her husband that she moved to Baltimore with him.

Cautley shared a ton of short stories and poems within the Club. However, few of her works were ever published. What I could find was an essay on Rudyard Kipling’s works and a poem titled “Betrayal” that appeared in Harper’s Monthly. The poem used personification to convey emotions in a unique and engaging way. My favorite lines from the poem were,

“And all the little world around her smiled,

By memories of their own fair youth beguiled.”

After her husband, Richard K. Cautley died, she relocated to New York on 0ctober 19th, 1923 to be with her oldest son who worked at Cornell University as an engineering instructor. She was 69 when she first arrived. She had two other sons. In 1911 and 1912 her and two sons were listed as students during the summer sessions at Cornell for those years.

Cautley strongly identifies as a Southern woman. This is evident because she was an officer for at least 6 years (known) for the New York division of the United Daughters of Confederacy.

She was highly educated and mentioned in one of her letters to the editor of the New York Times that she studied in Northern Italy at one point in her life.

Posted on by Jean Lee Cole

The Life of: Katharine Pearson Woods

Woods, Katharine Pearson (1853–1923)

Katharine Pearson Woods was an American novelist, born Jan 28, 1853, in Wheeling, VA to Alexander Quarrier Woods, a tobacco merchant and Josephine Augusta (McCabe) Woods. She was the oldest of three girls where their parents promoted literature and education. This was a big influence in Miss.Woods works.

In 1874, at the age of twenty-one, she joined the religious organization of the All Saints Sisters of the Poor. Due to illness, she withdrew, but this experience led to her work in charity which encouraged the religious and moral tone of her writings.

In 1889, Miss Woods’s first novel was published. Metzerott, Shoemaker based on the Christian principals who advocated economic reform for the working class. Her other works included; Web of Gold (1890), The Crowning of Candace (1896) The Mark of the Beast: A Romance (1890), The Son of Ingar (1897), and The True Story of Captain John Smith (1901)

Web of Gold, ACrowning of Candace, TheMark Of The Beast: A Romance, TheSon of Ingar, TheTrue Story of Captain John by Katherine Pearson Woods

Woods’ greatest strength in her writings is evident in her description of natural settings and reflection for the love of nature. This strength landed several of her poems to be published in Harper’s Magazine.

Through the years, Katharine Pearson Woods took part in the WLCB, taught school age girls as well as continued with her good deeds and religious practices until her death , February 19, 1923.

Posted on by Jean Lee Cole

Louise Malloy… or should I say Josh Wink

Marie Louise Malloy, more commonly known as Josh Wink was born in Baltimore in the year of 1858. She was she daughter of John and Frances (Sollers) Malloy. She is of Irish decent, her grandparents emigrated to America in the early 1800’s. Louise as a young girl always dreamed of a career in literature and attended school at the convent of the Visitation. In December of 1889 Malloy’s dream came true when she was offered a job at the Baltimore American.

Josh Wink’s Column

Malloy… or should I say “Wink” was a columnist for the Baltimore American for well over 20 years. Louise “specialized in women’s interests, did editorial and feature work, and was a dramatic editor.” She was the first newspaperwoman in Maryland. She wrote short stories, essays, dramas, and poems that usually included a comedic edge. Some of the columns Malloy wrote consistently for the Baltimore American that I have come across were titled “Laughs and The World Laughs with you” and “Notes and Notions”. Here she included multiple lighthearted poems with deeper underlying meanings. I believe that these larger meanings could only be seen by intelligent people reading deeper into the poems, to the average joe these works were just good for a laugh. I mean that’s what a daily humor column is for right?

The way to a woman’s heart may be slightly strenuous, but the road coming from it is the hardest to travel.”

Along with all these amazing accomplishments Malloy’s “efforts led to the establishment of Juvenile Court in Baltimore and also resulted in improvements in the Fire Department.” I do not know much about this information so I am still trying to unearth more facts.

I thoroughly enjoy reading her work. I appreciate comedy and her stuff let me tell you is genuinely “lol” worthy.  She is super relatable and I always think it’s ironic that topics she speaks of in her column relate so much to life today. I mean you really could place some of her works in newspapers today and get good feedback from readers. She was popular back then and I understand all of the hype.

https://books.google.com/books?id=hnIEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA858&lpg=PA858&dq=louise+malloy+josh+wink+biography&source=bl&ots=xARlGfP7e_&sig=627gIDkwrLqw7-leH-_4nQzPKcM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVr9T-7sLZAhVJulMKHZpCBw4Q6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=louise%20malloy%20josh%20wink%20biography&f=false

https://digital.lib.umd.edu/archivesum/actions.DisplayEADDoc.do?source=MdU.ead.litms.0013.xml&style=ead

https://books.google.com/books?id=tc8xAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA294&lpg=PA294&dq=louise+malloy+baltimore+american&source=bl&ots=8Np81VFhPb&sig=XmB14Vh_dnaSiVzX8wZweyJokzc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0j4zk9sLZAhUNuVMKHWZjByUQ6AEIPjAF#v=onepage&q=louise%20malloy%20baltimore%20american&f=false

 

 

Posted on by Marina Fazio

Mary Spear Nicholas Tiernan

Mary Spear Nicholas Tiernan was born on February 14, 1835. Or was it 1836? Was her birthday even in February? Wikipedia thinks so, but the Encyclopedia of Virginia places her birth somewhere in 1836.  Mrs. Tiernan’s early life is particularly difficult to pin down.  As a charter member of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore and an author whose novels are still available for purchase today, I would think more would be known about her. Unfortunately, the details are quite sparse. What I do know: She was the third wife of Charles Tiernan, a member of the State of Maryland Militia in Baltimore. She is did not have any children. Much of her early life was spent in Richmond, Virginia, where her father was a district attorney. According to a death announcement in the Baltimore Sun from January 14, 1891, her wit “brought to bear upon her literary work the advantages of a scholarly education.”  This makes me assume that she did not have any sort of higher education, although I will continue to search for records that could indicate otherwise. In her life, she published short stories in Century Illustrated Magazine, Godey’s Lady’s Book, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, and Scribner’s Monthly. Her death announcements in The Democratic Advocate of Westminster, MD and The Baltimore Sun state that she was 56 when she passed away from pneumonia on January 13, 1891.  On the anniversaries of the club, the women would decorate her grave, along with the graves of Edgar Allen Poe and Sidney Lanier, according to The Baltimore Sun in 1899 and 1900, which indicates how highly she was respected by the other women.

Mary Spear Nicholas Tiernan. Image from Wikipedia

Her southern upbringing appeared to be quite influential in her writing; in fact, out of the seven short stories and novels I have read by her, all seven of them are set in Virginia!  Each of them also centers around the Confederacy in some way or another- whether it be the inclusion of Confederate soldiers as characters or references to the Yankees in the north, her stories are set firmly in the Civil War. Her characters were described by reviewers in the November 11, 1885 edition of The Baltimore Sun as “pure and innocent” and I think that captures them perfectly.  The majority of her stories center on young women and their suitors, finding an innocent love in the Virginia countryside.  She was praised for her ability to make readers interested in her characters in novels like Homoselle and Suzette. I must say, this is true. Tiernan’s women are witty and interesting. A great example of this comes in Homoselle. The eponymous girl has previously expressed her disdain for her family’s British guest, Mr. Halsey. When Halsey expresses his delight after trying his first mint julep, Homoselle responds: “”The inventor of juleps,’ began Homoselle,– and as it was the first remark she volunteered, Halsey listened with interest,– ‘Like the inventor of the guillotine, is said to have fallen a victim to his own invention.’” Her comment is the perfect combination of intelligent and vaguely ominous, making even modern readers like myself get drawn into her charm and wit.  Her short stories and novels are full of women who are unafraid to speak strongly despite the fact that they are also bound to societal conventions of docility.

Posted on by Megan Hultberg

A Lover of History: A Bit of Lucy Meacham Thruston’s

Lucy Meacham (Kidd) Thruston was born on March 29th, 1862 in to John Meacham Kidd and Elizabeth Rebecca Adams Kidd, an old Virginia family. Being from Virginia inspired her to write works such as A Girl of Virginia (published in 1902) to which tells a story about a “loveable light spirited daughter of a professor of the University of Virginia” while giving details about the college from the point of view of those who live around it.

From “The Baltimore Sun” May 22, 1907

She moved to Baltimore when she was 12, graduated from Maryland-State Normal School at Towson (not the State Teachers’ College) and taught for a little there. She married her husband Julius Thruston who was from Baltimore on February 14th, 1887, which let’s be honest is so romantic! From a young age, Thruston has claimed to always being a “some-what romantic” and enjoyed writing. Her first publication Songs of the Chesapeake was quickly followed by her most well-known novel Mistress Brent: A Story of Lord Baltimore’s colony in 1638 in 1901, intentionally bringing together history and fiction of Maryland. This publication familiarized her name among not only Baltimoreans, but the country.

Her love and pride of being a Southern woman is seen in her other publications including Jack and His Island: A Boy’s Adventures along the Chesapeake in the War of 1812 1902, Where the Tide Comes In 1904, Called to the Field: A Story of Virginia in the Civil War 1906, and Jenifer in 1907 which takes place in the Carolina mountains. Her love for history of the South can be seen in all her publications, she even says in The Baltimore Sun, “I often feel that history often throws light on the facts of today, and that the present day in turn can throw light on the facts of history”.

In 1915 publication of The Baltimore Sun, she told of her writing short stories and articles in order to spend more time with her family. November 27, 1938 Thruston passed away after a really bad fall, leaving behind her two daughter Miss Augusta Thruston (who she lived with after the death of her husband in 1920) and Mrs. James Miller Leake who moved to Florida. She was a much loved and praised author during her time and years to follow. Although she has been seemingly left in the early 20th, she was much loved and adored for her love of the history and the South.

Posted on by Hunter Flynn

Elizabeth Turner Graham

When I was first assigned to recover what works I can by Elizabeth Graham, I barely recognized her name. I had the impression that she was one of the club’s most quiet published members. Most of what I’ve found confirms that she did, in fact, lead a quiet life.

Elizabeth Turner Graham was born in 1858 and died in 1920. She’s buried in the Friends Burial Ground, which also happens to be Baltimore’s oldest cemetery. Her burial site implies a connection with the Quakers, and much of her poetry reflects religious belief.

After all my sleuthing, I’ve only found two works that I know to be written by Graham: Buttercups and Daisies: Songs of a Summer, and Holly and Mistletoe: Songs Across the Snow. As the similar titles suggest, the two were intended to be companion volumes, and were published one year apart—in 1884 and 1885, respectively. Both of them are rare, but I was able to get my hands on them today in the Maryland Room of UMD’s Hornbake Library.

Cover of “Buttercups and Daisies.” Photo courtesy of University of Maryland’s Hornbake Library.

Both volumes of poetry are quite beautiful. My sense is that everything—from illustrations to binding—was done by Graham. The poetry seems to have been written for children. Graham writes about the unfolding summer—about elves, flowers, and songbirds. In Holly and Mistletoe, the imagery reverses, and she inflects her poetry with an overtly religious tone. Here’s a typical poem of hers, entitled “Fair Month of June:

The hills are white,
Oh, Summer-time!
With snowy Ox-eyed Daisies,
And Buttercups,
With dew filled up,
Her golden vase upraises.

The year moves on,
Oh, Summer-time!
Life’s joys are now the fleetest;
And ‘neath thy moon,
Fair month of June,
Are lover’s vows the sweetest.

There’s little remarkable about her poetry. But holding those volumes in my hands, and leafing through them, it was clear that both books were labors of love. The poems are singsongy, as children’s poetry should be; and the accompanying illustrations, also by Graham, brought them to life.

But, after the publication of these two books, it seems that her attentions went elsewhere. She organized Mt. Washington’s Lend-a-Hand Club—the first woman’s club in Maryland—and served as its president for at least twenty years. From what I’ve found of the club, its aims were more philanthropic than our own WLCB, but no less successful.

I might not have recognized Graham’s name from the minutes, but I did recognize the name of the Lend-a-Hand Club. The two publications of hers I’ve found are, in their own way, remarkable; but I think it’s likely that much of her literary aspiration was supplanted by activity in women’s clubs.

Posted on by Monica Malouf

Miss Virginia Berkeley Bowie: Awaiting New Discoveries

It took me weeks to find information on Miss Virginia Bowie, a member of the Women’s Literary Club of Baltimore from 1909-1920. To be honest, I feel her biography and discovery is still unfinished. While I’ve located article, poem, and essay names by Bowie, the texts themselves still remain a mystery.

That being said, here is some basic biographical information about Miss Virginia Berkeley Bowie…

She was born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 8th, 1880 to Dr. Howard Stafford Bowie and Laura Berkeley Bowie. She had two brothers and one sister, Eleanor Howard Turner (Bowie). She married Major Frederick Schoenfeld, U.S.A,  in Ellicott City, Maryland on June 23rd, 1928. Some of her more well-known works include: “Dilemma of Patrolman Redmund” (written for the Sunday Sun’s short-story contest), “Curious Happenings in Old Maryland”, “The Human Side of

Washington”, and “Our German Spy”, and “Dark River”. She served on many committees and clubs throughout her life, and she died in Baltimore on December 30th, 1976 at the age of 96.

I first found information on this Baltimore debutante and socialite through old newspaper articles. They mostly reviewed her performances in plays put on by the local chapter of the Daughter’s of the American Revolution (D.A.R.), mentioned as Washington-Custis Chapter, Frederick Scott Key Chapter, etc. I found that Miss Bowie performed in numerous plays for not only the D.A.R.–including “Pwang Lu”, “Castles in Spain”–but for other groups as well. What I found most interesting about her involvement in the theater was actually her duties off stage. She served as Secretary & Treasurer and on the Board of Governors for Stagecraft Studios, a theater located at 3 West Centre Street in the 1920s. She performed and helped put on “The Countess Cathleen”, “Sister Beatrice”, and “The Beaux’ Stratagem” for Stagecraft Studios, all mentioned in the Baltimore Sun.

Miss Bowie attended the Bard-Avon School of Expression, so it’s no surprise that she excelled in drama and performance. In addition to her artistic abilities, however, Bowie served as Historian for her D.A.R. chapter. She wrote numerous articles concerned with Maryland colonial history, biographical information on George and Martha Washington, and Revolutionary War history. She clearly proved a prominent member of her D.A.R. chapter, as she is mentioned throughout Baltimore Sun and Evening Sun articles concerning the group. I found all of this fascinating, but one question still remained: how was she involved in the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore?

Not until my discovery of her marriage to Major Frederick Schoenfeld did my research really boom. I found articles reviewing the meetings of the Woman’s Literary Club of Baltimore, and Miss Virginia B. Bowie was all over them. I discovered that she read poems, articles, and essays at the meetings, including translations from Italian and French. She served as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Languages in 1916, and she was a member of the Committees of Unfamiliar Records, Foreign Languages, and Colonial and Revolutionary History throughout her time in the club. I also found that she won numerous awards within her clubs and organizations, including a D.A.R. prize for her essay “Margaret Brent of St. Mary’s Court” and third place for her lyrical poem, “Dark River” mentioned in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, “Pen Women Award Prizes For Poetry” (January 19 1933, pg. 13).

Now that I’ve found the names of roughly 19 works by Virginia Berkeley Bowie Schoenfeld, I am on the chase to track down the texts. She’s proven a prolific individual and a window into Baltimore society during the early 20th century. I fully expect to fall deeper into the rabbit hole of research, discovering more information about this talented Baltimore native. What I find daunting, however, is that the search will never be over; years from now I will be searching for the name “Virginia Bowie Schonefeld” (in its many variations), fully expecting to make new discoveries.

 

*Photo and information found in The Baltimore Sun from 1880-1930, on newspapers.com