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'''Margaret Jewett Smith Bailey''' (1812?–1882) was an American author from [[Oregon]].<ref name=OE>{{Oregon Encyclopedia|bailey_margaret_jewett_smith_1812_1882_|Margaret Jewett Smith Bailey}}</ref> |
'''Margaret Jewett Smith Bailey''' (1812?–1882) was an American author from [[Oregon]].<ref name=OE>{{Oregon Encyclopedia|bailey_margaret_jewett_smith_1812_1882_|Margaret Jewett Smith Bailey}}</ref> |
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Bailey, using the pen name '''Ruth Rover''', wrote one of the earliest literary works published in Oregon, ''The Grains, or, Passages in the Life of Ruth Rover, with Occasional Pictures of Oregon, Natural and Moral''.<ref name=OE/> According to historian Edwin Bingham in the foreword to the 1986 edition, ''Grains'' is "part autobiography, part religious testimonial, part history and travelogue", but "by stretching the definition, ''The Grains'' may be called a [[novel]], the first novel written and published on the [[West Coast of the United States|Pacific coast]]."<ref name=OE/>{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=v}} |
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Margaret Jewett Smith was born in [[Saugus, Massachusetts]] in about 1812. She converted to [[Methodism]] when she was 17 at a [[camp meeting]].{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=7}} She attended the Methodist Episcopal [[Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy|Wesleyan Academy]] in [[Wilbraham, Massachusetts|Wilbraham]] |
Margaret Jewett Smith was born in [[Saugus, Massachusetts]] in about 1812. She converted to [[Methodism]] when she was 17 at a [[camp meeting]].{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=7}} She attended the Methodist Episcopal [[Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy|Wesleyan Academy]] in [[Wilbraham, Massachusetts|Wilbraham]] over the objections of her family, especially her father, who wished for her to care for him in his old age and who threatened to disown her.{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=7}} She hoped she could become a [[missionary]] teacher among the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=7}} |
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==Move to Oregon Country== |
==Move to Oregon Country== |
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Smith came to the [[Oregon Country]] |
Smith came to the [[Oregon Country]] to join the [[Methodist Mission]] in September 1837 with the Reverend [[David Leslie (Oregon politician)|David Leslie]], his wife Mary, their children, and the Reverend H. K. W. Perkins.{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=4}}<ref name=PSU>{{cite web |url= http://woh.pdx.edu/heroine/2893 |publisher= [[Portland State University]] |title= Margaret Jewett Bailey}}</ref> Smith, who worked as a teacher, was the only unmarried white woman at the mission, thus the mission authorities pressured her to marry.<ref name=OE/> She was courted by [[William H. Willson]] and was engaged to him for a time, but she refused to marry him after learning he had also written to another woman asking her to come to Oregon to become his wife.{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=7}} Smith insisted on waiting to marry Willson until it was known if the other woman was coming to Oregon.{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=7}} Willson became impatient and asked Smith to falsely confess that they had [[fornication|fornicated]] so that they would be allowed to marry immediately.{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=7}} Smith refused, but Willson told the other members of the mission that they had sinned together.{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=7}} Smith, unable to prove her innocence, left the mission.{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=7}} |
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Smith married [[William J. Bailey]], a man from outside the mission, in 1839.<ref name=OE/><ref name=PSU/> She lived with Bailey on their farm in [[French Prairie]] and became a regular contributor of prose and poetry to the ''[[Oregon Spectator]]'' beginning in 1846.<ref name=OE/><ref name=PSU/> On April 12, 1854, |
Smith married [[William J. Bailey]], a man from outside the mission, in 1839.<ref name=OE/><ref name=PSU/> She lived with Bailey on their farm in [[French Prairie]] and became a regular contributor of prose and poetry to the ''[[Oregon Spectator]]'' beginning in 1846.<ref name=OE/><ref name=PSU/> On April 12, 1854, Margaret divorced William because of his drinking and abuse.{{sfn|Bailey|1986|p=8}} |
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==''The Grains''== |
==''The Grains''== |
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''The Grains'' was published in two |
''The Grains'' was intended to be published in monthly installments, but only two volumes were issued, in August and September 1854 by Carter & Austin in [[Portland, Oregon]].<ref name=OCHC>{{cite web |url= http://www.ochcom.org/pdf/Bailey-MJ.pdf |publisher= [[Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission]] |title= Margaret Jewett Bailey aka Ruth Rover |last= Weber |first= Marsha}}</ref><ref name=Nelson>{{cite journal |url=http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20611546?uid=3739856&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21103827453353 |title= First True Confession Story Pictures Oregon 'Moral' |journal= [[Oregon Historical Quarterly]] |last=Nelson |first= Herbert B. |volume= 45 |number=2 |month= June |year= 1944 |page=168-176}}</ref> Bailey was known to some Oregon readers by the time ''The Grains'' was published because of her work in the ''Spectator'' (signed "MJB"), and letters in church publications as early as 1838.<ref name=OE/> Immediately after her divorce, Bailey edited six columns of the "Ladies Department" for the ''Spectator''.<ref name=OE/> Although she wished to edit a paper of her own for women, because she was a divorced woman of questionable reputation, she did not publish any writing after ''Grains''.<ref name=OE/> |
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''The Grains'', published two years before [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]]'s ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]]'', is like that work a social protest, which criticizes [[Jason Lee (missionary)|Jason Lee]] and the mission community, as well as the mission's failure to [[Conversion to Christianity|convert]] the local Native Americans, and discrimination against women.<ref name=Speak>{{cite book |title=From Here We Speak: An Anthology of Oregon Poetry |series= Oregon Literature Series |year=1993 |publisher= Oregon State University Press |editor1= St. John, Primus |editor2=Wendt, Ingrid |page=38}}</ref> |
''The Grains'', published two years before [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]]'s ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]]'', is like that work a social protest, which criticizes [[Jason Lee (missionary)|Jason Lee]] and the mission community, as well as the mission's failure to [[Conversion to Christianity|convert]] the local Native Americans, and discrimination against women.<ref name=Speak>{{cite book |title=From Here We Speak: An Anthology of Oregon Poetry |series= Oregon Literature Series |year=1993 |publisher= Oregon State University Press |editor1= St. John, Primus |editor2=Wendt, Ingrid |page=38}}</ref> |
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''The Grains'' was republished in a single volume by the [[Oregon State University Press]] in 1986.<ref name= |
''The Grains'', which was considered a "lost" work, was republished in a single volume by the [[Oregon State University Press]] in 1986 and was produced by combining the last three copies in existence with a separately published story.<ref name=Bulletin>{{cite news |url= http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19860501&id=965TAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7oYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5608,3500441 |title= Rare Oregon Novel Considered Lost: New 'Grains' Edition Out |author= OSU Extension Service |date= May 1, 1986 |newspaper= [[The Bulletin (Bend)|The Bulletin]]}}</ref> |
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==Later life== |
==Later life== |
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Revision as of 20:10, 22 March 2014
Margaret Jewett Smith Bailey (1812?–1882) was an American author from Oregon.[1]
Bailey, using the pen name Ruth Rover, wrote one of the earliest literary works published in Oregon, The Grains, or, Passages in the Life of Ruth Rover, with Occasional Pictures of Oregon, Natural and Moral.[1] According to historian Edwin Bingham in the foreword to the 1986 edition, Grains is "part autobiography, part religious testimonial, part history and travelogue", but "by stretching the definition, The Grains may be called a novel, the first novel written and published on the Pacific coast."[1][2]
Early life
Margaret Jewett Smith was born in Saugus, Massachusetts in about 1812. She converted to Methodism when she was 17 at a camp meeting.[3] She attended the Methodist Episcopal Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham over the objections of her family, especially her father, who wished for her to care for him in his old age and who threatened to disown her.[3] She hoped she could become a missionary teacher among the Native Americans.[3]
Move to Oregon Country
Smith came to the Oregon Country to join the Methodist Mission in September 1837 with the Reverend David Leslie, his wife Mary, their children, and the Reverend H. K. W. Perkins.[4][5] Smith, who worked as a teacher, was the only unmarried white woman at the mission, thus the mission authorities pressured her to marry.[1] She was courted by William H. Willson and was engaged to him for a time, but she refused to marry him after learning he had also written to another woman asking her to come to Oregon to become his wife.[3] Smith insisted on waiting to marry Willson until it was known if the other woman was coming to Oregon.[3] Willson became impatient and asked Smith to falsely confess that they had fornicated so that they would be allowed to marry immediately.[3] Smith refused, but Willson told the other members of the mission that they had sinned together.[3] Smith, unable to prove her innocence, left the mission.[3]
Smith married William J. Bailey, a man from outside the mission, in 1839.[1][5] She lived with Bailey on their farm in French Prairie and became a regular contributor of prose and poetry to the Oregon Spectator beginning in 1846.[1][5] On April 12, 1854, Margaret divorced William because of his drinking and abuse.[6]
The Grains
The Grains was intended to be published in monthly installments, but only two volumes were issued, in August and September 1854 by Carter & Austin in Portland, Oregon.[7][8] Bailey was known to some Oregon readers by the time The Grains was published because of her work in the Spectator (signed "MJB"), and letters in church publications as early as 1838.[1] Immediately after her divorce, Bailey edited six columns of the "Ladies Department" for the Spectator.[1] Although she wished to edit a paper of her own for women, because she was a divorced woman of questionable reputation, she did not publish any writing after Grains.[1]
The Grains, published two years before Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, is like that work a social protest, which criticizes Jason Lee and the mission community, as well as the mission's failure to convert the local Native Americans, and discrimination against women.[9]
The Grains, which was considered a "lost" work, was republished in a single volume by the Oregon State University Press in 1986 and was produced by combining the last three copies in existence with a separately published story.[10]
Later life
Bailey married Francis Waddle in Polk County in 1855 and they divorced in 1858.[1] Bailey later moved to the Washington Territory and married a man named Crane.[1] Bailey died in poverty in Seattle on May 17, 1882, as Margaret J. Crane.[1][9]
See also
- 1854 in literature
- Oregon Mission
- Oregon missionaries
- Frances Fuller Victor, another early Oregon writer
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Margaret Jewett Smith Bailey". The Oregon Encyclopedia.
- ^ Bailey 1986, p. v.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bailey 1986, p. 7.
- ^ Bailey 1986, p. 4.
- ^ a b c "Margaret Jewett Bailey". Portland State University.
- ^ Bailey 1986, p. 8.
- ^ Weber, Marsha. "Margaret Jewett Bailey aka Ruth Rover" (PDF). Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission.
- ^ Nelson, Herbert B. (1944). "First True Confession Story Pictures Oregon 'Moral'". Oregon Historical Quarterly. 45 (2): 168-176.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b St. John, Primus; Wendt, Ingrid, eds. (1993). From Here We Speak: An Anthology of Oregon Poetry. Oregon Literature Series. Oregon State University Press. p. 38.
- ^ OSU Extension Service (May 1, 1986). "Rare Oregon Novel Considered Lost: New 'Grains' Edition Out". The Bulletin.
References
External links
- Full text of The Grains from Indiana University Digital Library Program