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7-1947
Life and Writings of Mary Hayden Green Pike
(1824-1908)
Rachel Reed Griffin
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Reed Griffin, Rachel, "Life and Writings of Mary Hayden Green Pike (1824-1908)" (1947). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper
2383.
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THE L IFE AND WRITINGS
OF
MARY HAYDEN GREEN PIKE
,- c f '
(1 8 2 4 -1 9 0 8 )
By
RACHEL REED GRIFFIN
i'
B. A ., U n iv e r s it y o f R o c h e s t e r , 1943
A THESIS
Subm itted in P a r t i a l F u lf il lm e n t o f the
R equirem ents f o r the D egree o f
M aster o f A rts ( i n E n g lis h )
D i v i s i o n o f Graduate Study
U n iv e r s it y o f Maine
Orono
J u ly , 1947
ABSTRACT
THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF MARY HAYDEN GREEN PIKE
(1 8 2 4 -1 9 0 8 )
By
R a ch el R . G r i f f i n
A lth ough s k e tch e s o f the l i f e
o f Mary Hayden Green
Pike appear in A p p le to n s 1 C y c lo p a e d ia o f Am erican B iograph y
and in the D ic t io n a r y o f Am erican B io g ra p h y , an ex ten d ed
stud y o f h er l i f e
and works has n o t been w r it t e n .
Whatever
the cause o f h e r o b s c u r i t y , h e r p o p u la r it y as a n o v e l i s t o f
the "fe m in in e f i f t i e s , " h er en th u siasm f o r th e a b o l i t i o n i s t
c a u s e , and h e r v a lu e as a p r o p a g a n d is t seem t o m e r it more
than l i t e r a r y o b l i v i o n .
Mary Hayden Green P ik e , a p r e - C i v i l War n o v e l i s t o f
C a la is , M aine, was one o f th e more p o p u la r w r it e r s t o f o l l o w
in the wake o f H a r r ie t B eech er Stow e.
D eep ly co n ce rn e d w ith
the m oral is s u e o f the s la v e r y q u e s t io n ,
she v i s i t e d the South,
where she made c l o s e o b s e r v a t io n o f the s la v e r y system .
firm e d in her a n t i - s l a v e r y v iew s by t h i s v i s i t ,
en cou ra ged by h e r husband, F r e d e r ic k A. Pike
Con­
she was fu r t h e r
(1 8 1 7 -1 8 8 6 ), a
Congressman, by h i s f r i e n d s Hamlin and B la in e , and by h er
b r o t h e r - i n - l a w , James Shepherd P ik e , W ashington co rre s p o n d e n t
and a s s o c ia t e e d i t o r o f the New York Tribune 1 8 5 0 -1 8 6 0 , and
U nited S ta te s M in is te r t o the N eth erla n d s 1 8 6 1 -1 8 6 6 .
Mrs. P i k e 's th re e n o v e ls were w r it t e n in the s e n t i ­
m ental and m elod ra m atic s t y le o f the women w r it e r s o f the 18 50 '
Her f i r s t n o v e l, Id a May,
a
S to r y o f T hings A ctu a l and p o s s ib l e
p u b lis h e d in 1854 under the pseudonym o f Mary Langdon, was
e x tr e m e ly p o p u la r , and p r o b a b ly h e lp e d t o s tre n g th e n th e deep
im p r e s s io n made by Uncle Tom1s C a b in , f i r s t p u b lis h e d s e r i a l l y
i n t h e „N a tio n a l Era 1 8 5 1 -1 8 5 2 .
c h ie fly to it s
Id a May’ s p o p u la r i t y was due
theme, and M rs. P ik e , l i k e Mrs. Stow e, d id n o t
w r it e a n oth er n o v e l t o e q u a l h e r f i r s t i n s e l l i n g v a lu e .
Her
second n o v e l, C a s te , A S to ry o f R e p u b lica n E q u a l it y , by "Sydney
A. S to r y ,
J r . , " d e a lt w ith th e p rob lem s o f r a c i a l d is c r im in a ­
t i o n , p a r t i c u l a r l y th a t o f m is c e g e n a t io n , and was n ot so popu­
l a r as h e r f i r s t .
A gnes, M rs. P i k e ’ s t h ir d and l a s t n o v e l, a
romance s e t in the American R e v o lu tio n a r y p e r i o d , was l e a s t
p o p u la r o f the th r e e w orks, p erh aps b eca u se the s u b je c t m atter
was l e s s t im e ly .
A ft e r Agnes Mrs. P ike gave up w r it in g and
c o n tin u e d h er a c t i v i t i e s i n c h a r it a b l e o r g a n iz a t io n s and in
the B a p t is t ch u rch , o f w hich she was an e n t h u s i a s t ic member.
She a ls o d id s t i l l l i f e
and la n d sca p e p a in t i n g .
In h e r own day and even l a t e r M rs. P ike was c o n fu se d
w ith the w r it e r o f a song e n t i t l e d
"Id a M ay," w ith contem porary
Pike women a u th o r s , among them her s i s t e r - i n - l a w
and her n i e c e ,
and w ith an E n g lis h n o v e l i s t , E m ily J o l l y , who a ls o w rote a
C a s te .
Mrs. Pike sh ou ld be c o n s id e r e d in the l i g h t o f the
tim es i n which she w r o te .
Her s t y le i s
th a t o f o th e r p o p u la r
fem in in e n o v e l i s t s o f the m id -n in e te e n th c e n t u r y .
su p p o rte r o f the a n t i - s l a v e r y c a u s e ,
American l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y .
As a stro n g
she d e s e r v e s m ention in
PREFACE
My i n t e r e s t i n Mary Hayden Green P ike was arou sed
by a p ap er " Id a May, by Mary Langdon" rea d by M iss A lic e
R o b e rtso n i n an Am erican L it e r a t u r e
1946.
sem inar i n the S p rin g o f
A lth ough Mrs. P i k e » s f i r s t n o v e l, Id a May, p u b lis h e d
a few y e a r s a f t e r U ncle Tom* 3 C a bin , was ph en om en ally popu­
l a r i n i t s d a y , by the end o f the f i r s t decade o f th e 19 00 *s
i t had been alm ost f o r g o t t e n .
M rs. P ik e h a s been u n d e s e rv e d ly
o v e r lo o k e d as a p o p u la r w r it e r o f the
litt le
i s known o f h e r l i f e .
"fe m in in e f i f t i e s , " and
W hatever the cause o f M rs. P i k e 's
o b s c u r i t y , her enthu siasm fo i/th e a b o l i t i o n i s t ca u se and her
v a lu e as a p ro p a g a n d is t seem t o m e r it more than l i t e r a r y o b l i v ­
io n .
C on seq u en tly I have attem p ted a stu d y o f the l i f e
and
w r it in g s o f t h i s Maine a u th o r .
I t has been d i f f i c u l t
t o c o l l e c t d a ta on Mrs. Pike
b eca u se so few o f h er r e l a t i v e s and a c q u a in ta n ce s are now l i v ­
i n g , and beca u se th o se o f h e r l e t t e r s w hich have been p r e s e r v e d
are n o t a v a i l a b l e .
My t a s k was f a c i l i t a t e d by th e g en erou s a id
o f a number o f p e o p l e .
To M rs. H orace C ro x fo rd I am in d e b te d
f o r b io g r a p h i c a l m a t e r ia l w hich she had p r e v io u s l y c o l l e c t e d ,
and f o r a co p y o f Agnes, M rs. P i k e 's t h ir d n o v e l; t o M rs. H. I .
Thomsen and th e M isses J osep h in e and V e sta Moore f o r p e r s o n a l
a n e cd o te s and it e m s ; t o Mr. H arold A. D a vis f o r b io g r a p h ic a l
m a t e r ia l c o n c e r n in g th e P ike f a m ily .
I am a ls o a p p r e c ia t iv e
o f th e h e lp g iv e n me by the s t a f f s o f th e l i b r a r i e s o f the
U n iv e r s it y o f M aine, the S ta te o f M aine, the Maine H i s t o r i c a l
S o c i e t y , the C it y o f B angor, the C it y o f C a la i s , the New Eng­
lan d H is t o r i c G e n e a lo g ic a l S o c ie t y , H arvard U n iv e r s it y , and
the C it y o f B o s to n .
To th e l a t e D r. M ilto n E l l i s I am d e e p ly g r a t e f u l
f o r th e time and s u g g e s t io n s so g e n e r o u s ly and p a t i e n t l y g iv e n
me.
To D r. L loy d F ie w e llin g I am lik e w is e in d e b te d f o r much
a s s is t a n c e in the c o m p ila t io n o f t h i s stu d y .
CONTENTS
Page
THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF MARY HAYDEN GREEN PIKE
(1 8 2 4 -1 9 0 8 )...............................................................................................
1
CHAPTER I .
EASTPORT AND CALAIS, MAINE..................................
1
II.
ANCESTRY OF MARY HAYDEN GREEN...........................
9
III.
EARLY YEARS AND MARRIAGE...................................
20
IV .
THE PRODUCTIVE PERIOD..............................................
34
V.
LATER YEARS.....................................................................
41
IDA MAY:
acW al
.....................
51
A STORY OF REPUBLICAN EQUALITY. . .
65
LATER WRITINGS..............................................................
75
SUMMARY..................................................... .......................................................
85
BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................
88
BIOGRAPHY OF WRITER.................................................................................
92a
APPENDIX.'........................................................................................................
93
V I.
V II.
V III.
CASTE:
A STORY OF THINGS
F q s s i 'BEb .
a Hd
F o llo w in g
Page
ELIJAH DIX GREEN, HANNAH HAYDENGREEN.........................................
16
HOME OF ELIJAH D. GREEN........................................................................
22
"IDA MAY" HOUSE..........................................................................................
36
MARY HAYDEN GREEN PIKE, FREDERICKAUGUSTUS PIKE...................
40
"THORNCROFT".................................................................................................
45
PIKE MONUMENT AND FAMILY LOT...........................................................
49
CHAPTER I
EASTPORT AND CALAIS, MAINE
S ettle m e n t and E a r ly H is t o r y (1 7 8 5 -1 8 3 0 )
E a s t p o r t , M aine, th e b ir t h p la c e o f Mary Hayden G reen,
is
s it u a t e d on the m ost e a s t e r l y is la n d o f th e U n ited S ta te s
at the head o f Passamaquoddy Bay, n ot f a r from Cam pobello and
Deer i s l a n d s .
A c t u a lly E a s tp o r t i s in s u la r o n ly a t h ig h t id e
s in c e th e ch a n n el i s d ry at lo w t i d e ;
the f a c t t h a t th e is la n d
i s w h o lly surrounded by th e sea means th a t i t has a p a r t i c u ­
l a r l y e q u a b le c lim a t e and te m p e ra tu re .
The v i l l a g e i s
s itu ­
ated on the s o u t h e a s t e r ly p a r t o f th e is la n d and owes i t s p o s i ­
t i o n t o th e e x is t e n c e a t th a t p o in t o f a s a fe and roomy h a rb or
n ever c l o s e d by i c e . ^
The i r r e g u l a r o u t li n e and s u r fa c e s t r u c ­
tu re o f th e is la n d h e lp to p rod u ce some o f the m ost p ic tu r e s q u e
co u n try a lo n g the c o a s t o f M aine.
E a s tp o r t has the unusual t i d e s and f o g s o f th e Bay
o f Fundy r e g io n o f N orth A m erica.
The m e e tin g o f the warm a i r
o v e r the G u lf Stream and th e c o o l e r atm osphere o v e r th e A r c t ic
c u r r e n t p ro d u c e s some o f the h e a v ie s t f o g i n the w o rld .
"Pea
soup" f o g d e s c r i b e s v e r y w e ll th e n a tu re o f th a t w hich i s fou n d
in and around E a s t p o r t .
x------------
George F. B acon, C a la i s , E a s t p o r t , and V i c i n i t y
(Newark, 1 8 9 2 ), p . 4 1 .
The is la n d was f i r s t
s e t t l e d at th e c l o s e o f the
R e v o lu tio n a r y War by f i s h e r f o l k from th e E ssex County c o a s t
towns o f M a ssa ch u setts and from New H am pshire, who e s t a b lis h e d
a c u r in g p o s t on Moose I s la n d
(a s i t was th en know n), from
which th e f i s h cau gh t i n n e ig h b o r in g w a te rs c o u ld be c o n v e n ie n t ly
p r o c e s s e d and sh ip p ed t o M a s s a c h u s e tts .2
The s e ttle m e n t and
developm ent o f the is la n d was g r e a t l y h in d e r e d by the boundary
d is p u t e s betw een the U nited S ta te s and G reat B r i t a i n .
A lthough
E a s tp o r t was in c o r p o r a t e d i n t o a town i n 1798, i t was n o t r e c o g ­
n iz e d as U nited S ta t e s p r o p e r t y by the E n g lis h u n t i l th e f i n a l
d e c i s i o n o f th e boundary com m ission a p p o in te d by th e T re a ty o f
Ghent.
On J u ly 1 1 , 1814, the American g a r r is o n at F ort S u l l i ­
van on the is la n d was f o r c e d t o su rre n d e r t o B r i t i s h n a v a l
the is la n d
f o r c e s , and f o r f o u r y e a r s (1 8 1 4 -1 8 1 8 )Awas under B r i t i s h mar­
t i a l la w .
A lthough the c i t i z e n s o f E a s t p o r t were r e lu c t a n t to
take the r e q u ir e d o a th t o the Crown, th e B r i t i s h s o l d i e r s t r e a t e d
them f a i r l y ,
i f f i r m l y .^
On June 3 0 , 1 8 18 , the B r i t i s h t r o o p s
ev a cu a ted F o rt S u lliv a n and the American c o n tin g e n t aga in t o o k
p o s s e s s io n o f i t .
Upon the d e p a rtu re o f the B r i t i s h ,
s e v e r a l prom in en t
E a stp o rt c i t i z e n s who had f l e d t o Lubec re tu rn e d t o th e town,
and w ith the r e t u r n o f th e se p e o p le and th e a r r i v a l o f new ones
-------------------5----------------W illia m H. K ilb y , E a s tp o r t and Passamaquoddy (E a st­
p o r t , 1 8 8 8 ), p . 6 4 .
3
W illia m H. K ilb y , MA New England Town Under F o re ig n
M a rtia l Law ,11 New England M agazine, A ugust, 18 9 6 , p p . 6 8 5 -6 9 8 .
from M a ssa ch u se tts, E a s tp o r t began a p e r i o d o f s u c c e s s com­
m e r c ia lly and c u l t u r a l l y .
The o f f i c e r s o f th e g a r r is o n at
P ort S u lliv a n b rou g h t t h e i r f a m i l i e s t o the town and added
much to the s o c i a l l i f e
o f th e com m unity, m in g lin g w ith the
d escen d a n ts o f American L o y a li s t s who had s e t t l e d i n the Can­
adian p r o v in c e s and who had p a sse d on t o t h e ir d e sce n d a n ts
many o f the s o c i a l t r a d i t i o n s o f the c o u r t l y l i f e .
Many
a t t r a c t i v e and s p a c io u s hom es, some o f w hich had hou sed th e
B r i t i s h d u rin g t h e i r f o u r - y e a r o c c u p a t io n o f E a s t p o r t , gave
an a ir o f d i g n i t y and p r o s p e r i t y t o the town i n i t s e a r l y d a y s,
and were g r a c io u s ly opened t o t r a v e l l e r s , m is s io n a r ie s , and
lyceum s p e a k e r s .
A few o f th e se e a r l y homes were the Hayden
h ou se, b u i l t by Aaron Hayden, the m a tern a l g r a n d fa th e r o f Mary
H. G reen, i n 1 8 05; the Weston h o u se , b u i l t in 1810 by Jonathan
D. W eston, a la w y er who had come t o E a s tp o r t about 1803; and
the K ilb y h o u se , b u i l t in 1818 by D a n ie l K ilb y and n o te d f o r
the elm t r e e s p la n t e d by i t s owner.
On th e American s id e o f the S t. C r o ix R iv e r a t th e
head o f the t i d e i s
s it u a t e d the c i t y o f C a la i s , where the
Green and Pike f a m i l i e s became p ro m in e n t.
up the r i v e r i s the v i l l a g e
Two m ile s f a r t h e r
o f M illto w n , the h i s t o r y o f w hich
i s c l o s e l y lin k e d w ith th a t o f C a la is .
The e a r l y s e t t l e r s in
t h i s v i c i n i t y engaged in fa rm in g , f i s h i n g , h u n tin g , and lum ber­
in g .
Because o f th e abundance o f n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e s , th e area
became known as a s o r t o f backwoods E den.
I t c o n ta in e d f o r e s t s
c o n s i s t i n g o f h e a v y , v a lu a b le tim b e r , and f a l l s w hich i n v i t e d
the e r e c t i o n o f dams and the b u i ld i n g o f m i l l s .
M illto w n r e c e i v e d i t s name from a saw ^jnill b u i l t
th e re about 1 8 0 0 , the f i r s t t o be e r e c t e d on the main r i v e r .
I t was c a l l e d th e " b r i s k 11 m i l l b eca u se o f i t s busy and l i v e l y
a c t io n .
It is
an i n t e r e s t i n g f a c t th a t some o f th e lumber
from w hich the B u l l f i n c h S ta te House i n B oston was b u i l t ,
n o t a b ly th e f r o n t colum ns o f th e secon d s t o r y , came from t r e e s
cu t on the p l a n t a t io n o f Edward H. R obb in s i n R o b b in s to n ,
sawed in the " b r i s k " m i l l a t M illto w n , and sh ip p ed from th e
S t. C ro ix R iv e r .^
A ft e r 1800 more m i l l s were e r e c t e d in th e tow n sh ip ,
and lu m bering on th e S t . C r o ix R iv e r began i n e a r n e s t .
The
t id e made the r i v e r n a v ig a b le f o r la r g e v e s s e l s tw ic e e v e r y
t w e n ty -fo u r h o u r s , and a s u b s t a n t ia l tra d e was c a r r i e d on w ith
B oston and o th e r p o r t s .
In 1806 by an a c t o f th e l e g i s l a t u r e , th e tow n sh ip
r e c e iv e d the name o f C a la is a c c o r d in g t o the w ish es o f the
to w n sp e o p le .
The c h o ic e o f a name in d ic a t e d the warm sympathy
and re g a rd w hich the Am erican p e o p le had f o r P ra n ce.
A lo c a l
h i s t o r i a n made the rem ark,
I t i s g r e a t l y t o be r e g r e t t e d th a t th e p e o p le on the
o th e r s id e o f the r i v e r d i d n o t tak e the h i n t , and adopt
the e q u a lly p r e t t y and a p p r o p r ia te name o f D over, in s t e a d
o f the un euphon ious though p io u s cognomen o f S t . S tephen.
--------------------------------- 3 ------------------------------
K ilb y , E a s t p o r t and passam aquoddy, p p . 2 2 2 -2 2 3 .
See
a ls o Samuel Lane Boardman7 The N a t u r a lis t o r the S t . C r o ix (Ban­
g o r , 1 9 0 3 ), p . 13.
5
I s a a c Case K now lton, Annals o f C a la i s , M aine, and
S t. S tep h en , New B runsw ick ( C a l a i s , 18737, p p . 4 2-43'.
In 1809 when the G en era l C ourt o f M a ss a ch u se tts , at
the r e q u e s t o f the p e o p le , p a s s e d an a c t a llo w in g the town o f
C a la is t o be in c o r p o r a t e d , th e p o p u la t io n was a p p ro x im a te ly
two h u nd red.
On June 1 6 , 1 8 0 9 , th e p r o v i s i o n s o f the a ct
were c a r r i e d o u t , and the f i r s t town e l e c t i o n was h e ld J u ly 3 1 ,
1809.
Between 1810 and 1820 b o th C a la is and S t. Stephen
made some p r o g r e s s i n im p rov in g s t r e e t s , r o a d s , h o u s e s , r a i ­
ment, and t h e i r s t y le o f l i v i n g .
Y et in s p it e o f improvement
th e re were i n C a la is no good r o a d s , no s c h o o lh o u s e s , no ch u rch e s,
no banks, and n o t much m oney.
There w ere, h ow ev er, many p e o p le
who were w i l l i n g t o work and s a c r i f i c e
in order to p r o g r e s s .
In A p r i l, 1 810, the f i r s t ta x l e v i e d i n C a la is c o n ta in e d a
p r o v is io n f o r s u p p o rtin g s c h o o l s .
True t o the Yankee t r a d i ­
t i o n , th e tow n sp eop le v o te d th e f i r s t d o l l a r f o r f r e e p u b l ic
s c h o o ls .
Some o f the p io n e e r s may have been i l l i t e r a t e , but
they r e a l i z e d the im p orta n ce o f e d u c a tio n i n making t h e i r
c h ild r e n i n t e l l i g e n t and happy.
The p e r i o d 1810-1820 was a d a rk e r a in the h i s t o r y
o f C a la is , one o f war and p o v e r t y .
W ith th e War o f 1812 came
the B r i t i s h b lo ck a d e and the c u t t i n g o f f o f a l l w estern t r a d e .
Although th e re was p l e n t y o f fo o d and c l o t h i n g in S t . Stephen,
th e re was no o p p o r t u n it y f o r sm u g g lin g, as th e re m ight have
been b e fo r e the w ar.
P r i c e s went up, and th e p e o p le o f C a la is
d id n ot have the money t o buy m o la s s e s a t $ 1 .0 0 a g a l l o n ,
c o a r s e g r a in m eal at $ 2 .0 0 a b u s h e l, and f l o u r at $20 a b a r r e l .
There was no f i g h t i n g on e i t h e r s id e o f the r i v e r , but th e re
was c o n t in u a l f e a r th a t la w le s s c o n f l i c t s m ight b rea k ou t
betw een th e in h a b it a n t s o f the two tow n s.
In s p it e o f th e se
tr ia ls ,
sm a ll amounts o f
the C a la is p e o p le managed t o r a i s e
money f o r c u r r e n t e x p e n s e s ,
s c h o o ls , and h igh w ays.
A lth ough i n 1806 S t . Stephen had two ch u r c h e s ,
C a la is had n on e.
There
much i n t e r e s t in p u b l i c
was l i t t l e r e l i g i o u s f e e l i n g and n ot
w orsh ip i n C a la i s .
F i n a l l y , in
the
l a t t e r p a r t o f 1816, a c o l d and gloom y y e a r , Thomas Asbury,
an i t i n e r a n t m in i s t e r , came t h e r e , p r e a c h in g w herever and
whenever he c o u ld f i n d the o p p o r t u n it y .
H is e n t h u s i a s t ic and
dram atic sp e e ch e s ca u sed a r e l i g i o u s r e v i v a l .
At the m eet­
in g s w hich he h e ld , w eird and e x c i t i n g sce n e s o f c o n v e r s io n
o f t e n to o k p l a c e .
l e f t C a la is ,
D uring th e two y e a r s b e fo r e Mr. Asbury
a M e t h o d is t -E p is c o p a l Church was b u i l t t h e r e ;
a f t e r h i s d e p a r t u r e , r e l i g i o u s f e r v o r d ie d down f o r a tim e .
In 1828 a wave o f r e l i g i o u s en th u siasm among the
C o n g r e g a t io n a lis t s prom pted them t o e r e c t a m eetin g house
adequate t o the n eed s o f the town.
Samuel K e ll e y , p r o b a b ly
the f i r s t B a p t is t t o s e t t l e i n C a la is , d id a l l he c o u ld t o a id
in th e e s ta b lis h m e n t o f
a C o n g r e g a tio n a l ch u rch , f o r he
no p r o s p e c t o f a ch u rch
o f h i s own f a i t h at the tim e .
saw
The e s ta b lis h m e n t o f th e se ch u rch e s had a r e f i n i n g
and s o f t e n in g in f lu e n c e on th e p e o p le o f C a la i s , who had p r e ­
v i o u s ly been t o o busy e a r n in g a m eager l i v i n g and m eetin g the
th r e a t s t o t h e i r s e c u r i t y d u rin g th e War o f 1812 t o attem pt
to s a t i s f y t h e i r s p i r i t u a l n e e d s.
A la w y er had b een s o r e ly needed i n C a la is beca u se
o f c o n f l i c t i n g c la im s and i n t e r e s t s and b eca u se o f b a d ly co n ­
fu se d p e c u n ia r y a f f a i r s .
The f i r s t law yer th e re was th e Hon­
o r a b le George Downes, a n a t iv e o f W a lp o le , M a ssa ch u se tts, and
a graduate o f Harvard C o l le g e .
In 1816 he came t o C a la is ,
s t a r te d the p r a c t i c e o f h i s p r o f e s s i o n , and d id much t o h elp
the t o m d u rin g i t s d a r k e s t p e r i o d .
For f i f t y
t h e r e , one o f th e most a b le , a c t i v e ,
and i n f l u e n t i a l c i t i z e n s
o f the tow n.
He se rv e d f o r a tim e as s t a te
y e a r s he remained
s e n a to r , and f o r
t h i r t y y e a r s was p r e s id e n t o f the C a la is Bank, w hich went
in t o o p e r a t io n in 1832 w ith a c a p i t a l o f $ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 .
He d ie d in
1869.
A nother la w yer w orthy o f n o te was the H onorable
Joseph G ranger, who was a ls o c a p a b le and p o p u la r .
He was born
in N ew buryport, M a ss a ch u se tts , and as a young man was engaged
in com merce.
Granger f i n a l l y abandoned t h i s o c c u p a t io n , read
law , and came t o C a la is i n 1830.
He soon had a la r g e p r a c t i c e ,
and became a le a d e r o f th e W ashington County B a r.
S e v e r a l prom­
i s i n g young men, who were l a t e r a d m itted t o the b a r , rea d law
w ith h im .6
By 1818 th e e f f e c t s o f th e war had alm ost p a sse d
away, and t h in g s began t o lo o k more h o p e f u l.
1820 marked the
§
B io g r a p h ic a l s k e tch e s o f the H onorable George Downes
and th e H onorable Joseph Granger are t o be foun d in K now lton’ s
A nnals, p p . 8 1 -8 4 .
b e g in n in g o f the b u s ie s t p e r io d i n th e h i s t o r y o f Maine lum ber­
in g .
In 1820 began a ls o a p e r io d o f g r e a t a c t i v i t y and r a p id
grow th in C a la is .
In the n e x t decade the town more than quad­
ru p le d i t s p o p u la t io n and w e a lth , and became a p l e a s a n t , t h r i f t y ,
and c u lt u r e d com m unity.
The d is c o m fo r t and p o v e r t y o f th e p r e ­
ce d in g y e a r s were b a n ish ed by th e appearance o f good roa d s and
c o n v e n ie n t b r id g e s , f i n e c a r r i a g e s ,
7
t h r i v in g ch u rch e s and
s o c i e t i e s , and e le g a n t hom es, f u r n i t u r e , and c l o t h i n g .
demand f o r lum ber w idened th e avenue t o w e a lth .
The
On b o th s id e s
o f the r i v e r were lu x u r io u s homes w h ich fou n d a p r o p e r s e t ­
t in g i n th e b e a u t i f u l sc e n e ry a lo n g the S t . C ro ix R iv e r .
The p e o p le o f C a la is were becom ing in c r e a s i n g l y
aware o f t h e i r c u l t u r a l and s o c i a l , as w e ll as t h e i r p h y s i c a l ,
n e e d s, and i t was o n ly a few y e a r s a fte rw a rd th a t th e y form ed
a l i b r a r y c lu b and su p p orted th e e s ta b lis h m e n t o f the f i r s t
l o c a l new sp ap er.
To t h i s e n t e r p r i s i n g community th e fa t h e r
o f Mary Hayden G reen, E l i j a h D ix G reen, who was t o become
prom inent in the l a t e r developm ent o f C a la i s , removed h i s fam­
i l y from E a s tp o r t i n th e l a t e r 18 20 *s .
-------------------7----------------I.
C. K now lton, in h i s A n n als, p . 4 1 , w r i t e s ,
[S tep h en ] Brewer d ie d i n 1814. The n e x t y e a r h i s widow r e c e iv e d
from f r i e n d s in B o s to n , a C h a is e ,— the f i r s t one th a t e v e r
g ra ce d th e s t r e e t s o f C a l a i s . "
CHAPTER I I
ANCESTRY OP MARY HAYDEN GREEN
Mary Hayden Green came o f e a r l y P u r ita n s t o c k , h er
p a te r n a l a n c e s t o r s h a v in g p la y e d an im p orta n t r o l e i n the
h i s t o r y o f M id d le se x and W orcester c o u n t ie s i n M a ssa ch u se tts,
as e a r l y s e t t l e r s , d o c t o r s , and B a p t is t m in is t e r s th e re and
l a t e r in M aine; h e r m atern al a n c e s tr y lik e w is e i s t r a c e a b le
to the e a r l y se v e n te e n th c e n tu r y i n M a ssa ch u setts and t o the
la t e e ig h t e e n t h ce n tu r y on th e e a s t c o a s t o f M aine, where
the Hayden fa m ily was an i n f l u e n t i a l one in the e a r l y h i s t o r y
o f E a stp ort.
In t r a c in g th e fa m ily h i s t o r y o f Mary Hayden
Green, one d i s c o v e r s in d iv id u a ls who were e n t e r p r i s i n g and
in d u s t r io u s , k i n d l y ,
and r e lig io u s -m in d e d .
By t h e i r contem ­
p o r a r ie s n o t a few o f them were r e c o g n iz e d and r e s p e c t e d f o r
t h e ir c a p a b i l i t i e s and f o r t h e ir many C h r is t ia n v i r t u e s .
Thomas G reen,® h e r e a r l i e s t a n c e s to r in th e d i r e c t
l i n e t o come t o t h i s c o u n t r y , was b orn in England about 1606,
and came t o Am erica p r o b a b ly i n 1635 o r 16 3 6 .
The f i r s t r e c ­
ord i n w hich h i s name appeared i s d a te d 1653, when h i s young­
e s t d a u g h ter was b o r n .
He p erh a ps l i v e d f i r s t i n Ip s w ic h , but
moved t o M alden, where as e a r l y as 1651 h i s w ife E liz a b e t h and
h is da u gh ter sig n e d a p e t i t i o n t o the G en era l C o u rt.
He owned
g
Samuel S. G reene, A G e n e a lo g ic a l S k etch o f th e D es­
cen d a n ts o f Thomas Greene o f M alden, M a ssa ch u setts TBoaEon,
-----------------------------
a s i x t y - t h r e e a cre farm i n th a t p a r t o f Malden w hich i s now
M elrose.
In 1658 he was selectm a n o f M alden, and he was
s e v e r a l tim es on th e grand ju r y o f M id d lesex C ou n ty.
The
date o f h i s d e a th i s u n c e r t a in .
He was m a rried t w i c e , h i s f i r s t w i f e , E liz a b e t h ,
b ein g the m other o f a l l h i s c h i l d r e n .
She d ie d August 22 , 1658.
On September 5 , 1 6 5 9 , he m arried Mrs. P ra n ces C ook, who had
been tw ic e widowed and was th e m other o f a number o f c h ild r e n
by her fo rm e r hu sban ds.
Thomas and E liz a b e t h Green had n in e
c h ild r e n , some o f whom were p r o b a b ly b orn i n E ngland, a lth ou gh
i t i s n o t known how many.
Thomas G reen,® son o f th e p r e c e d in g , was b orn p r o b ­
a b ly i n England about 1 6 3 0 .
About 1653 he m a rrie d R eb ecca
H i l l s , da u gh ter o f J osep h H i l l s o f Malden and Rose (D u n ster)
H ills .
He was a fa rm er i n Malden and was a dm itted as a f r e e ­
man on May 3 1 , 1 6 7 0 .
He d ie d F ebruary 1 3 , 1 6 7 1 /2 ; h i s w i l l ,
proved A p r il 2 , 1672, gave t o h is w ife the t h ir d p a r t o f h i s
e s t a t e , th e rem ainder t o be d i v id e d e q u a lly among h i s c h ild r e n
— R e b e cca , Hannah, Thomas, and Samuel, who were th e n a l l under
age.
H is w i f e , R e b e cc a , d ie d June 6 , 1674.
C ap tain Samuel G r e e n . w a s b orn O ctob er 5 , 1670, in
Malden.
He m a rried E liz a b e t h Upham, supposed t o be a da u gh ter
o f Deacon p h in ea s Upham, e l d e s t son o f L ie u te n a n t P h in eas Upham,
§
I b id . , p . 9.
I b i d . , p . 12.
who was s e v e r e ly wounded In th e storm in g o f th e N a rra g a n sett
P o r t , December 19, 1 6 75, and whose f a t h e r , Deacon John Upham,
came from England about 1635.
In the w i l l o f h i s g r a n d fa th e r ,
J osep h H i l l s o f Newbury, he was d i s t in g u is h e d from o th e r Sam­
u e l G reens as th e one who m a rried E liz a b e t h Upham.
He l i v e d
in Malden u n t i l about 1717, when he moved h i s fa m ily t o the
town o f L e i c e s t e r , o f w hich he was one o f th e fo u n d e r s .
That
tow nship was g ra n te d by th e G eneral C o u rt, and C aptain Green
was one o f the com m ittee a p p o in te d to s e t t l e i t .
much p r o p e r t y and was v e r y i n f l u e n t i a l .
He owned
That p a r t o f th e
town o f L e i c e s t e r w hich was o c c u p ie d b y him and h i s r e l a t i v e s
was l a t e r c a l l e d G r e e n v ille i n h is h o n o r .
1 7 3 5 /6 .
He d ie d January 2 ,
H is w i l l , r e c o r d e d in the W orcester P rob a te C o u rt,
m entioned h i s w ife E liz a b e t h ,
son Thomas, and s i x d a u g h te rs .
Mrs. E liz a b e t h Green d ie d in L e i c e s t e r about 1761.
Reverend Thomas G r e e n , o n l y
son o f C apta in Samuel
Green o f L e i c e s t e r , was b orn i n Malden i n 1 699.
he went t o L e i c e s t e r w ith h i s f a t h e r .
About 1717
H is f a t h e r h a v in g t o
lea v e f o r a tim e , Thomas rem ained t o lo o k a f t e r some c a t t l e
at p a s tu r e d u rin g th e summer se a s o n .
Axi i n t e r e s t i n g fa m ily
t r a d i t i o n r e l a t e s th a t the son was a tta c k e d by a f e v e r and
s h e lt e r e d h im s e lf in a c a v e .
Here he s u s ta in e d h im s e lf on
m ilk from a cow whose c a l f he had t i e d t o a t r e e near b y .
Although he was i n a s t a t e o f g r e a t e x h a u s tio n , he had to
craw l t o a b ro o k f o r w ater and chewed some r o o t s w hich he
------------- n ----------
I b i d . , p . 21.
found on the way.
He was d is c o v e r e d i n t h i s c o n d it io n by two
men, who r e fu s e d t o take him home but n o t i f i e d h i s f a t h e r .
C aptain Green l o s t no tim e in m oving h i s son t o Malden on h o r s e ­
b a ck , the t r i p o ccu p y in g f o u r d a y s .
Thomas a c q u ir e d a know ledge o f m ed icin e and su rg ery
from two E n g lis h b u cc a n e e r s who b oa rd ed w ith h i s f a t h e r f o r
many y e a r s , h a v in g su rre n d e re d th em selv es under an o f f e r o f
pardon from th e B r i t i s h governm ent.
These su rg eon s in s t r u c t e d
Thomas and gave him a few m e d ic a l b o o k s .
tio n ,
W ith t h i s p r e p a ra ­
and s u s ta in e d by a v ig o r o u s i n t e l l e c t and much p r a c t i c a l
wisdom, he p r a c t i c e d m e d icin e w ith g r e a t s u c c e s s , h i s p r a c t i c e
e x te n d in g as f a r as Rhode I s la n d and C o n n e c t ic u t .
Thomas was m a rrie d about 1725 t o Martha Lynde, born
in Malden i n 1700, d a u g h ter o f C aptain John Lynde and h i s t h ir d
w if e , J u d ith .
They had seven c h ild r e n .
In a d d it io n t o b e in g a s u c c e s s f u l p h y s ic i a n , Thomas
was a ls o a prom in ent clerg y m a n .
He o r g a n iz e d a B a p t is t ch u rch
in South L e i c e s t e r and in 1736 became p a s t o r o f th a t co n g re g a ­
t i o n , w hich was la r g e and f l o u r i s h i n g .
The i n s c r i p t i o n on h is
gr ave s t one re ad s :
E r e c te d in Memory o f D o c to r Thomas G reen. He was
p a s t o r o f the B a p t is t Church i n L e i c e s t e r , and a n oted
p h y s ic ia n .
He d e p a rte d t h i s l i f e August 1 9 , 1 773, age
74.
Mrs. Martha G reen, widow o f the R everend Thomas G reen, d ie d in
L e i c e s t e r , June 2 0 , 1780.
They had f i v e
sons and two d a u g h te r s .
Dr. John G r e e n ,12 son o f th e R everend Thomas and
Martha (Lynde) G reen, was b o rn in L e i c e s t e r August 1 4 , 1736.
He m arried f i r s t , Mary Osgood o f W o r c e s te r , who d ie d Septem­
ber 5 , 1761, and se c o n d , Mary R u g g le s , d a u g h ter o f B r ig a d ie r G eneral Timothy R u gg les o f Sandwich, Cape Cod.
He s tu d ie d m e d icin e w ith h i s f a t h e r and s t a r t e d a
s u c c e s s f u l p r a c t i c e i n W orcester when he was q u ite you n g.
By
h is f i r s t m arria ge he had th re e c h i l d r e n ; by h i s secon d w if e ,
who d ie d June 1 6 , 1814, in W o rce s te r, he had t e n — e ig h t boys
and two g i r l s .
Thomas G r e e n ,^
son o f D o cto r John and Mary (O sgood)
Green o f W o rce s te r , was b orn th e re June 3 , 1 76 1 .
fir s t
He m a rried
(O cto b e r 8 , 1 7 8 2 ), Salome B arstow o f S u t t o n ,1^ who d ie d
November 2 9 , 1 7 99, and s e c o n d , Hannah D ela n o, a widow, o f W ool­
w ich , M aine.
He s tu d ie d t h e o lo g y w ith Joseph A very, who f o r f i f t y
y ea rs was p a s t o r o f th e C o n g r e g a tio n a l ch u rch i n H olden , Maine;
he a ls o s tu d ie d m e d icin e w ith h i s f a t h e r ,
and l i k e h i s p a te r n a l
g ra n d fa th e r was m in is t e r t o b o th s o u l and b o d y .
He became a
B a p tis t m in is t e r o f c o n s id e r a b le n o te and was s e t t l e d i n North
Yarmouth, M aine, where he was in s tru m e n ta l in e s t a b l i s h i n g the
I b id . , p . 34.
13
I b i d ., p . 48.
14
M arriage i n t e n t i o n s r e c o r d e d in the V i t a l R ecord s o f
S u tto n , M a ssa ch u setts (W o r c e s te r , M a ss a ch u se tts , 1 9 0 7 ), p . 205.
f i r s t B a p t is t ch u rch , s e r v in g as i t s f i r s t p a s t o r from 1797
f o r t h i r t e e n y e a r s . 15
Tim othy D w ight, p r e s id e n t o f Y a le ,
p a s s in g th rou gh th e town i n h i s New England t r a v e l s i n 1797
n oted w ith a p p ro v a l the f i r s t B a p t is t m eetin gh ou se i n N orth
Yarm outh.16
In 1798 th e R everend Thomas Green was the r e c i p ­
ie n t o f th e h on ora ry d e g re e o f M aster o f A rts from Brown U n iver­
s ity .
A ft e r h i s d e a th i n N orth Yarmouth, May 2 9 , 1814, an
17
o b it u a r y o f him in a B oston new spaper17 p r a is e d him f o r h i s
" s p r i g h t l y g e n i u s , . . .c a p a c io u s m in d ,. . . q u ic k and b r i l l i a n t
im a g in a t io n ," f o r h i s a f f a b i l i t y and k in d n e s s , h i s o r a t o r i c a l
p ow ers, and the " u n a f f e c t e d e le g a n c e and ea se w hich ren d ered
him a g r e e a b le in e v e r y c i r c l e . "
By h is f i r s t m arriage he had e ig h t c h ild r e n and by
the s e c o n d , a d au gh ter and a son .
Deacon E l i j a h D ix G r e e n , y o u n g e s t
son o f Thomas
and Salome (B arstow ) G reen, was b orn i n N orth Yarmouth March
22, 1799.
1800*s .
He moved t o E a s t p o r t , M aine, sometime i n the e a r ly
In 1823 he m arried Hannah C l a f l i n Hayden o f E a s tp o rt
and s e t t l e d h i s fa m ily at C a la is sometime a f t e r 18 24.
------------- 1
He owned
3 ---------------------------
W illia m H. Rowe, A n cien t N orth Yarmouth and Yarmouth,
Maine, 1626-1936 (Yarmouth, 1 9 3 7 ), p . 265.
16
I b i d ., p . 181.
See a ls o Tim othy D w ight, T r a v e ls in
New England ancT"New Y ork (New Haven, 1 8 2 1 -2 2 ), I I , 21TT
17
Columbian C e n t ln e l, B o sto n , June 1 1 , 1814.
18
Green? 0£ . c i t . , p . 6 1 .
a saw m ill t h e r e ; was a d e a co n o f the Second B a p t is t Church,
o f w hich he was a c h a r t e r member; and was e v i d e n t l y a
r e s p e c t e d and i n f l u e n t i a l C a la is c i t i z e n .
a p p oin ted a n o ta r y p u b l i c and j u s t i c e
in g to n C o u n t y . I n
In 1856 he was
o f the p ea ce f o r Wash­
1858 he was e l e c t e d p r e s id e n t o f the
common c o u n c i l i n C a la is and was a l s o c l e r k o f Ward 4.^®
Deacon Green d ie d in C a la is March 7 , 1867, th re e y e a r s a f t e r
h is w i f e , Hannah C l a f l i n Hayden G reen.
Pike l o t ,
He was b u r ie d in the
c a l l e d Ten A cr e ; h i s grave i s marked by a sim ple
w hite s to n e .
The p h o to g ra p h o f E l i j a h Green shows a k i n d l y ,
b e n e v o le n t f a c e .
A m em orial window p la c e d in th e B a p t is t
ch u rch in C a la is a t th e r e q u e s t o f h i s two d a u g h te rs g iv e s
e v id e n ce th a t h i s good q u a l i t i e s were a p p r e c ia te d by th ose
who knew him b e s t .
In Memoriam, E l i j a h D ix G reen, D ied March 6 , 1867,
aged 67 y e a r s .
S t a i n l e s s in c h a r a c t e r — man o f f a i t h
and p r a y e r . He t o i l e d in th e m a sters s e r v i c e u n t i l the
e v e n in g o f l i f e .
Then th ey l a i d the weary p i lg r im in
a chamber whose windows open t o the s u n r is e and the
chamber was c a l l e d P e a ce .
T h is window f a c e s the e a s t .
r 5
---------------------------
Maine R e g is t e r and B u sin ess D ir e c t o r y f o r the
Year 1855 (P o r t la n d , H a llo w e ll, A ugusta, and B angor, 18"65) ,
p. lo l
20
C ity o f C a la i s , M aine: The C h a rte r, O rd in an ces,
and a B r i e f H is t o r y o f the C ity o f C a l a i s , M aine, W illia m J .
F ow ler, c o m p ile r {"C a la is, n . d . )
Thomas Green
1699-1773
"John Green
1736-1799
'Thomas Green
1761-1814
Martha Lynde
1700-1780
Mary Osgood
1740-1761
^Elijah Dix Green
1799-1867
Salome Barstow
^ 1759-1799
John Hayden
1703-1763
Mary Hayden Green
1824-1908
rAaron Hayden
1775-1842
Hannah Claflin Hayden
.
1804-1864
'’John Hayden
1740-1824
Lucy Maynard
IHannah Claflin
1741-
Ebenezer Claflin
1716Kannah Smith
Samuel Jones
Ruth Richards Jones
V
1778-1838
Benjamin Richards
1714-1755
Mary Richards
1753-1813
ANCESTRY OF MARY HAYDEN GREEN
Abigail Thayer
1713-1765
ELIJAH DIX GREEN
1799-1867
HANNAH HAYDEN GREEN
1804-1864
The c h ild r e n o f D eacon E l i j a h and Hannah (Hayden)
Green were Mary Hayden, E m eline C a r lt o n , Emma S op h ia , Kate
J e w e tt, Sarah B ro o k s, and Thomas Hayden.
Of the f i v e g i r l s
o n ly tw o, Mary Hayden and Emma S op h ia , l i v e d more than a few
y e a r s ; and Thomas Hayden, th e o n ly b o y , was k i l l e d in a c t io n
d u rin g the C i v i l War.
In 1851 Emma S op h ia (1 8 2 9 -1 9 0 6 ) m arried
C h a rles Hart Sm ith, an u n c le o f Kate D ou g la s W ig gin .
Mary Hayden G reen*s m a tern al a n c e s tr y can be t r a c e d
ba ck t o John-*- Hayden, the im m igrant a n c e s t o r , who came t o D or­
c h e s t e r , M a ss a ch u se tts , i n 1630 on the John and Mary and mar­
r i e d Susannah ---------.
su b se q u e n tly s o l d ,
He a c q u ir e d la n d i n D o r c h e s te r w hich he
and spent h i s l a t e r l i f e
John2 Hayden (1 6 3 5 -1 7 1 8 ),
i n B r a in t r e e .
son o f John-1- and Susannah
Hayden, was m a rried t o Hannah Ames (1 6 4 1 -1 6 8 9 ) by G overnor
E n d ic o t t .
J o s ia h 3 Hayden, t h e i r son , m a rried E liz a b e t h Good-
enow in 1 6 91.
The Hayden fa m ily l i v e d f o r
s e v e r a l g e n e r a t io n s in
H opkin ton , M a ss a ch u se tts , b e g in n in g w ith John^ Hayden (1 70 3 ­
1 7 6 3 ),
son o f J o s ia h 3 and E liz a b e t h Hayden, who m arried Lucy
Maynard, d au gh ter o f Z a ch a ria h and Sarah (W h eeler) Maynard,
in H opkinton in 1 7 2 6 .
T h e ir son John5 (1 7 4 0 -1 8 2 4 ) m arried
th re e t im e s , h i s f i r s t w ife b e in g Hannah C l a f l i n , whom he
m arried on O ctober 24, 1 7 5 9 .
Aaron6 Hayden, th e son o f John5 and Hannah ( C l a f l i n )
Hayden, was b orn in H opkinton on Septem ber 8 , 17 7 5 .
He l i v e d
in M ilto n f o r a tim e , but moved a t about th e tu rn o f the c e n -
tu ry t o E a s t p o r t , M aine, and was among th e e a r l y s e t t l e r s o f
th a t tow n.
In 1800 he m a rried R uth R ich a rd s Jones (1778­
1838) i n R o b b in s to n , M aine.
She was a d escen d a n t from John
and P r i s c i l l a A lden th rou gh Ruth (A ld en ) B a ss, Sarah (B ass)
T h ayer, A b ig a il (T h ayer) R ic h a r d s , and Mary (R ic h a r d s ) J o n e s .
Aaron Hayden was a prom in en t m erchant and owned a la r g e and
p r o s p e r o u s s t o r e in the tow n.
He was a d ea con o f the B a p t is t
Church, the e a r l i e s t ch u rch in E a s t p o r t .
e l e c t e d m o d e ra to r,
In 1804 he was
and he was selectm a n i n 1 8 0 7 .2 1
Q?he house
w hich he b u i l t in 1805 was among the f i r s t t w o - s t o r y d w e llin g s
in E a s t p o r t .
in f a n c y .
He had t h ir t e e n c h i l d r e n , a few o f whom d ie d in
He d ie d i n E a s tp o rt June 1 8 , 1842.
Among the sons o f D eacon Aaron and Ruth R ic h a r d s (J o n e s )
Hayden and u n c le s o f Mary Hayden Green was Aaron Hayden, born
in E a s tp o r t September 2 3 , 1 8 14.
Aaron th e youn ger was gradu ated
from Harvard in 1834, and was a d m itted t o th e P e n o b sco t County
bar in 1 8 3 8 .
R etu rn in g t o E a s t p o r t , he co n tin u e d th e p r a c t i c e
o f h is p r o fe s s io n .
In h i s n a t iv e town he was f o r s e v e r a l y e a rs
on the board o f se le ctm e n and th e s c h o o l com m ittee, and he served
a ls o on th e S ta te Board o f E d u c a tio n .
In 1844 the H onorable
Aaron Hayden was ch o se n the ca n d id a te o f the Whig p a r t y f o r the
Maine l e g i s l a t u r e .
He was e l e c t e d then and aga in in 1845; in
1855 he was s e n a to r from W ashington C ou n ty .22
j n 1847 he mar­
-----------------
K ilb y , E a s tp o r t and Passam aquoddy, p p . 2 3 4 -2 3 5 .
I b i d . , p p . 2 7 5 -2 7 6 .
r i e d Jane T. B r ig g s .
He d ie d a t E a s tp o r t O ctob er 2 2 , 1865.
Hannah C l a f l i n Hayden, d a u gh ter o f Aaron and Ruth
(J o n e s) Hayden, was b o rn a t E a s t p o r t May 4 , 1 804, where she
r e c e iv e d h er e d u c a tio n and e a r l y t r a i n i n g .
She and h er m other
were o r i g i n a l members o f th e E a s tp o r t Female B en ev olen t S o c ie t y ,
founded i n 1 8 21.
Her m oth er, M rs. Aaron Hayden, was F i r s t
0 1 2
D i r e c t r e s s , and Hannah C l a f l i n Hayden, C o l l e c t o r . °
On Nov­
ember 1 3 , 1 8 23, she m a rried E l i j a h D ix G reen, w ith whom she
moved s e v e r a l y e a r s l a t e r t o C a la i s .
She d ie d J u ly 18, 1864,
and was b u r ie d in the P ike fa m ily l o t , where h e r husband was
la te r la id .
2
3
!
I b id . , p . 499.
CHAPTER I I I
EARLY YEARS AND MARRIAGE (1 8 2 4 -1 8 5 3 )
Mary Hayden Green was b orn i n E a s t p o r t , M aine, on
November 24, 1 8 24.
She was th e f i r s t c h i l d o f E l i j a h D ix and
Hannah (Hayden) G reen, who had b een m a rried i n E a s tp o r t in
1823.
Of the f o u r s i s t e r s b o rn l a t e r o n ly o n e , Emma S op h ia ,
b orn in 1829, l i v e d t o share c h ild h o o d e x p e r ie n c e s w ith Mary
Hayden.
Mary must have had some o f th e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f c a r ­
in g f o r and amusing h e r youn ger s i s t e r .
One can r e a d i l y im agine the e a r l y im p r e s s io n s o f a
c h i l d in E a s t p o r t .
No d ou bt the f o g ,
a fr e q u e n t v i s i t o r on
the i s l a n d , c r e a t e d a m y s te r io u s w orld f o r the sm a ll g i r l ,
who w atched i t c r e e p o v e r th e tow n, f e l t i t s c o o l m o is tu r e , and,
w atch in g the sun s h in in g t r a n s l u c e n t l y ju s t o v e r and th rou gh
the f o g ,
saw i t g r a d u a lly r e c e d e o v e r the blu e w a te r .
Perhaps
Mary was o ld enough t o heed some o f th e o ld le g e n d s o f th a t
s e c t io n f a m i l i a r t o E a s tp o rt r e s id e n t s t o d a y , such as one o f
an o ld sea c a p t a in who s t i l l
s a i l s h i s v e s s e l , ig n o r in g th e
ch a n n e ls , b u o y s, and o th e r m arkings th a t g u id e boatm en;
i f he
comes t o an o b s t a c l e , he " s a i l s r i g h t o v e r i t i n the p ea soup
fo g ."
Then on c l e a r d ays a c h i l d m ight w atch the w ater and
the e f f e c t o f th e t i d e upon the i s l a n d , w hich was no lo n g e r an
is la n d a t low t i d e when th e c h a n n e l, w hich cu t E a s tp o r t from
the m ain lan d , d is a p p e a r e d .
harbor,
She w ould w atch the sh ip s in th e
some a r r i v in g in th e sun and d is a p p e a r in g i n th e f o g ,
and wonder where th e y were from and where th e y were h e a d in g .
To see th e many i s l a n d s , la r g e and s m a ll, w hich were w ith in
s ig h t o f E a s t p o r t , and t o w atch th e p la y o f l i g h t and shadow
on t h e i r s u r fa c e s and su rrou n d in g w a te r s , and t o wonder how
th ose is la n d s d i f f e r e d from the one on w hich she l i v e d were n a tu ra l
o c c u p a tio n s f o r the tim e and th ou g h ts o f a young c h i l d .
The s i g h t s , th e sou n d s, and the s m e lls o f a h a rb or
town, whose p rim a ry o c c u p a t io n s were f i s h i n g and th e f i s h p a ck in g in d u s tr y gave p l e n t y o f scop e f o r the p la y o f any
c h i l d •s im a gin a t i o n .
E l i j a h D ix G reen, r e a l i z i n g th e o p p o r t u n it y i n the
grow ing lu m berin g community o f C a la i s , d e c id e d t o remove h i s
fa m ily from E a s tp o r t t o C a la is , p r o b a b ly in the l a t e 1 8 2 0 's .
The rem oval must have been an e x c i t i n g ev en t t o the sm a ll c h i l d
Mary.
There were no r a i l r o a d s t o f a c i l i t a t e
the p r o c e s s o f
m oving, but the jo u r n e y , w h ile i t may n o t have b een p a r t i c u ­
l a r l y c o m fo r t a b le on the rou gh r o a d s , must have g iv e n ample
time f o r o b s e r v a t io n o f w oodland and r i v e r s c e n e r y .
Perhaps
the fa m ily stop p ed at v a r io u s h ou ses and s c a t t e r e d com m unities
on the way, where th e y r e c e i v e d a c o r d i a l w elcom e.
Mary now fou n d h e r s e l f i n an e n t i r e l y new atm osph ere.
Gone, though n o t f a r d i s t a n t , were the b a y , the i s l a n d s , th e
fo g ,
and the h a r b o r ; i n t h e i r p la c e were w ood la n d s, s a w m ills ,
and the r i v e r .
As i n E a s tp o r t th ere were no e la b o r a t e form s
o f p la y o r amusement f o r c h ild r e n in C a la i s , but th ere was
much o f new i n t e r e s t and c h a r a c t e r f o r Mary t o o b s e r v e .
The
busy sa w m ills and the lo g g in g on th e r i v e r fu r n is h e d i n t e r e s t ­
in g s i g h t s ; and no d ou bt th e c h ild r e n p la y e d near the r i v e r ,
where the sm e ll o f lumber and t r e e s r e p la c e d the f a m i l i a r
s a l t y sm e ll w hich Mary had known e a r l i e r in E a s t p o r t .
The home o f E l i j a h D ix Green i n C a la is was a tw os t o r ie d w hite h o u se , la r g e and a t t r a c t i v e .
The h ou seh old was
a r e l i g i o u s o n e , and i t s atm osphere t o g e t h e r w ith the s tr o n g
r e l i g i o u s background o f h e r a n c e s tr y f o s t e r e d i n Mary at an
e a r l y age an i n t e r e s t i n and an aw areness o f m oral i s s u e s .
Her p a r e n ts a lr e a d y were members o f th e F i r s t B a p t is t Church
at Mi11tow n, when Mary at the age o f tw elv e underwent a deep
r e l i g i o u s e x p e r ie n c e w hich ca u sed h e r t o become a member o f
the same
c h u r c h .
24
^e do n o t know j u s t what th e e x p e r ie n c e
was, but i t was r a t h e r p o o r l y tim e d , f o r h er baptism to o k
p la c e d u rin g the W inter o f 1836 when i c e had t o be cu t from
th e r i v e r f o r the o c c a s io n o f h er im m e r s io n .25
In s p it e o f h er r e l i g i o u s back grou n d , Mary was
p r o b a b ly n o t u n n a t u r a lly i n t e r e s t e d i n s e r io u s s u b j e c t s .
Like
h er p laym a tes she p r o b a b ly e n jo y e d games and fu n o f a c h i l d i s h
n a tu r e , a lth o u g h p erh a p s the s e r io u s a s p e c t s o f h er p e r s o n a li t y
2 2 -------------------------
D ic t io n a r y o f Am erican B iogra p h y (New Y ork , 1 9 3 4 ),
X IV , 59 7.
I b id .
HOME OF ELIJAH DIX GREEN
267 Main S t r e e t , C a la is
and temperament had a fir m e r b a s i s and more o p p o r t u n it y f o r
grow th than d id th o se o f some o f h er young f r i e n d s .
I n 1838 th e a n t i - s l a v e r y a g i t a t i o n rea ch ed C a la is
and ca u sed some d is tu r b a n c e and t r o u b l e .
Ich a b od C odding, an
a n t i - s l a v e r y sp eak er sen t by Samuel F essen den o f P o r t la n d , came
t o the town t o l e c t u r e on th e e v i l s o f s l a v e r y .
Some o f th e
l o c a l p o l i t i c i a n s , who were a l s o arden t B a p t i s t s , opposed
th e se l e c t u r e s .
Ih e n Mr. C odding asked p e r m is s io n t o speak
at the B a p t is t m e e tin g h o u se , D eacon E l i j a h K e ll e y , who was
p r o b a b ly th e f i r s t B a p t is t t o s e t t l e i n C a la i s , b e li e v e d th a t
he sh ou ld be g iv e n th e p r i v i l e g e , a lth o u g h th e B a p t is t m in is ­
t e r and the p o l i t i c i a n s opp osed th e arran gem en t.
The sp eech es
were g iv e n s u c c e s s f u l l y from th e B a p t is t p u l p i t by Mr. Cod­
d in g ; b u t when he attem p ted the same l e c t u r e s in the town h a l l
th e f o l l o w i n g week, he was p e l t e d w ith r o t t e n e g g s , perh aps
by the o r i g i n a l o p p o s e r s t o the s e r i e s o f a n t i - s l a v e r y l e c t u r e s .
I n c id e n t s o f t h i s k in d stre n g th e n e d the f e e l i n g o f the C a la is
a b o litio n is ts .
T h is e p is o d e must have made an im p r e s s io n upon
Mary Hayden G reen, who was th en f o u r t e e n and whose mind p r o b a b ly
was a lr e a d y aware o f the m oral is s u e o f the s la v e r y q u e s t io n .
A ft e r h e r a tte n d a n ce at the e a r l y C a la is s c h o o ls ,
Mary Hayden*s p a r e n t s , b e in g a m b itio u s f o r h e r ,
sen t h er t o the
C h arlestow n (M a ss a ch u se tts) Female Seminary t o supplem ent h er
C a la is s c h o o lin g .^ ®
--------------------------------- 2
S
---------------------------
I b id .
At the sem in ary, h er r e l i g i o u s c o n v i c t i o n s
were stre n g th e n e d and deepen ed under th e le a d e r s h ip o f I t s
p r e s id e n t , th e R everend W illia m P h i l l i p s .
p*7
On March 3 0 , 1842, w h ile Mary was s t i l l a tte n d in g
s c h o o l in C h a rlestow n , Thomas Hayden, the l a s t c h i l d o f E l i j a h
Dix and Hannah Hayden G reen, was b o r n .
To t h i s o n ly b r o t h e r ,
Mary Hayden became g r e a t l y a tt a c h e d .
In 1843 a f t e r h er g r a d u a tio n from th e C h arlestow n
Sem inary, Mary re tu rn e d t o C a la is t o l i v e .
D uring h er absence
the community had in c r e a s e d i n w e a lth and p o p u la t io n and had
made many advan ces c u l t u r a l l y and s o c i a l l y .
The C a la is l i b r a r y
c l u b , e s t a b li s h e d in 1833, had in c r e a s e d i t s membership and
i t s c o l le c t io n o f books.
The f i r s t perm anent C a la is new spaper,
a lth o u g h th e re had been many e a r l i e r on es o f s h o r t d u r a t io n ,
was th e C a la is A d v e r t is e r , e s t a b li s h e d i n 1 841.
F i r s t Whig
and then R e p u b lic a n , th e e d i t o r i a l p o l i c y o f the paper was
one w ith w hich Mary Green p r o b a b ly was i n sym pathy.
Mary Hayden and h e r p a r e n ts were c o n s t it u e n t members
o f th e Second B a p t is t Church, e s t a b li s h e d in C a la is in 1841.
E l i j a h D ix Green was a d ea con o f the ch u rch w ith w hich Mary
m ain ta in ed a l i f e l o n g m em bership.
Her k i n d l y , g e n e ro u s, and
p h ila n t h r o p ic s p i r i t d is p la y e d i t s e l f i n ch u rch a c t i v i t i e s ,
and in h er work w ith th e L a d ie s ' B e n e v o le n t S o c i e t y , an organ ­
i z a t i o n w hich had been fou n d ed in 1828 ’’ t o a s s i s t th e p o o r ,
and p a r t i c u l a r l y the s i c k ,
and th o s e u n able t o
------------------
I b id .
K n o w lto n 's A n n a ls, p . 174.
l a b o r .
"^8
sha
gave much o f h e r tim e t o g en erou s works o f c h a r it y but d id n ot
speak o f i t .
One o f h e r f r i e n d s s a id o f h er th a t she was "b orn
g o o d ."
Mary was an a rd en t and r a p id r e a d e r , i n t e r e s t e d in
a v a r i e t y o f s u b je c t s , b u t p a r t i c u l a r l y in s o c i a l r e fo rm .
E asternm ost Maine in th e 1 8 4 0 's was i n t e r e s t e d in tem perance
and in o th e r r e fo rm a c t i v i t i e s ; and a n t i - s l a v e r y f e e l i n g ,
grow ing in th e 1 8 4 0 's , became in tim e a f o c u s f o r th e s p i r i t u a l
en erg y o f many i n d i v i d u a l s , among whom was Mary G reen, whose
g e n t le
s p i r i t was arou sed by the r e p o r t s o f the e v i l s o f s la v ­
ery.
In p h y s ic a l appearance Mary was n o t b e a u t i f u l , but
she had s tr o n g f e a t u r e s and a t h o u g h t fu l e x p r e s s io n .
Her am iable
d i s p o s i t i o n , no d o u b t, l e f t i t s im p r e s s io n on h er f a c e .
Of her
i n t e r e s t in o r a t t r a c t i o n f o r the o p p o s it e sex we know l i t t l e .
C e r t a in ly th e r e were some young men i n C a la is in whose company
she m ight have fou n d p le a s u r e and s a t i s f a c t i o n .
We know o f
o n ly one young man who cla im e d h e r i n t e r e s t and a t t e n t i o n : F red­
e r i c k A. P ik e ,
a r i s i n g young la w y er in C a la is and a member o f
a prom in en t New England f a m ily .
C a la is i n the 1 8 4 0 's was th e se a t o f the g r e a t lumber
r e g io n o f the S t. C ro ix and o f the tra d e w hich s e t t l e s n a t u r a lly
t o a b o r d e r town on a n a v ig a b le r i v e r .
Many e n e r g e t ic men from
a l l p a r t s o f New England came t o C a la is t o seek f o r t u n e s i n the
lumber b u s in e s s .
They p la y e d the game o f b u s in e s s sh rew d ly ,
e a g e r ly , and som etim es u n s c r u p u lo u s ly .
F requ ent c o l l i s i o n s o f
h o s t i l e i n t e r e s t s and c la s h in g c la im s o f t i t l e
among th e s e
men made the community f o r y e a r s a p a r a d is e f o r la w y e r s .^ 9
Many men, who were a fte r w a rd s heard o f in l a r g e r f i e l d s o f
a c t i v i t y , began t h e i r l e g a l c a r e e r s t h e r e .
Among such a group o f la w y e r s , F r e d e r ic k Augustus
P ike had th e a b i l i t y to become a l e a d e r .
Alm ost im m ed ia tely
a f t e r h i s ad m itta n ce t o the b a r , he won a w ide and lu c r a t i v e
p r a c t i c e th rou gh ou t W ashington County by means o f h i s i n t e l ­
le c t u a l c a p a b il it ie s , h is p r a c t ic a l it y ,
p ow e rs.
and h i s o r a t o r i c a l
He had a b r i l l i a n t mind and was an e lo q u e n t sp e a k e r.
His i n t e g r i t y p re v e n te d him from t r y i n g t o d a z z le j u r i e s ;
c o n s e q u e n tly , he was b o th l i k e d and t r u s t e d .
The c a r e e r s o f b o th F r e d e r ic k P ike and h i s b r o th e r
James were foresh a d ow ed by th a t o f t h e i r P u rita n a n c e s t o r ,
R ob ert P ik e ,
an enemy o f the M athers.
R o b e rt P ik e came t o t h i s co u n tr y from England in
1635 at the age o f n in e te e n w ith h i s f a t h e r , John P ike.^O
R ob ert e v e n t u a lly s e t t l e d in S a lis b u r y , M a ss a ch u se tts , where
he was the c h i e f m a g is tr a te most o f h i s l i f e
and was a ls o a
m ajor in ch arge o f the t r o o p s e a s t o f th e M errim ack R iv e r in
King P h i l i p 's War.
In s p it e o f the f a c t th a t he was a prom­
in e n t and r e s p e c t e d member o f th e M a ssa ch u setts C o lo n y , he
---------------------------------- S
3 ---------------------------
C a la is Tim es, December 9 , 1886.
30
For an a ccou n t o f the l i f e o f R o b e rt P ik e , see
James Shepherd P i k e 's The New P u r ita n (New Y ork , 1 8 5 9 ).
was in v o lv e d in th r e e s e r io u s c o n t r o v e r s i e s w ith the c i v i l
and ch u rch o r d e r s .
c r itic is m
In 1653 he was d i s f r a n c h is e d f o r h i s
o f the P u rita n law s a g a in s t th e Q uakers; but in
1657 he was a g a in g ra n te d th e p r i v i l e g e
o f v o t in g and was in
atten d a n ce at the 1658 sp r in g s e s s io n o f th e M a ssa ch u setts
G eneral C ourt as the S a lis b u r y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e .
In 1675 R o b e rt Pike was excom m unicated by h i s p a s t o r ,
the Reverend John W h eelw righ t, f o r o p p o s in g th e d ogm atic auth­
o r i t y o f the clergy m a n .
At the o r d e r o f th e G en era l Court
in
1 677, Mr. W heelw right was f o r c e d t o pardon M ajor p ik e .
R o b e rt P ike *s t h ir d d i f f e r e n c e w ith the C olon y
o c c u r r e d i n h i s o p p o s it io n t o the Salem w i t c h c r a f t p e r s e c u ­
t io n s in 1692.
Of t h i s P u r ita n the p o e t W h ittie r w rote t o James
Shepherd P ik e , b r o t h e r o f F r e d e r ic k A. P ike and b io g r a p h e r o f
R ob ert P ik e :
"From a l l th a t I have r e a d , and from the t r a d i t i o n s
o f th e v a l l e y o f the M errim ac, I have b een accustom ed to
re g a r d R o b e rt Pike as one o f the w is e s t and w o r t h ie s t o f
th e e a r l y s e t t l e r s o f th a t r e g i o n . . . .
"He was by a l l odds the m ost rem arkable p erson age
o f the tim e and p l a c e . . . .
" I s h a ll lo o k w ith i n t e r e s t f o r th y b o o k .
I have
alw ays had an a d m ira tio n f o r the s u b je c t o f i t , and in
my s t o r y [L ea ves from M argaret Sm ith’ s J o u rn a l] I endea­
v o re d t o do j u s t i c e to h im ."S I
In h i s w i l l R ob ert P ike l e f t la n d i n Anesbury and
S a lis b u r y t o h i s y ou n gest son , M oses, who p r o b a b ly rem ained in
51
I b id ., p re fa ce .
S a lis b u r y as a fa rm e r.
M oses1 son Tim othy P ik e was s t i l l
g ra n d fa th e r d i e d .
a c h i l d when h i s
Tim othy s e t t l e d i n N ew buryport, the home
o f h i s a n c e s t o r s , where as a b la ck s m ith he was n o te d f o r h i s
t h r i f t and p i e t y .
In h i s w i l l , d a te d 1V67, he l e f t h i s n eg ro
man, H arry, t o h i s son Tim othy.
It
seems r a t h e r odd th a t the
gran dson o f R o b e rt P ik e , who was so much co n ce rn e d w ith l i b e r t y
and fre e d o m , sh ou ld have owned a n e g r o .
Tim othy P ik e ,
son o f the owner o f H a rry, moved t o
P o r t la n d , M aine, where he was a m erchant and where h i s son
W illia m was b o rn on August 18, 17 75.
W illia m P ik e , th e son o f Tim othy and th e f a t h e r o f
James Shepherd and F r e d e r ic k Augustus P ik e , became a m erchant
in W is c a s s e t .
He was tw ic e m a r r ie d :
f i r s t t o E liz a b e t h C h ris ­
t o p h e r , by whom he had a son and a d a u g h te r,
and secon d to Han­
nah Shepherd, b orn i n J e f f e r s o n , M aine, i n 1785.
w ife was a d escen d a n t o f James Shepherd, the f i r s t
i s t e r o f Cam bridge, M a ssa ch u se tts,
s e t t l e d i n L in c o ln C ounty, M aine.
H is secon d
s e t t l e d min­
some o f whose d e s ce n d a n ts
*20
W illia m P ike moved w ith h i s secon d w ife t o C a la is ,
M aine, i n 1 8 0 4 . Here he p u rsu ed h i s t r a d e , much o f i t done at
th a t tim e on the b a r t e r b a s i s ; d e a lt in s u p p l ie s , p ro d u ce , and
lu m ber; and owned a sm a ll sa w m ill.
town a f f a i r s .
He was e x tre m e ly a c t iv e i n
When the town o f C a la is was in c o r p o r a t e d in 1809,
G eorge F. T a lb o t , James Shepherd P ik e
1 8 8 5 ), p . 7 .
(P o r t la n d ,
W illia m p ik e was e l e c t e d selectm a n and p ro v e d h im s e lf an a b le
and a c t iv e o f f i c e r .
In a d d it io n t o o t h e r p u b l i c o f f i c e s he
was on the s c h o o l com m ittee i n 1810 and was in s tru m e n ta l in
e s t a b l i s h i n g th e f i r s t f r e e p u b l ic
s c h o o l in C a la is .
He was
a c c i d e n t a l l y drowned in S t . Andrews Bay on J u ly 1 , 1818, when
he f e l l o v e rb o a rd on h i s way t o E a s t p o r t t o c e l e b r a t e the r e s ­
t o r a t io n o f the is la n d by th e B r i t i s h .
He l e f t l i t t l e
p rop erty ,
and h i s w i f e , by hard work a lo n e , managed t o r e a r and ed u ca te
the f o u r c h ild r e n l e f t i n h er c a r e .
She was an adm irable woman,
and b rou gh t up the b oys v e r y w e l l .
The c h ild r e n o f W illia m and Hannah (Sheph erd) P ike
were James Shepherd, b orn Septem ber 1 1 , 1811, who became a
b r illia n t
j o u r n a l i s t and was M in is te r t o th e Hague; E dgar, a
graduate o f Bow doin, who d ie d at th e b e g in n in g o f a p ro m is in g
c a r e e r as a la w yer in L o u is ia n a ; C h a rles E .,
a law yer o f M achias
and B o s to n , member o f th e l e g i s l a t u r e s o f Maine and M a ssa ch u setts,
and s o l i c i t o r o f the W ashington I n t e r n a l Revenue Bureau; and
F r e d e r ic k A ugustus, born in C a la is on December 9, 1817.
F r e d e r ic k a tte n d e d W ashington Academy i n E ast M achias,
o f t e n w a lk in g home at v a c a t io n tim es beca u se h i s m other d id n o t
have much money; h i s b r o t h e r James gave him what f i n a n c i a l h elp
he was a b le t o a f f o r d .
F r e d e r ic k a tte n d e d Bowdoin C o lle g e f o r
two y e a r s , and then s tu d ie d law w ith the H onorable Josep h Granger
o f C a la i s .
W hile he was stu d y in g la w , he ta u gh t s c h o o l i n ord er
t o e a rn money.
In 1840 a t tw en ty -tw o y e a r s o f a g e , F r e d e r ic k
Pike was a d m itted t o th e bar and began a b r i l l i a n t and s u c c e s s -
f u l c a r e e r as a law yer i n C a la is .
Mary Green must have had g r e a t a d m ira tio n f o r the
m other o f th e f o u r b o y s , whose n a t u r a l a b i l i t i e s were f o s t e r e d
and g u ild e d by one who was d e v o t e d ,
a g eou s.
s e lf-s a c r ific in g ,
and c o u r ­
No dou bt e v e ry o n e in C a la is had an i n t e r e s t i n the
c a r e e r s o f th e fo u r young men, and had n o th in g but r e s p e c t and
p r a is e f o r Hannah (Sheph erd) P ik e .
James and F r e d e r ic k p ik e were a c t i v e in C a la is a f f a i r s
—p o l it i c a l,
fin a n c ia l,
and c u l t u r a l .
They alw ays to o k a stro n g
i n t e r e s t in th e grow th o f the C a la is l i b r a r y and su p p orted i t
w ith g i f t s o f money, b o o k s , and f u r n is h in g s .
Mary must have
view ed t h i s i n t e r e s t w ith a p p r o v a l, f o r she h e r s e l f was an
a rd en t re a d e r and was a n x iou s t o a id and ed u ca te th o se l e s s
f o r t u n a t e l y s it u a t e d than sh e.
M oreover, F r e d e r ic k was a ls o
s t i r r e d by th e same a n t i - s l a v e r y f e e l i n g s w h ich f i l l e d M ary's
b rea st.
In him she fou n d a c o n g e n ia l com panion and a w orthy
o b j e c t f o r h e r a d m ir a tio n .
In 1846, when Mary Green was tw e n ty -o n e , she was
m arried t o F r e d e r ic k P ik e in C a la i s .
A ft e r t h e i r m arriage the
P ik es rem ained in C a la is , where th e y m a in ta in ed a home a l l t h e ir
l i v e s , even d u rin g F r e d e r i c k 's term s i n the Maine l e g i s l a t u r e
and i n C o n g re s s.
Mrs. p ik e co n tin u e d h er works o f c h a r i t y , and was
en cou ra g ed in h e r a n t i - s l a v e r y v iew s by h er hu sban d.
She s t i l l
found time f o r e x t e n s iv e r e a d in g , in s p it e o f the f a c t th a t she
d id some e n t e r t a in in g f o r h er own and h er h u sb a n d 's f r i e n d s .
A lthough the P ik e s n ev er had any c h ild r e n o f t h e i r own, th e y
adopted l i t t l e
t e n - y e a r - o l d Mary S te a r n s , whose f a t h e r , Henry
C la rk S te a r n s , was a c o u s in o f M rs. P ik e .
P ike c a l l e d th e l i t t l e
F r e d e r ic k and Mary
g i r l ''M ay,'1 and she c a l l e d th en "U ncle
F red " and "Aunt M ary."
S h o r t ly a f t e r h e r m a r ria g e , Mrs. P ik e v i s i t e d a
r e l a t i v e i n the South, where she made a d i r e c t o b s e r v a t io n
o f s la v e r y .
She must have seen and sen sed the charm o f South­
e rn p l a n t a t io n l i f e ,
glam or o f i t .
a r d o r
1^3
but she was n o t c a r r i e d away w ith the
Mint ju le p s had no e f f e c t on h e r a b o l i t i o n
A lth ough the s la v e s were w e ll t r e a t e d on th e p la n t a ­
t i o n w hich she v i s i t e d ,
she had th e o p p o r t u n it y o f o b s e r v in g
m is t r e a te d s la v e s on n ea rb y p l a n t a t i o n s .
No dou bt she made
n o t e s and j o t t i n g s on much t h a t she saw and h e a rd .
The abuses
she o b s e r v e d made a deep im p r e s s io n upon h e r , and h er a n t i­
s la v e r y v ie w s were fu r t h e r stre n g th e n e d by t h i s v i s i t
South.
t o the
In h e r " P r e f a c e " t o Id a May, M rs. P ik e s t a t e s :
T h is s t o r y , w hich em bodies the id e a s and im p res­
s io n s r e c e iv e d by the w r i t e r , d u rin g a r e s id e n c e in
the S ou th , i s g iv e n t o the p u b l i c , i n th e b e l i e f th a t
i t w i l l be r e c o g n iz e d and a c c e p te d as a tru e p i c t u r e
o f th a t phase o f s o c i a l l i f e w hich i t r e p r e s e n t s .
She r e a l i z e d th a t the s c e n e s w h ich she saw were p e r ­
haps o n ly a sample o f what o c c u r r e d on v a r io u s o th e r p la n t a ­
t i o n s i n th e S ou th .
In the " P r e f a c e " she c o n t in u e s :
I n the v a r io u s co m b in a tio n s o f s o c i e t y e x i s t i n g
in the s la v e S t a t e s , th e re may be b r i g h t e r , and th ere
c e r t a i n l y are d a r k e r s c e n e s , than are h ere d e p i c t e d . . . .
I f Mrs. P ik e d i d n o t see the d a r k e s t o r th e b r ig h t e s t
s id e o f th e s la v e r y system in th e S ou th , she saw enough to
35
1789-1860
H erbert R. Brown, The S en tim en ta l N ovel i n .America,
(Durham, N orth C a r o lln a , 1 9 4 0 ), p . 24 9.
g iv e h er ample fo o d f o r th ou g h t upon h e r r e t u r n t o the N orth,
where N orth ern th in k e r s and w r it e r s were becom ing more and
more co n ce rn e d and p r e o c c u p ie d w ith th e s u b je c t o f a b o l i t i o n ­
ism .
U n like some o f the N o r th e rn e rs , M rs. P ik e was n o t a
‘'p a r l o r a b o l i t i o n i s t " ;
she had stre n g th e n e d h er v iew s on
s la v e r y by a c l o s e o b s e r v a t io n o f the system at work i n the
S ou th .
Meanwhile th e town o f C a la is and th e c a r e e r o f
F r e d e r ic k p ik e were m u tu a lly p r o g r e s s in g .
became a c i t y ,
mon c o u n c i l .
In 1850 C a la is
and in 1851 F r e d e r ic k was p r e s id e n t o f the com­
In 1852 he was e l e c t e d mayor o f C a la i s .
H is
f i n a n c i a l s t a t u s had im proved th rou gh h i s wide and l u c r a t i v e
law p r a c t i c e ,
and some o f h i s money was in v e s t e d i n tim b er
la n d s and i n New B runsw ick and Maine r a i l r o a d com p a n ies.
He
was becom ing more g e n e r a lly r e c o g n iz e d as an o u ts ta n d in g mem­
b e r o f the Whig p a r t y in C a la is and i n W ashington C ounty.
The a n t i - s l a v e r y v ie w s o f M rs. P ike were en cou ra g ed
n o t o n ly by h e r husband, but a ls o by h e r b r o t h e r - i n - l a w James
Shepherd P ik e , an e n t h u s i a s t ic a n t i - s l a v e r y s u p p o r t e r .
Having
served f o r a tim e on the B oston C o u r ie r , James was i n v i t e d by
Horace G re e le y in 1850 t o become a r e g u la r co rr e s p o n d e n t o f
the New Y ork T r ib u n e .
The i n v i t a t i o n o f G r e e le y , w hich began
in th e f o l l o w i n g manner, must have p le a s e d th e fa n c y o f James
P ik e , who h im s e lf w rote in a b r i l l i a n t but o ft e n t im e s uncon­
v e n t io n a l manner:
Dear S i r : - - W i l l you w r ite me some l e t t e r s ?
You are
w r it in g such abom inably bad ones f o r the B oston Courier^
th a t I fa n c y you are p u t t in g a l l y ou r u n rea son i n t o t h e s e ,
and can g iv e me some o f the pure j u i c e .
T r y .34
From 1850 t o 1860 James P ik e was W ashington c o r r e s ­
pondent and a s s o c ia t e e d i t o r o f th e T r ib u n e .
and a g g r e s s iv e w r i t e r ,
He was an a b le
and e x p r e s s e d h i s v iew s on s la v e r y in
a manner w hich w ould have p le a s e d h i s p r o g r e s s iv e and l i b e r a l
a n c e s to r R ob ert P ik e .
H is l e t t e r s from Vifashington were v i v i d
d e s c r i p t i o n s o f the c a p i t a l d u rin g the decade p r e c e d in g the
C i v i l War.
H a r r ie t B eecher S to w e 's U ncle Tom' s C a b in , which
f i r s t appeared p e r i o d i c a l l y i n 1 851-1852 i n The N a tio n a l E ra,
a w eekly p ap er p u b lis h e d i n W ashington,
s t a r t e d a stream o f
c o n t r o v e r s i a l w r it in g betw een the p r o - s l a v e r y and a n t i - s l a v e r y
f a c t i o n s o f th e N orth and S ou th .
U ncle Tom 's C abin , t o g e t h e r
w ith the a n t i - s l a v e r y poems and w r it in g s o f W h it t ie r and o f
o th e r N orth ern w r i t e r s ,
su g g e ste d t o Mrs. P ik e a means by
which she m ight h e lp t o fu r t h e r the cause w hich she s u p p o rte d .
She t h e r e f o r e began work on an a n t i - s l a v e r y n o v e l .
T a lb o t , 0£ . c i t . , p . 1 6 .
CHAPTER IV
THE PRODUCTIVE PERIOD (1 8 5 4 -1 8 5 8 )
Id a May, C a s t e , Agnes
A ft e r h er r e t u r n from th e South M rs. Pike had a new
i n t e r e s t t o w hich she d e v o te d h e r s e l f w ith z e a l .
W hile s t i l l
ta k in g ch arge o f h e r h o u se h o ld and h er a d op ted d a u g h te r, and
w h ile s t i l l e n t e r t a in in g and e n g a g in g i n ch u rch a f f a i r s ,
she
was a ls o busy on the m a n u scrip t o f h e r f i r s t n o v e l, Id a May:
A S to r y o f T h in gs A ctu a l and P o s s i b l e , w hich appeared i n 1854
under th e pseudonym o f Mary Langdon.
I t was p u b lis h e d by
P h i l l i p s , Sampson and Company o f B o s to n .
Announcements o f th e fo r th c o m in g p u b l i c a t i o n o f Id a
May were re a d w ith keen a n t i c i p a t i o n .
On November 18 , 1854,
th e N a tio n a l A n t i-S la v e r y Standard s t a te d th a t the p u b l i c a ­
t i o n o f Id a May had been p o s tp o n e d from November 15 t o Novem­
b e r 22 i n o r d e r th a t a secon d e d i t i o n m ight be rea d y b e fo r e
th e f i r s t
a p p ea red , s in c e th e r e were so many advance o r d e r s
f o r the b o o k .
When th e n o v e l f i n a l l y d id a p p ea r, 6 0 ,0 0 0 c o p ie s
were s o ld in e ig h t e e n m onths.^®
U ndoubtedly Id a May d e r iv e d
some o f i t s p o p u la r i t y from th e f u r o r e ca u sed by U ncle Tom1s
C a b in .
A lthough i t was known th a t th e n o v e l appeared under
a pseudonym, th e i d e n t i t y o f th e a u th or was n o t known.
35
D ic t io n a r y o f American B io g ra p h y , XIV, 597.
E v ery -
one who re a d the book was a n x iou s t o d i s c o v e r who had w r it t e n
it.
The B oston new spapers were much in t e r e s t e d i n the i d e n t i t y
o f Mary Langdon.
The B oston E ven in g G a z e t t e , January 6 , 1855,
s t a t e d th a t i t was u n d e rs to o d th a t th e "a u th o r e s s o f the new
work e n t i t l e d
Id a May. . . i s
M rs. Mary Hayden Green P ik e , a
young and b e a u t i f u l widow o f C a la i s , M a in e ."
A lth ough the
au thor was n o t a widow and was n o t b e a u t i f u l , the rem ainder
o f the c o n je c t u r e was c o r r e c t .
The i d e n t i t y o f Mary Langdon, how ever, was n o t y e t
proved .
Among o t h e r s g u e sse d t o have w r it t e n Ida May were
Mrs. Stowe and Mrs. Mary Ide T o r r e y , widow o f C h a rles T.
T o r r e y .
^6
j n the B oston A tla s o f January 2 , 1855, appeared
a statem ent o f Mrs. T o r r e y , i n w hich she d is c la im e d the h on or
o f the a u th o rs h ip o f Id a May.
M rs. P ike and h er husband must have view ed w ith g r a t i ­
f i c a t i o n the p o p u la r i t y o f Mrs. P i k e 's n o v e l.
18 55, the t h i r t y - f i v e
On January 8 ,
th ou sa n d th c o p y o f th e n o v e l was re a d y ,
and a gen ts were wanted t o s e l l th e book th rou g h ou t the c o u n t r y .
----------------------------------3
3 ---------------------------
C h a rle s Turner T o rre y (1 8 1 3 -1 8 4 6 ), a b o l i t i o n i s t ,
was b orn in S c it u a t e , M a s s a c h u s e tts . He a tte n d e d P h i l l i p s
Academy, g ra d u a ted from Y a le i n 1 8 33 , and a f t e r a p e r io d at
Andover T h e o lo g ic a l Sem inary, co m p le te d h i s t h e o l o g i c a l t r a i n ­
in g under th e Reverend J a co b I d e , whose d a u g h ter he m arried on
March 2 9 , 1837.
H is a n t i - s l a v e r y a c t i v i t i e s in B a ltim ore caused
him t o be a r r e s t e d , and he was se n te n ce d t o hard la b o r f o r s ix
y e a r s i n th e M aryland S ta te P e n it e n t ia r y .
H is mind gave way In
j a i l , and t u b e r c u lo s i s ca u sed h i s d e a th .
H is body was b rou gh t
t o B oston and was h on ored as th a t o f a m artyr t o the a n t i - s l a v e r y
cause.
F u rth er e v id e n c e o f th e p o p u la r i t y o f Mrs. P ik e ’ s b ook was
i t s d r a m a t iz a t io n .
On January 2 7 , 1 855, the B oston Saturday
E vening G a zette announced th e fo r th c o m in g d r a m a tiz a tio n o f
Ida May by J . B. Howe.
in b i l l s
The t w o -a c t p la y was f i r s t m entioned
o f th e N a tio n a l T h e a te r , B o s to n , on F ebru ary 2, 1 8 5 5 .3 7
Mrs. P ik e ’ s r e lu c t a n c e t o p u b l is h th e n o v e l under
h er own name may have been p a r t l y due t o th e p o l i t i c a l a s p ir a ­
t i o n s o f h er husband, who i n 1854 was the ca n d id a te o f th e
p r o g r e s s iv e Whigs f o r n o m in a tion t o C o n g re s s.
The p u b l i c i t y
w hich Mrs. P ik e ’ s n o v e l r e c e i v e d as a r e s u l t o f i t s p u b l i c a t i o n
under a penname c e r t a i n l y d i d n o t d e t r a c t from th e p o p u la r it y
or the s a le o f Id a May.
The C a la is and E a s tp o r t new spapers were a ls o v e r y
much in t e r e s t e d in the I d e n t i t y o f the a u th or o f th e p o p u la r
n o v e l.
On January 3 , 1 8 55, th e E a s tp o r t S e n t in e l, q u o tin g
from the P o r tla n d I n q u ir e r , s t a t e d th a t 11. . . t h e
au thor o f Ida
May i s the widow o f the l a t e lam ented T o rr e y — the h e r o ic T o rr e y ,
who d ie d i n p r i s o n , the v ic t im and m artyr t o s l a v e r y . ”
When
M rs. T orrey d e n ie d th e a u th o rs h ip o f the n o v e l , the S e n t in e l,
l a t e r in the m onth, a s s e r t e d th a t M rs. P ike was the a u th o r.
J u st how the name o f th e a u th or was d e f i n i t e l y
t a in e d
i s n o t known, but th e r e i s
ascer­
an i n t e r e s t i n g s t o r y in C a la is
th a t one day when Mrs. P ik e was e n t e r t a in in g f r i e n d s who were
------------------- 37--------------In a l e t t e r o f Mrs. C o r d e lia MacDonald d a ted March
10 , 1 9 37, M rs. MacDonald r e c a l l s h a v in g p la y e d th e t i t l e r o l e
in a d ra m a tized v e r s io n o f Id a May. She a l s o remembers h a v in g
appeared in U ncle Tom’ s C a b in , The L a m p lig h te r, and H awthorne’ s
The S c a r le t l e t t e r .
THE "IDA MAY" HOUSE
278 Main S t r e e t , C a la is
d i s c u s s i n g Ida May, her l i t t l e
a dopted d a u g h ter ran i n t o th e
room , and a f t e r l i s t e n i n g t o th e c o n v e r s a t io n f o r a tim e ,
e x c la im e d , "Oh, t h a t 's th e l i t t l e
g i r l Aunt Mary used t o t e l l
Uncle Fred about l a s t w i n t e r l " 38
C h ild re n o b se rv e and remember
more than we t h in k .
When th e news sp read th a t th e charm ing and g r a c io u s
M rs. P ike was th e au thor o f Id a May, a l l C a la is was swept w ith
a warm wave o f d e l i g h t .
M rs. P i k e 's fa m ily was j u s t l y proud
o f the fame w hich she had b rou g h t t o them and t o th e c i t y .
Many c h ild r e n b o rn in the v i c i n i t y ,
and in d eed th rou gh ou t the
N o r th e a s t, at th a t tim e were named f o r the sweet h e r o in e o f
Mrs. P i k e 's f i r s t n o v e l.
The money w hich M rs. P ik e earn ed from th e s a le o f
h e r n o v e l was used t o b u ild the ifId a May” house (now 278 Main
S t r e e t , i n C a l a i s ) , a la r g e green hou se w ith a t t r a c t i v e g rou n d s.
Here the P ik e s l i v e d f o r some y e a r s , and h ere M rs. P ike began
the w r it in g o f h e r second n o v e l, a s t o r y w hich d e a lt w ith the
in ju s tic e
o f r a c ia l in e q u a lit y .
F r e d e r ic k , m eanw hile, was
c a r r y in g on h i s s u c c e s s f u l law p r a c t i c e and b id in g h i s time
f o r p o l i t i c a l appoin tm ents a f t e r h i s l o s s o f th e Whig nomina­
t i o n in 1854.
Mrs. P i k e 's second n o v e l, C a s t e :
can E q u a l it y , p u b lis h e d by P h i l l i p s ,
appeared in 1856.
A S to ry o f R e p u b li­
Sampson and Company,
I t was p u b lis h e d under a new penname o f
Sydney A. S to r y , J r . , h er f i r s t pseudonym h a v in g cau sed th e
---------------------------------- 5
5 ---------------------------
A necdote r e l a t e d by M iss J osep h in e M oore, C a la is ,
M aine.
g e n e r a l p u b l i c t o c o n fu s e h er w ith the w r it e r o f a son g,
" Id a
M ay," w h ich was p u b lis h e d about the same time as M rs. P ik e ’ s
f i r s t p o p u la r n o v e l . 39
W hile o f as much l i t e r a r y v alu e as
h er f i r s t n o v e l , C aste was by no means so p o p u la r .
There appear t o be s e v e r a l r e a s o n s why Caste was
n ot so w e ll r e c e i v e d as Id a May.
I t was p u b lis h e d two y e a r s
a f t e r Ida May at a tim e when the hubbub ca u sed by U ncle Tom1s
Cabin had somewhat d ie d down.
A lth ough the s e n tim e n ta l n o v e l
was s t i l l in v o g u e , the theme o f C aste was p e rh a p s n ot so a c c e p t
a b le as th a t o f Mrs. P ik e ’ s f i r s t n o v e l.
Whereas a b o l i t i o n i s t s
and th o se who h e ld a n t i- s l a v e r y v iew s r e c o g n iz e d th e e v i l s o f
s la v e r y and were a n x io u s t o do away w ith them, th e a b o l i t i o n ­
i s t s by more r a d i c a l means, th e re were many o f them who w ould
n o t su p p ort a b s o lu te e q u a l i t y betw een w h ite s and b la c k s .
At
the c l o s e o f C a s te , th e h e r o , a w h ite man, m a r rie s the h e r o in e ,
the da u gh ter o f a quadroon, r e a l i z i n g th a t he and h i s c h ild r e n
w i l l be s o c i a l o u t c a s t s .
Such an arrangem ent would n o t be
o v e r ly a g r e e a b le even t o a n t i - s l a v e r y N o r th e r n e r s .
To f r e e
the
sla v e was one m a tte r , but t o marry th e f r e e d s la v e was q u ite
a n oth er 1
Mrs. P i k e 's h ig h p o s i t i o n among women w r it e r s o f the
1 8 5 0 ' s was, h ow ever, r e c o g n iz e d in l i t e r a r y c i r c l e s .
In Novem­
b e r , 1857, appeared the f i r s t is s u e o f th e A t la n t ic M on th ly, a
new m agazine d e v o te d t o l i t e r a t u r e ,
a rt,
and p o l i t i c s .
Among
3§
A p p le to n 3 » C y c lo p a e d ia o f Am erican B io g ra p h y (New
Y ork, 1 8 8 8 ), V, IS).
the l i t e r a r y p e r s o n s l i s t e d
as in t e r e s t e d in th e e n t e r p r is e
were Mrs. P ik e , H a r r ie t B eech er Stow e, Rose T e r r y , and Mrs.
G a s k e ll, a l l prom in en t women w r it e r s o f the p e r i o d .
I t d oes
n o t a p p ea r, h ow ever, th a t Mary P ike w rote any s t o r i e s f o r the
A t la n t ic M on th ly.
In s p it e o f th e f a c t t h a t C aste was n o t so p o p u la r
as h e r f i r s t n o v e l , M rs. P ik e now u n d e rto o k th e w r it in g o f
her t h ir d w ork.
She s h i f t e d the scen e o f h er n o v e l, A gnes,
to the Am erican R e v o lu t io n .
In a l e t t e r o f F r e d e r ic k P ike t o
M. D. P h i l l i p s , p u b l is h e r , we le a r n th a t Mr. P h i l l i p s was e v i ­
d e n t ly r e l u c t a n t t o p u b l is h M rs. p i k e ’ s t h ir d n o v e l , a lth ou g h
he had p r e v io u s l y agreed t o do s o .
Mr. P ik e d o e s n o t name the
n o v e l i n h i s l e t t e r d a te d June 21 , 1857j i t i s d o u b t f u l , how­
e v e r , th a t M rs. p ik e had a m a n u scrip t w hich was n ev er p u b lis h e d .
P o r t io n s o f Mr. p i k e 's l e t t e r are qu oted b e lo w :
The m e r c a n t ile b lu n d er o f the l a s t p u b l i c a t i o n
[ C a ste ] was f r e e l y commented upon by a l l in t e r e s t e d
b e fo r e any o u t la y was made.
How much was made by one book [ Id a May] or l o s t by
the o th e r [ C a s te ] h a s n e v er b een a s u b je c t o f in q u ir y
by e i t h e r o f u s . . . .
Should you th in k the p r e s e n t m a n u scrip t would n ot
pay* you need have no d e l i c a c y o r h e s i t a t i o n i n sa y in g
so.
In th a t ca se i t w i l l n o t be p u b lis h e d u n le s s some
r e s p e c t a b le b o o k s e l l e r comes t o a d i f f e r e n t c o n c l u s i o n . . . . ^
E v id e n t ly Mr. P h i l l i p s overcam e h i s r e lu c t a n c e t o p u b lis h
the n o v e l, and Agnes appeared i n 18 58.
I t was th e t h i r d and
25
L e t t e r c o n ta in e d i n th e m a n u scrip t d i v i s i o n , B oston
P u b lic L ib r a r y .
l a s t o f M rs. P i k e 's n o v e l s .
In a n o te a t th e end o f Agnes,
Mrs. P ik e m en tion s a s t o r y w hich she had w r it t e n some time
e a r l i e r f o r the P h ila d e lp h ia n ew sp a p ers, but no t r a c e o f the
s t o r y has b een fo u n d .
A lth ou gh M rs. P ike gave up w r it in g n o v e l s ,
n e v e r t h e le s s had many i n t e r e s t s .
she
She to o k up s t i l l l i f e
and
la n d sca p e p a in t in g and became a p l e a s in g amateur p a i n t e r .
She found no la c k o f s u b je c t s f o r p a in t in g i n th e b e a u t i f u l
su rrou n d in g s o f C a la i s .
She was alw ays a c t iv e s o c i a l l y and
p h i1a n th r o p ic a l l y .
M rs. P ike was much f a s c in a t e d by the p o l i t i c a l s c e n e ,
and when F r e d e r ic k began h i s p o l i t i c a l c a r e e r as R e p u b lic a n
r e p r e s e n t a t iv e from W ashington County in th e Maine l e g i s l a t u r e
in 1858 and f o r two s u c c e s s iv e term s, she sh ared h i s c a r e e r ,
as much as she was a b le , w ith en th u siasm and i n t e r e s t .
FREDERICK AUGUSTUS PIKE
1817-1886
mary hayden g reen p ik e
1824-1908
CHAPTER V
LATER YEARS (1 8 5 9 -1 9 0 8 )
Prom 1858, w ith the b e g in n in g o f F r e d e r ic k P i k e 's
p o l i t i c a l c a r e e r , th rou g h 1869 the p ik e s sp en t t h e i r w in te r s
in A ugusta, W ashington, and B a ltim o r e , and the rem ain in g
tim e a t t h e i r home in C a la i s .
In 1860 F r e d e r ic k was Speaker o f the Maine H ouse}
i n 1861 he was e l e c t e d as R e p u b lic a n r e p r e s e n t a t iv e t o Con­
g r e s s , and se rv e d f o u r s u c c e s s iv e terras from March 4 , 1861,
t o March 3 , 1 8 69.
He was i n a tten d a n ce a t the im p orta n t 3 7 th ,
3 8 th , 3 9 th , and 4 0 th C o n g re sse s d u rin g the C i v i l War y e a r s
and the p e r io d o f r e c o n s t r u c t i o n .
chairm an o f the n a v a l com m ittee.
ered h is f i r s t
sp e e ch i n C o n g ress.
He se rv e d f o r s i x y e a r s as
In F eb ru a ry , 1 862, he d e l i v ­
The main t e x t o f t h i s
sp e e ch , in su p p ort o f P r e s id e n t L in c o ln , was, ” Tax, f i g h t ,
and e m a n c ip a te .”
Even d u rin g th e war y e a r s , W ashington was the scene
o f a s p a r k lin g s o d a l l i f e
p a te d .
i n w hich th e P ik e s n a t u r a l ly p a r t i c i ­
They were f r i e n d s o f the Hamlins and B la in e s , who f u r ­
th e r en cou ra g ed M rs. P i k e 's a n t i - s l a v e r y v ie w s .
W illia m H.
Barnes in h is a ccou n t o f the F o r t ie t h C on gress r e v e a ls th e
f a c t th a t M rs. P i k e 's g r a c io u s p e r s o n a l i t y was f a v o r a b ly
r e c e iv e d i n W ashington s o c i e t y .
[The w ife o f F r e d e r ic k A. P ike i s ] a la d y o f ra re
endowments o f h e a r t and m ind.
A f t e r th e e x p e r ie n c e o f
a w in te r i n tiie South., she w rote "Id a May” and 3ome
o th e r n o v e ls , w hich were r e c e iv e d by th e p u b l ic w ith
g reat fa v o r .
Her m ental a c t i v i t y and a cq u irem en ts have
been c h i e f l y d is p la y e d , h ow ever, in a r a r e co n v e r s a ­
t i o n a l t a l e n t , w hich makes h e r th e charm o f th e s o c i a l
c i r c l e .4 1
A lth ough no p a p e rs o f l e g a l a d o p tio n have been
fo u n d , when the P ik e s went t o W ashington Mary S tea rn s accom 42
p a n ie d them as t h e i r d a u g h te r .
She a d d ressed F r e d e r ic k and
Mary as " f a t h e r ” and "m o th e r ."
Mrs. P ike was i n W ashington in 1862 when h er b r o t h e r ,
C apta in Thomas Hayden Green was t h e r e , w ith th e s t a f f o f Gen­
e r a l Henry P r i n c e 's army, a w a itin g o r d e r s t o j o i n the W estern
army.
She e n jo y e d b e in g w ith Thomas, whom she adm ired and
d e a r ly lo v e d .
How prou d she must have been o f t h i s young man,
h er o n ly b r o t h e r , who was f i g h t i n g f o r the ca u se w hich meant
so much t o h e r l
Y et she must have b een a n x iou s f o r him, as
were th o se who p ra y ed f o r him at home— h i s m oth er, h i s f a t h e r ,
and h i s sw e e th e a r t, the s i s t e r o f George K in g, who l a t e r p u r­
ch ased the " I d a May" house i n C a la i s .
On August 9 , 1862, C a p ta in Thomas H. Green was k i l l e d
in a c t io n in th e b a t t l e o f Cedar M ountain w h ile a tte m p tin g to
re s c u e G en eral P r in c e , who had been tak en p r i s o n e r .
In a l e t t e r
t o C h a rle s B. Hayden, h e r c o u s in , M rs. P ike e n c lo s e d a m em orial
t o h er b r o t h e r .
A lth ough i t may have been in te n d e d f o r the Bow-
¥1
W illia m H. B a rn es, F o r t i e t h C on gress (New Y ork ,
1 8 6 9 ), I I , 3 6 9 .
42
L e t t e r from M rs. Herman I . Thomsen o f B a ltim o r e ,
M aryland, March 1 5 , 1947.
-
d o in C o lle g e p r e s s , i t was n ev er p u b lis h e d .
a c t e r i s t i c a l l y s e n tim e n ta l, i s
A p o r tio n , ch ar­
qu oted b e lo w :
But when th e b e re a v e d h e a r t asked w ith i r r e p r e s s i b l e
b i t t e r n e s s what d id he f o r th e p rou d b e a u t i f u l f l a g w orthy
o f so much l o s s and s u f f e r i n g , th e r e comes the w hisper o f
C h r is t ia n f a i t h , sa y in g th a t no d e a d ly m i s s i l e speeds i t s
way i n th e m id st o f b a t t l e u n gu id ed by th e w i l l o f Him
w ith whom are the h ou rs o f l i f e and d e a th and th a t a man
has le a r n e d l i f e ' s le s s o n w e ll when he ca n d a re t o d ie in
o b e d ie n ce t o d u t y .43
Prom 1861 t o 1866 w h ile F r e d e r ic k was i n W ashington,
James P ike was U nited S ta t e s M in is te r t o the N e th e rla n d s .
A lthough he was a b le to a c t e f f e c t i v e l y
at the Hague, James
m issed b e in g at home, and was g r e a t ly co n ce rn e d w ith the p r o g ­
r e s s o f the war betw een th e N orth and South.
S in ce h i s m in is ­
t e r i a l d u t i e s were l i g h t , he spent some time t r a v e l l i n g in
England and on th e C o n tin e n t.
In England he saw D ick en s and
v i s i t e d C a r ly le and Tennyson, whom he commented upon i n h i s
d ia r y -jo u r n a l.
He e n jo y e d s t im u la tin g d i s c u s s i o n s w ith Car­
l y l e , who h e ld d i f f e r i n g v ie w s on th e s u b je c t o f s la v e r y ;
Tennyson he th ou gh t pompous, a f f e c t e d ,
and
u n i n s p i r i n g . 4 4
Qn
h i s r e tu r n t o t h i s c o u n tr y in 1866, James p u rch a se d th e o ld
Brewer Tavern in R o b b in s to n , M aine, which he used as a summer
home.
Here he l i v e d w ith h i s second w ife and h i s d a u g h te r,
e x c e p t f o r o c c a s io n a l v i s i t s
bo the S ou th .
In 1872 he v i s i t e d
-----------------
L e t t e r d a te d May 2 2 , 1865, from M rs. Mary Hayden
Green P ike t o C h a rle s B. Hayden c o n t a in in g a m em orial o f h er
b roth er.
44
James S. P ik e , “D ick e n s , C a r l y l e , and T en n y son ,"
e d . H arold D a v is , A t la n t ic M on th ly, D ecem ber, 1939.
South C a r o lin a t o c o l l e c t m a t e r ia l f o r h i s book A P r o s t r a t e
S t a t e ; South C a r o lin a under Negro Governm ent, p u b lis h e d i n
1 87 2 , w hich p o in t e d ou t th e e v i l s o f a governm ent sp on sored
by the " c a r p e t b a g g e r s ."
On March 7 , 1 8 67, E l i j a h D ix G reen, f a t h e r o f Mary
Hayden Green P ik e , d ie d a t h i s home in C a l a i s .
Mrs. P ike f e l t
g r e a t ly th e l o s s o f so k in d ly and lo v a b le a f a t h e r , whose
g e n t le d i s p o s i t i o n had been h er h e r i t a g e .
The community, t o o ,
g r ie v e d at the p a s s in g o f one o f i t s prom in en t c i t i z e n s ,
A f t e r the c o m p le tio n o f F re d e rick * s l a s t term in
C on gress in 1871, Mr. and M rs. P ik e went t o Europe i n th e com­
pany o f G en era l R ob ert S ch en ck, who had been a p p o in te d m in is t e r
t o E n glan d.
The group p r o b a b ly went o v e r in May.
The P ik e s
were about n in e months i n E u rop e, d u rin g w hich tim e F r e d e r ic k
e f f e c t e d f o r h im s e lf and h i s a s s o c i a t e s the p u rch a se o f th e New
Brunsw ick and Canada R ailw ay p r o p e r t y .
W hile i n Europe th e P ik es
spent some tim e in I t a l y , w hich Mrs. P ik e l i k e d v e ry much.
In
Rome she saw the P op e, a lth o u g h she d id n o t have an au dien ce
w ith him .
45
We do n o t know a l l th e p l a c e s w hich Mr. and Mrs.
Pike v i s i t e d , but an i n t e r e s t i n g s t o r y , though n o t v e r i f i e d ,
i s th a t Mrs. P ik e , w h ile in C o n s t a n t in o p le , a id ed G eneral Lew
W allace in c o l l e c t i n g m a t e r ia l f o r h i s p o p u la r n o v e l, Ben Hur:
A T ale o f C h r is t , p u b lis h e d i n 1880.
u ----------
In fo r m a tio n c o n c e r n in g M rs. P ik e ’ s European t r i p
was o b ta in e d c h i e f l y from l e t t e r s o f M rs. Kate O udesluys and
Mrs. Herman I . Thomsen.
One can im agine th e s t o r i e s and a r t i c l e s brou gh t
home by M rs. P ike from Europe w ith w hich t o e n t e r t a in and
d e l ig h t h e r f r i e n d s and r e l a t i v e s .
Some o f t h e i r European
p u rch a se s were p erh a p s used by th e P ik e s t o ornament t h e ir
new home, " T h o r n c r o f t , 11 a b e a u t i f u l and s p a c io u s house at
what i s now 293 Main S t r e e t i n C a la i s .
Prom 1875 t o 1885 the p ik e s l i v e d i n C a l a i s , u s u a lly
spending t h e i r w in te r s in F l o r id a o r i n the South.
The P ike
e s t a t e was one o f the most b e a u t i f u l , i f n o t the most b e a u t i­
fu l,
in C a la is .
F iv e a c r e s o f law n, g r o v e , and h e d g e , w ith
g r a p e r ie s , o r c h a r d s , and g a r d e n s ,
brown h o u s e .
surrounded the la r g e square
Fine elm t r e e s alm ost h id the house from v ie w ,
w h ile h o th o u se s and f lo w e r bed s were on e v e r y s i d e .
The
en tra n ce t o the g ro u n d s, li n e d w ith t a l l t r e e s , was a gateway
in im it a t i o n o f th a t o f a French ch a te a u .
S p a ciou s groun ds
con veyed the f e e l i n g o f ea se and r e t ir e m e n t w hich the P ik es
e n jo y e d .
F r e d e r ic k was p a r t i c u l a r l y prou d o f the g r a p e r ie s ,
and Mary u sed t o p a in t c l u s t e r s o f g ra p e s f o r him .
M rs. P ik e , now in h e r e a r l y f i f t i e s ,
was d e s c r ib e d
as an unusual woman, unusual t o lo o k a t , f i n e i n s tr e n g th o f
f e a t u r e s , and l i v e l y in e x p r e s s io n .
46
A lth ou gh she was o f a
s e r io u s n a t u r e , she had a k een sen se o f humor.
She f u l l y
a p p r e c ia te d a jo k e , many o f w hich h e r s i s t e r p r o v id e d .
w as, n e v e r t h e l e s s ,
somewhat o f a dream er.
She
D eep ly r e l i g i o u s ,
u ----------
1
A ugu st
L e t t e r from M rs.
12, 1 9 34.
A lb io n
H. E a to n , P o r t la n d , Maine,
“THORNCROFT"
293 Main S t r e e t , C a la is
s t i l l she had a b roa d o u t lo o k on l i f e .
She was alw ays d e s c r ib e d
as an e x tr e m e ly i n t e r e s t i n g c o n v e r s a t i o n a l i s t .
W ritin g and
sp eak in g f l u e n t l y were e f f o r t l e s s f o r h e r .
At T h o r n c r o ft M rs. p ik e gave fr e q u e n t r e c e p t io n s
fo r
h er famous husband, o f whom she was j u s t l y p ro u d .
These
g a t h e r in g s f o r h er husband were d e l i g h t f u l t r i b u t e s t o
g e n e r a lly r e c o g n iz e d a b i l i t y and s o c i a l p o p u l a r i t y .
h is
B oth Mr.
and Mrs. P ike were fo n d o f p e o p le and in t e r e s t e d i n th e w e lfa r e
o f th o se l e s s f o r t u n a t e l y s it u a t e d than t h e y .
In 1875 Mrs.
P ik e was secon d d i r e c t r e s s o f the L a d ie s ' B en evolen t S o c ie t y
o f C a la is .^
Mrs.
P i k e 's home was u s u a lly f i l l e d w ith r e l a t i v e s
andf r i e n d s , o f whom th e re
h u s b a n d 's .
manner.
As a r u le
were many, b o th h e r own and h er
she e n t e r t a in e d i n a sim ple but e le g a n t
Perhaps th e re were o t h e r s e r v a n ts b e s id e s th e S c o tc h
c o o k , who was w ith the fa m ily f o r many y e a r s and who was f i n ­
a l l y b u r ie d in the p ik e fa m ily l o t .
S u r e ly th e re was as much
l o y a l t y and d e v o t io n i n a w e l l - t r e a t e d N orth ern se rv a n t as in
a Southern s l a v e .
F r e d e r ic k was a c t iv e i n h i s many b u s in e s s a f f a i r s
and in p o l i t i c s .
He owned tim b e r la n d s i n P e r r y , Maine, and
at o th e r p o in t s a lo n g the S t . C ro ix R i v e r ; he h e ld s t o c k i n
the European and N orth Am erican R a ilr o a d and in some F lo r id a
and W estern l i n e s .
He was p r i n c i p a l owner o f th e C a la is gas
w orks, e s t a b lis h e d in th e l a t e
----------------------
£
7
s e v e n t ie s ; p a r t owner o f the
------------------------
K how lton, Q£. c i t . ,
p . 174.
Red Beach G ra n ite Works, e s t a b li s h e d i n 1876; and p r i n c i p a l
owner o f th e Red Beach p l a s t e r m i l l .
In p o l i t i c s F r e d e r ic k was f o r a tim e s e v e r e ly c e n ­
sured by h i s p a r t y , w hich he l e f t
Dem ocrat" f o r C o n g re ss.
in 1872 t o run as a "G re e le y
He was d e f e a t e d , and re tu rn e d t o the
R e p u b lic a n f o l d d u rin g the "G reen back" movement o f 1 878.
While
h i s " d e s e r t io n " o f the p a r t y may have been c r i t i c i z e d by i t s
members, F r e d e r ic k was, n e v e r t h e l e s s , c o n s i s t e n t in h i s sup­
p o r t o f the econ om ic p o l i c y w hich many R e p u b lica n s abandoned
d u rin g G r a n t 's a d m in is t r a t io n .
In 1 876,
su p p orted by b o th
Dem ocrats and R e p u b lic a n s , he was nom inated and e l e c t e d to th e
Maine l e g i s l a t u r e .
In 1877 he was a g a in in the Maine l e g i s l a ­
tu re .
F r e d e r ic k , l i k e h i s b r o t h e r James, lo v e d h is n a t iv e
town and i t s p l e a s in g s c e n e r y .
I t i s n o t d i f f i c u l t t o im agine
th e gay fa m ily p a r t i e s th a t were h e ld b o th i n C a la is and at
James* home in R o b b in s to n .
The b r o t h e r s b o th l i k e d t o have
l i v e l y p e o p le i n t h e i r v i c i n i t y ,
and d o u b t le s s t h e i r p le a s in g
p e r s o n a l i t i e s , i n t e r e s t i n g e x p e r ie n c e s ,
a t t r a c t e d many g u e s t s t o t h e i r hom es.
and h o s p it a b le n a tu re s
The e ld e r b r o th e r owned
a y a c h t w hich was u s u a lly at th e d i s p o s a l o f f r i e n d s and r e l a ­
tiv e s .
Gay p a r t i e s o f w hich James and h i s fa m ily were rea d y
p a r t i c i p a n t s made e x c u r s io n s a lo n g th e S t . C ro ix R iv e r and
Passamaquoddy Bay.
F r e d e r ic k f e l t k e e n ly the l o s s o f h i s
b r o t h e r , who d ie d at C a la is on November 24 , 1 88 2 , w h ile en
ro u te t o th e South f o r th e w in te r m onths.
In 1883 F r e d e r ic k r e t i r e d from a c t iv e law b u s in e s s
and from p o l i t i c s .
He in t e r e s t e d h im s e lf i n g a rd e n in g , in
r a i s i n g fo w l and c a t t l e ,
grap es.
and in grow in g v a r io u s v a r i e t i e s o f
He was a c t iv e u n t i l the tim e o f h is d e a th , which
o c c u r r e d in C a la is on December 2 , 1886.
O b it u a r ie s o f him in
the E a s tp o r t and C a la is p a p e r s gave te s tim o n y t o the e x te n s iv e
c a p a b i l i t i e s o f the man and t o th e h ig h re g a rd w hich h i s f in e
q u a l i t i e s m e r it e d .
e r a b le e s t a t e
At h i s d e a th F r e d e r ic k p ik e l e f t a c o n s id ­
to h i s w if e .
A fte r th e d e a th o f h er husband, Mary P ik e , a lth o u g h
m a in ta in in g h e r C a la is home, t o w h ich she r e tu r n e d r e g u l a r ly
e a ch y e a r , l i v e d f o r n in e y e a r s w ith h e r a d op ted d a u g h te r, M rs.
Morgan T a y lo r , in P l a i n f i e l d , New J e r s e y .
Here she b u s ie d h e r ­
s e l f w ith ch u rch work and w ith h er p a in t i n g .
S in ce the p u b l i c a t i o n o f M rs. P i k e 's n o v e ls , th e re
had been an e r r o n e o u s i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f h er w ith o th e r w r it e r s .
M rs. E liz a b e t h p i k e ,
secon d w ife o f James S. P ik e , and Mary
C a r o lin e P ik e , d a u gh ter o f th e j o u r n a l i s t and n ie c e o f Mrs.
Mary P ik e , had b o th c o n t r ib u t e d t o H a rp er1s M agazin e, and the
th re e P ike women had p r o b a b ly b een c o n tu s e d .
M iss Em ily J o l l y ,
an E n g lis h a u th o r , and M rs. F ra n ces West (A th e rto n ) p i k e , a
Maine w r i t e r , had a ls o been c o n fu s e d w ith the a u th or o f the
a n t i - s l a v e r y n o v e l Id a May. ^
.
In 1889 M rs. Mary P ik e , i n a
53
In the D ic t io n a r y o f Am erican B io g ra p h y , i n A p p let o n s ' C y clo p a e d ia o f American B io g r a p h y , and i n W illia m s o n 's
B ib lio g r a p h y o f the S ta te thf Mfajne from th e E a r l i e s t P e r io d t o
l e t t e r t o th e "N otes and Q u e r ie s" s e c t i o n o f a B oston news­
p a p e r ,49 d is c la im e d the a u th o rs h ip o f a l l save th e th re e n o v e ls
—
May,
Id
a
C a s te , and A gnes.
About 1895 M rs. P ik e went t o S w itz e rla n d where she
spent the summer a t Davos P la t z w ith M rs. Morgan T a y lo r and
w ith M rs. T a y lo r ’ s d a u g h ter E d ith .
Upon Mrs. P ik e ’ s r e t u r n t o t h i s c o u n tr y in 1 896,
she
l i v e d w ith h e r s i s t e r , Mrs. C h a rles Hart Sm ith, in B a ltim o r e .
The two s i s t e r s d id work at the C hinese Sunday S ch o o l o f th e
1 891, Mary Hayden Green Pik e i s l i s t e d as the author o f th re e
n o v e ls :
Id a May, C a s t e , and A gnes. In L e y p o ld t 's American
C atalogu e M rs. P ike ap p ears as the w r it e r o f th re e b ook s f o r
young p e o p l e , C lim bin g and S l i d i n g , S t r i v i n g and G a in in g , and
E very Day, b o o k s w hich were w r it t e n by Mrs. F ra n ces West ( A th erto n ) P ik e , b o rn in P r o s p e c t , M aine, in 1 81 9, and l a t e r m arried
t o th e R everend R ich a rd Pike o f D o r c h e s t e r , M a ss a ch u se tts ; i n
C u sh in g ’ s I n i t i a l s and Pseudonyms, Mary H. P ik e i s l i s t e d as
the w r it e r o f C lim bing and S l i d i n g , a b ook f o r b o y s ; in the
D ic t io n a r y o f American B iogra ph y Mrs. P ik e i s s a id t o be th e
a u th or o f th r e e b ook s f o r j u v e n i l e s .
In A l l i b o n e ’ s C r i t i c a l
D ic t io n a r y o f E n g lis h L it e r a t u r e and B r i t i s h and Am erican A u th ors,
she i s l i s t e d ’ as the a u th or o f C aste and a number o f o th e r n o v e ls
w r it t e n by a con tem p orary E n g lis h a u th o r , M iss E m ily J o l l y , who
a ls o w rote a C a s te , p u b lis h e d about the same tim e as Mrs. P i k e 's
n o v e l, and whose su bsequ ent n o v e ls were i n s c r ib e d "By the au th or
o f C a ste 11; L e y p o ld t 's Am erican C a talogu e g iv e s p r o p e r c r e d i t t o
M iss J o l l y .
In W illiam son *'s b ib l io g r a p h y o f Maine w r i t e r s , Mrs.
Pike appears as th e w r it e r o f a s h o rt s t o r y w r it t e n by Mrs. James
Shepherd P ik e , and p u b lis h e d i n H a rp er' s M agazine in November,
1 858.
In h e r n o te t o th e B o ston T r a n s c r ip t , p u b lis h e d January
12 , 1889, M rs. P ike d e n ie s the a u th o rs h ip o f a l l n o v e ls save
Ida May, C a s t e , and A gnes, and r e f e r s th e r e a d e r t o A p p le to n ’ s
C y c lo p a e d ia o f D is tin g u is h e d A m erican s, w hich a c c r e d i t s h er w ith
th ose th re e n o v e ls .
In a n o te at th e end o f Agnes, Mrs. Pike
( i n i t i a l s "M. L . " ) m en tion s a t a l e w hich she w rote some y e a r s
e a r l i e r f o r a P h ila d e lp h ia new spaper, but no t r a c e o f the s t o r y
has been fo u n d .
49
B oston T r a n s c r ip t , January 1 2 , 18 89, p . 6 .
L e t t e r from Mrs. H. I . Thomsen, November 2 6 , 1946.
PIKE MONUMENT AND FAMILY LOT
C a la i s , Maine
Eutaw P la ce B a p t is t Church, w hich M rs. P ike r e g u l a r l y a tte n d e d .
D uring th e se y e a r s she e d u ca te d a young man, who l a t e r la b o r e d
as a m is s io n a r y i n C hina, h i s n a t iv e la n d .
In 1904 M rs. Smith d i e d ,
rest o f
and M rs. P ike spent the
her l i f e at the home o f M rs. S m ith ’ s d a u g h te r, Mrs.
Kate O u d eslu ys, i n B a ltim o r e .
The l a s t y e a r s o f h er l i f e
were p a ss e d in f a i l i n g h e a lt h and r e t ir e m e n t .
At the
age o f e ig h t y - t h r e e Mary Hayden Green P ike
d ie d at
th e home o f h er n ie c e i n B a ltim ore on January 15,
1 9 0 8 .^
S e v e r a l days l a t e r she was b u r ie d in C a la is i n the
Pike fa m ily l o t .
An o b it u a r y o f M rs. P ike e x p r e s s e s the l o s s
w hich th e community f e l t
a t h er death ?
A g r e a t and g ood woman has p a sse d from among u s ,
le a v in g t o r e l a t i v e s a l a s t i n g memory o f a wide l o v e ;
t o f r i e n d s , th e e f f e c t s o f a s tr o n g and en d u rin g f r i e n d ­
s h ip ; t o th e w orld th e in com pu ta ble r e s u l t s o f a la r g e
p h ila n t h r o p y ; and t o the ch u rch an in f lu e n c e th a t w i l l
l i v e th rou gh the e n d le s s a g e s .
The B a p t is t ch u rch has l o s t an h o n o re d , c h e r is h e d
and l o y a l member, and the community n o t hemmed in by
s t a t e l i n e s , mourns th e d e p a rtu re o f a c u lt u r e d , g r a ­
c i o u s , C h r is t ia n woman.®2
51
B a ltim ore Bureau o f V i t a l S t a t i s t i c s .
d e a th o f Mary Hayden Green p ik e .
R ecord o f
52
C opied from a new spaper c l i p p i n g in th e r e c o r d s
o f th e Second B a p t is t Church o f C a la i s .
CHAPTER VI
IDA MAY:
A STORY OF THINGS ACTUAL AND POSSIBLE
I.
In th e 1 8 5 0 ' s when Em erson' s R e p r e s e n ta ti ve Men,
H aw th orn e's The S c a r le t L e t t e r , M e l v i l l e 's Moby D ic k , T h o re a u 's
Walden, W hitm an's Leaves o f G ra ss, and H olm es's The A u to cra t o f
the B re a k fa s t T able a p p ea red , fem in in e n o v e l i s t s were w r it in g
se n tim e n ta l and m elod ra m atic s t o r i e s w hich were g r e a t l y admired
by the common p e o p l e .
Of th e se n o v e l i s t s H a r r ie t B eech er Stowe
was th e m ost p o p u la r , and h e r U ncle Tom 's C abin has become a
c la s s ic .
The d ecad e 1 8 5 0-1860 was marked by em otion a lism and
r e lig io u s fe r v o r ,
and women w r it e r s f e d the em otion s w hich
were t o b la z e out w ith the p u b l i c a t i o n o f M rs. S to w e 's n o v e l .
In a d d it io n th e "fe m in in e f i f t i e s " were p r u d is h ; r e a lis m was
r a t e d w ith t h in g s v u lg a r and u n r e f in e d .
Whitman and M e l v i l l e
d id n o t f a r e w e ll in a d ecade when "G race Greenwood" (Sarah J .
C. L i p p i n c o t t ) , Mary Jane H olm es, L ou ise C handler M ou lton , Susan
Warner, M aria S. Cummins, "Fanny F e rn "(S a ra h W i l l i s P a r t o n ) , and
C •X
C a r o lin e Lee Hentz were " s c r i b b l i n g , "
and when the com bined
s a le s o f t h e i r b ook s t o t a l e d in e x c e s s o f 5 0 0 ,0 0 0 c o p i e s i n th ree
years.
M aria Cummins' The L a m p lig h te r, p u b lis h e d i n 1854 and
damned by Hawthorne, was a romance showing th e in f lu e n c e o f Jane
------------------------------- £ 3 -------------------------
Fred L. P a t t e e , The Fem inine F i f t i e s
London, 1 9 4 0 ), p . 110.
(New Y ork and
E y re , W uthering H e ig h ts , and. D ic k e n s .
Fern L eaves from Fanny1s
P o r t f o l i o by Fanny Fern ( s i s t e r o f N a th a n ie l P ark er W i l l i s ) was
a c o l l e c t i o n made up o f M rs. P a r to n ’ s c o n t r i b u t i o n s to many
m aga zin es.
Her b r o t h e r c o u ld n ot see m e rit i n h e r w r it in g s ,
but in s p it e o f t h i s f a c t th e m o r a liz in g s e n t im e n t a lit y o f the
book made i t
1853.
a b e s t - s e l l e r a t the tim e o f i t s p u b l i c a t i o n in
C a r o lin e Lee H en tz’ s p r o - s l a v e r y n o v e l The P l a n t e r 1s
N orth ern B r id e , p u b lis h e d in 1854, p r e s e n te d the s la v e r y qu es­
t i o n as view ed by a N o rth e rn -b o rn woman who had spent most o f
h er l a t e r l i f e
i n th e S ou th .
D e s p ite sev ere c r i t i c i s m , th e se
n o v e l i s t s c o u ld o r would n o t change the q u a lit y o f t h e i r w r i t ­
in g .
That some o f the m ost t a le n t e d o f them— by c a t e r in g t o
the p u b l i c demand f o r R ich a r d s o n ia n t e a r - j e r k e r s — s a c r i f i c e d
a more l a s t i n g fame f o r im m ediate p o p u la r it y i s t o be r e g r e t t e d .
Of the fem in in e n o v e l i s t s o f the 1 8 5 0 ’ s none has won
a l a s t i n g r e p u t a t io n e x c e p t H a r r ie t B eecher S tow e, who w rote
the f i r s t
a b o li t i o n i s t n o v e l.
argue i n h er n o v e l s .
M rs. Stowe d id n o t p re a ch o r
She a rou sed e m otion th rou gh the sp eech
and a c t io n s o f h e r c h a r a c t e r s th e m s e lv e s .
Her a r t i s t r y i n
f i c t i o n w r it in g i s d is p la y e d by h er a b i l i t y t o s tim u la te th e
i n t e r e s t o f the r e a d e r and t o h o ld h i s a t t e n t io n t o the l a s t
page o f the s t o r y .
Her m a s te r p ie c e i s
as r e a d a b le tod a y as i t
was i n the m id -n in e te e n th c e n t u r y .
I n s p ir e d by U ncle Tom’ s C a b in , Mary Hayden Green Pike
w rote two a n t i - s l a v e r y n o v e ls in the s e n tim e n ta l and m elodram atic
s t y le o f the p e r i o d .
Whereas Id a May, h er f i r s t n o v e l, had a
wide c i r c u l a t i o n a t the time o f i t s
a p p ea ra n ce, i t n ev er g a in ed
the r e p u t a t io n o r the l a s t i n g p o p u la r i t y o f U ncle Tom1s C a b in .
A lthough i t d o e s n o t have the g r e a t s t o r y i n t e r e s t o f Mrs.
S to w e 's n o v e l, i t p r o b a b ly d id much to a id th e a b o l i t i o n i s t
c a u se .
II.
I have n o t w r it t e n i n v a in , i f the th ou g h ts su g g ested
by the p e r u s a l o f t h i s book s h a ll a rou se i n any h e a rt a
more in te n s e lo v e o f fre e d om , o r b r in g from any l i p a more
in te n s e p r o t e s t a g a in s t the e x t e n s io n o f th a t system w h ich ,
a lik e f o r m aster and s e r v a n t , p o is o n s the s p r in g s o f l i f e ,
s u b v e r ts the n o b l e s t i n s t i n c t s o f hum anity, and, even i n
the m ost fa v o r a b le c ir c u m s t a n c e s , e n t a i l s an amount o f m oral
and p h y s ic a l i n j u r y t o w h ich no lan gu age can do j u s t i c e . 4
Id a May i s th e s t o r y o f a w h ite c h i l d s o ld i n t o s la v e r y .
Id a i s the o n ly d a u gh ter o f E rn e st May, a man o f means who l i v e s
in th e ’’i n t e r i o r o f P e n n s y lv a n ia .”
S h o r t ly a f t e r th e b i r t h and
d e a th o f h i s o n ly so n , Mr. May i s c a l l e d upon t o b ea r a ls o the
d ea th o f h i s con su m ptive w i f e .
B e fo re he h a s tim e t o r e c o v e r
from th e f i r s t g r i e f ca u sed by h i s w i f e 's d e a th , a n oth er u n fo r ­
tu n a te in c id e n t o c c u r s .
Id a May on h e r f i f t h b ir t h d a y ,
"one o f th o se g l o r i o u s
days in J u n e ,” g o e s w ith h er young nursem aid B essy t o g a th e r
flo w e r s a lo n g th e s id e o f a l o n e l y r o a d .
top o f a h i l l ,
As the p a i r r e a c h the
a c a r r i a g e , f o llo w e d by two men, a p p ro a ch e s.
Ida
has n ev er lo o k e d more l o v e l y ;
54
t o n , 1 8 5 4 ),
Prom th e ’’P r e f a c e ” t o Id a May b y ” Mary Langdon” (B os­
-----------
Tlie m o u rn in g -d re ss showed h e r c l e a r , da rk com p lex ion
t o g r e a t a d v a n ta g e; h e r ch eek s and l i p s were l i k e b lu s h ­
in g r o s e b u d s , and h e r b r i l l i a n t e y e s were l i g h t e d w ith
m errim en t. 5
One o f the men ap p roa ch es h e r and asks h e r s e v e r a l q u e s t io n s .
A ft e r a few moments he sends B essy h a lfw a y down the h i l l to
r e c o v e r a whip w hich he says he h as d ro p p e d .
W hile B essy i s
gone she h e a rs a s h r ie k and t u r n in g , s e e s the man t h r u s t Id a
May in t o the c a r r ia g e and d r iv e o f f h a s t i l y .
P oor B essy runs
a f t e r them f o r alm ost two m ile s , but f i n a l l y l o s e s s ig h t o f
the c a r r ia g e and i s f o r c e d t o r e tu r n home t o t e l l Mr. May.
I d a 's
fa t h e r p u rsu e s h e r c a p t o r s as f a r as M aryland, but h ere he l o s e s
a l l t r a c e o f th e v e h i c l e c o n t a in in g Id a and h er k id n a p p e r s .
Knowing the r o u te w hich the men have p r o b a b ly ta k en , Mr. May
f e a r s th a t h i s d au gh ter has been s o ld i n t o s l a v e r y , and he
spends two y e a r s v i s i t i n g the s la v e m arkets o f th e Southern
s t a t e s , grow in g s i c k w ith a p p reh en sion as he s e e s th e s u f f e r i n g s
and e v i l s w h ich are in s e p a r a b le from th e s la v e r y system .
Mr.
May f o l l o w s one vague c le w a f t e r a n o th e r, and f i n a l l y a f t e r
about th r e e y e a r s , h i s f r i e n d s hear th a t he i s p la n n in g t o
embark f o r Prance t o seek h i s d a u g h te r.
the v e s s e l on w hich he i s
A h u r r ic a n e d e s t r o y s
supposed t o have s a i l e d .
Meanwhile Ida May i s tak en by h er c a p t o r s t o a cave
on th e b o rd e r o f the f r e e
s t a t e s ; t h i s p la c e i s th e re n d e z ­
vous f o r a band o f k id n a p p e r s .
The cave i s i n ch arge o f C h loe,
a v i c i o u s and d ep ra v ed n e g r e s s , who b e a ts th e g i r l u n m e r c ifu lly
“ 5S
"L an gd on /* Id a May, p . 2 0 .
t o re v e n g e h e r s e l f on th e w h ite r a c e .
Id a l o s e s h e r h eau ty under th e s t r a i n , f a t i g u e , and
abuse w hich she has endured s in c e h e r c a p t u r e .
made t o appear l i k e
b r in g so
a c o l o r e d c h i l d ; but s in c e
much in th e s a le s as she w ould i f
h er h e a lt h and b e a u ty , th e
She has been
she w i l l n ot
she had r e t a in e d
two men, on the way t o
th e s la v e
m arket, s e l l h e r f o r t h i r t y d o l l a r s t o Mr. James B e l l ,
l i n a p l a n t a t io n ow ner.
a C aro­
Mr. B e l l i s a k in d h e a rte d man and tu rn s
Ida o v e r t o Venus, the fa m ily s e a m s tre s s , t o r e s t o r e t o h e a lt h .
"Aunt V e n u s ," though she
has a s tu p id f a c e , i s n o t lo n g i n
d is ­
c o v e r in g th a t Id a May i s
n o t c o l o r e d ; but s in c e the c h i l d has
l o s t h e r memory and Mr. B e l l i s n o t in t e r e s t e d in i n v e s t i g a t ­
in g th e m a tte r , Ida rem ains i n the s la v e q u a r te r s on th e p la n t a
tio n .
The c h i l d 's l i f e , h ow ever, i s n o t u n p le a s a n t;
c a r e s f o r h e r ,a n d Id a d o e s l i t t l e
w ork.
h er b e a u ty , Id a has l o s t h er v i v a c i t y ,
h ou rs d o in g l i t t l e
Venus
A lth ou gh she r e c o v e r s
and f r e q u e n t ly s i t s f o r
but g a z in g i n t o s p a c e .
She seems l o s t i n
a tra n ce in w hich vague r e c o l l e c t i o n s o f h e r r e a l i d e n t i t y and
backgroun d som etim es d is t u r b h e r q u i e t .
I d a ...w o u l d have been happy, but f o r the dim , haunt­
in g m em ories th a t came o v e r h er in dream s and i n h er
waking h o u r s , r o u s in g an u n d e fin e d p a in , as o f som ething
la c k in g from h e r l i f e , and f o r the s t e r n c o n s c io u s n e s s
o f h e r p r e s e n t p o s i t i o n , w h ich , though d im ly r e a l i z e d
at f i r s t , became as she grew o ld e r more and more the
e n g r o s s in g t o p i c o f th ou gh t and f e a r , and le d h er t o
shun more e n t i r e l y th o se s p o r t s and th a t com panionship
w ith h e r young m a ste rs and m is t r e s s e s w hich e x p o se d h e r
t o the n e c e s s i t y o f r e c o g n iz in g th e r e l a t i o n in w hich
she s to o d t o th em .56
j—
When Id a i s about t e n y e a r s o l d , Mr. B e l l , at the
in s t ig a t io n o f h is w ife ,
s e l l s Id a and Venus, a lo n g w ith o th e r
s la v e s , in o r d e r t o g e t m oney.
Id a and h er a dopted m other are
p u rch a sed by the nearby p l a n t a t io n ow ner, C h a rle s Maynard,
whose nephew, W alter V a ria n , has a lr e a d y been e n tra n ce d by the
d e l i c a t e b e a u ty o f Id a May at a p r e v io u s ch an ce e n c o u n te r .
At
Wynn H a ll, where Mr. Maynard l i v e s w ith h i s s i s t e r and h er fam­
ily ,
Id a r e c o v e r s h e r memory, and p r o o f o f h er i d e n t i t y i s f u r ­
n is h e d by an a r t i c l e
o f h e r d r e s s w hich Venus has kept and which
b e a r s h e r name in f i n e e m b ro id e ry .
Id a i s a c c e p t e d as a member
Of the fa m ily a f t e r a l l a ttem p ts t o f i n d h er f a t h e r have f a i l e d .
A fte r a sh o rt tim e Id a and Mabel Wynn are sen t t o a
b o a rd in g s c h o o l i n B a ltim o r e , w h ile Mr. Maynard and W alter tou r
E u rop e.
Mr. Maynard d i e s in Germany, where W alter i s
law at the U n iv e r s it y o f G o tt in g e n .
stu d y in g
Upon W a lt e r 's r e t u r n t o
the Wynn p l a n t a t i o n , he r e v e a ls g r e a t a d m ira tio n f o r h i s b e a u t i­
f u l but haughty c o u s in M abel, whom he has d e c id e d t o m arry.
Mabel c a u s e s W alter t o abandon t e m p o r a r ily th e a n t i - s l a v e r y
v iew s f o r w hich Id a May had r e s p e c t e d him .
Upon h e r re tu r n from s c h o o l Id a has the o p p o r t u n it y
o f o b s e r v in g more c l o s e l y th e abuses o f the s la v e r y system .
Mr. Wynn i s v i o l e n t l y p r o - s l a v e r y ,
and w i l l do a n y th in g t o
u p h old th e S outhern i n s t i t u t i o n o f w hich h i s p l a n t a t i o n i s a
p a rt.
When A l f r e d , the son o f Maum Abby (a f a i t h f u l and p r i v i ­
le g e d s la v e a t th e Wynn p l a n t a t i o n ) , m a rrie s E l s i e , a f r e e n e g r e s s ,
and p la n s t o f l e e
t o the N orth w ith h e r , Mr. Wynn, who d i s c o v e r s
A l f r e d 1s I n t e n t io n o f e s c a p in g , d e c i d e s t o have him h a r s h ly
b e a te n .
A fte r a c o n v e r s a t io n w ith Mr. Wynn i n w hich the mas­
t e r t h r e a te n s h i s n e g r o , A lfr e d com m its s u ic id e r a t h e r than
liv e
any lo n g e r as a s l a v e .
Id a g r a v e ly r e p r o a c h e s Mr. Wynn
fo r h is con d u ct.
Under the g u a rd ia n sh ip o f Mr. Wynn, who s t r o n g ly
d is a p p r o v e s o f h e r a t t it u d e toward s l a v e r y , Id a f i n d s l i f e
in to le r a b le
a t Wynn H a ll and d e c id e s t o c a r r y ou t her i n t e n t i o n
o f e d u c a tin g and f r e e i n g the s la v e s l e f t t o h er by Mr. Maynard.
She and the f a i t h f u l Venus f l e e t o the f o r m e r 's sm all e s t a t e ,
the T r ia n g le , where Id a i s r e s c u e d from the v i l l a i n y o f Mr.
p o r t e r , the o v e r s e e r , by W a lte r, who le a v e s Wynn H a ll d u rin g
a storm t o come t o h er a id .
A s tr a n g e r t o whom W alter has
g iv e n a s s is t a n c e on th e way t o th e e s t a t e th rou gh the storm
p r o v e s t o be I d a 's f a t h e r , and th e re i s a j o y f u l re u n io n betw een
Mr. May and h i s l o n g - l o s t d a u g h te r.
F ather and d a u g h ter co n ­
tin u e w ith the p la n s t o e d u ca te th e s la v e s f o r fre e d o m .
W a lter has now begun t o r e a l i z e th e weakness o f
Mabel and the s tr e n g th o f I d a .
The h e a r t l e s s and c o n s c i e n c e ­
l e s s M abel, je a lo u s o f W a lt e r 's a t t e n t io n s t o Id a May, s e c r e t l y
engages h e r s e l f t o C o lo n e l R o s s , a m i l l i o n a i r e , and i n c i t e s a
mob o f "p o o r w h ite " S o u th e rn e rs t o a tt a c k I d a and h er fa t h e r
i n t h e i r home.
They are r e s c u e d by Mr. Wynn, who r e a l i z e s
the danger o f e n c o u ra g in g mob v i o l e n c e .
now le a v e the South f o r
Id a and Mr. May must
s a f e t y , but do n o t f o r g e t the s la v e s ,
who are p r o p e r l y c a r e d f o r .
W alter i s now f r e e t o m arry Id a .
With, the su p p o rt o f h e r s tr o n g c o n v i c t i o n s , he once more
renews h i s f a i t h i n the r ig h t e o u s n e s s o f the a b o l i t i o n i s t
cau se.
As a n o v e l o f p rop a g a n d a , Id a May d o e s n o t c l i n g
c l o s e l y enough t o the s u b je c t o f s la v e r y t o be so stro n g an
argument f o r a b o lit io n is m as U ncle Tom* s C a b in .
A lthough
Mrs. P ik e was a rd en t in h e r b e l i e f th a t th e s la v e r y system
was a m oral e v i l ,
i l y lo n g and l u r i d
she d id n o t in h er n o v e l u t i l i z e u n n e c e s s a r­
sc e n e s t o t r a n s f e r h er enthu siasm t o o t h e r s .
W hile th e s c e n e s in w hich Id a i s b e a te n by C hloe and in w hich
A lfr e d i s d r iv e n t o commit s u ic id e are m e lo d ra m a tic, they do
n ot d e s c r ib e
sm a ll p h y s ic a l d e t a i l s o r d w e ll e n d le s s ly on the
h o r r o r s o f the
s itu a tio n s a s,
f o r in s t a n c e , d o e s the scen e
o f Uncle Tom’ s punishm ent and d ea th at the hands
o f Simon L e g r e e .
Mrs. Pike le a v e s som ething t o the im a g in a tio n o f th e r e a d e r s ,
and p erh a p s i t
i s e a s i e r f o r one t o put h im s e lf i n a w hite p e r ­
s o n ’ s p la c e among th e s la v e s than in th e p o s i t i o n o f A lfr e d o r
U ncle Tom o f th e c o l o r e d r a c e .
Mrs. P i k e 's i n t e r e s t i n h e r p l o t and c h a r a c t e r i z a ­
t io n s and h e r s tr o n g f e e l i n g a g a in s t th e e v i l s o f the s la v e r y
system p rod u ce a m elod ra m atic and s e n tim e n ta l s t o r y w h ich , in
s p it e o f i t s f a u l t s , has some p ow er.
Her a t t it u d e toward th e
c r u e l t i e s o f the S outhern p l a n t a t io n l i f e
i s b e s t e x p re s s e d
th rou gh the c h a r a c t e r o f I d a , whose N orthern v iew s c la s h w ith
th o se o f W a lte r .
The young V a ria n , as he grow s o ld e r and more
w o r ld ly w is e , ch an ges the e a r l i e r o p in io n s w hich he h e ld in
sympathy w ith I d a .
When Id a r e p r o a c h e s him f o r b e t r a y in g what i s
good and n o b le In h i m s e lf , W alter wants t o know why he sh ou ld
p r o f e s s t o be w is e r and b e t t e r than th o se S ou th ern ers who
have le a r n e d t o a c c e p t what i s b e s t f o r t h e i r own c o n v e n ie n c e .
Id a answ ers h i s r h e t o r i c a l q u e s tio n w ith a comment w hich
e x p r e s s e s M rs. P i k e 's answer t o th o se who adopt the l i n e o f
le a s t r e s is ta n c e :
Id a r a is e d h e r c l e a r , da rk e y e s t o h i s f a c e , and
the flo w e r y crim son o f h e r ch eek d e e p e n e d , as she
r e p l i e d , i n a lo w , e a r n e s t t o n e , "B ecause 'e v e r y man
s h a ll g iv e an a cco u n t o f h im s e lf t o G o d .'" S ’?
In t h i s p a ssa ge the w r i t e r , in a t y p i c a l l y s e n tim e n ta l p a s s a g e ,
g iv e s h e r own v iew s on th e e t h i c a l and m oral r e s p o n s i b i l i t y
w hich she f e e l s i s c a s t a s id e by th o se S ou th ern ers who become
immune t o any r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f th a t n a tu r e .
The above scene
i l l u s t r a t e s th e co u r s e w hich M rs. P ik e a d op ts th rou gh ou t h er
n o v e l:
th a t o f p o r t r a y in g th e p r i n c i p a l c h a r a c t e r s o f the
work by means o f a lo v e s t o r y w hich i s b u i l t around th e un der­
l y i n g theme o f th e e v i l s o f s l a v e r y .
Mrs. P ik e , though i n t e r e s t e d in h e r c h a r a c t e r s , d o e s
n o t d e v e lo p them so f u l l y as she m ig h t.
She i s in t e r e s t e d
in
what th e y do and sa y , but n o t so muchi n why th e y are as th ey
are.
n o v e l.
We do n o t have a c l e a r p i c t u r e o f ea ch c h a r a c t e r in the
Perhaps one r e a s o n f o r t h i s f a c t i s t h a t they have a
ten d e n cy to be " t y p e d ,"
For in s t a n c e , Mabel sy m b o liz e s e v i l ,
as Id a s y m b o liz e s g o o d n e ss and v i r t u e .
------------------- 57
----------------------------------------------
I b id .,
p .
'
280.
Y et I d a , w h ile perh aps
an o v e r ly sw eet h e r o in e , i s more r e a l i s t i c a l l y drawn than
little
but
Eva i n U ncle Tom* sC a b in .
i s not p e r fe c t .
She has many good q u a l i t i e s ,
She i s g e n e r o u s ,
but s t i l l human enough
to r e s e n t W a lt e r 's attachm ent t o th e s o p h i s t i c a t e d ,
M abel.
When she speaks to W alter about M abel,
s p o ile d
she h o ld s h er
own o p in io n o f the o th e r g i r l i n r e s e r v e , a lth o u g h the re a d e r
can
r e a d i l y im agine what i t i s .
BI do n o t w ish t o t e l l you what
I t h i n k . . . , VYalter.
I knov/ th a t she [M abel] d o e s n o t l i k e me, and I f e a r I
do n o t l i k e h er w e ll enough t o e s tim a te h er c h a r a c t e r
tr u ly .
I b e l i e v e i t must be p a r t l y my f a u l t , f o r she
seems t o be u n i v e r s a l l y adm ired; b u t , c e r t a i n l y , our
sp h e re s do n o t a c c o r d . . . .
Id a i s t r y i n g t o be j u s t , but some r e a d e r s may wonder why she
d o e s n o t g iv e h er ca n d id o p in io n o f the s e l f i s h M abel, when
W alter g iv e s h e r the o p p o r t u n it y .
M rs. Pike u s e s c o n t r a s t i n h e r c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n s —
f o r in s t a n c e , betw een Mabel and I d a .
Mabel i s d a z z l i n g l y
b e a u t i f u l , w h ile Id a i s m e re ly p r e t t y u n t i l h e r f a c e i s a n i­
mated by the enthu siasm w hich she d i s p la y s i n c o n v e r s a t io n .
B e s id e s t h i s e x t e r i o r c o n t r a s t , th e re i s a d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e ir
m e n t a lit y and in t h e i r v ie w s .
w hich Id a d e n o u n ce s.
Mabel u p h old s the s la v e r y system ,
As Id a so a p t ly p u ts i t when Mabel r e p o r t s
t o h e r th a t W alter has fou n d h i s c o u s in much more b e a u t i f u l than
Ida upon h i s r e t u r n from E u rope;
"When he becom es f u r t h e r a cq u a in te d w ith u s , I sup­
p o se he w i l l come t o the c o n c lu s io n t h a t th e r e i s no more
--------------------------------g - -------------------------
I b i d . , p . 417.
com p a rison betw een th e in s i d e than th e r e i s betw een th e
o u t s id e o f ou r h e a d s.
T h is s h a ft d o e s n o t c o m p le t e ly m iss i t s m ark, and Mabel i s
vexed w ith Id a f o r presum ing t o th in k th a t W alter would d e c id e
and is s u e betw een th e two g i r l s i n f a v o r o f I d a .
U ndoubtedly
a re a d e r o f th e 1 8 5 0 's lo v e d Id a and d e s p is e d M abel.
There i s c o n t r a s t , t o o , betw een C h a rle s Maynard and
h i s b r o t h e r - i n - l a w , Mr. Wynn, as th e re i s betw een M rs. S to w e 's
S t. C la re and h i s b r o t h e r .
Mr. Maynard i s th e k in d and b en ev o­
le n t s la v e ow ner; Mr. Wynn, the i r r i t a b l e p l a n t a t i o n owner, who
has no t o le r a n c e o f a b o l i t i o n i s t s , p a r t i c u l a r l y when h i s own
i n t e r e s t s are a f f e c t e d .
M rs. P ike i s more a t t e n t iv e t o the d e t a i l s o f s e t t i n g
than o f c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n .
W ith th e eye o f an a r t i s t ,
view ed su rro u n d in g s o f n a t u r a l b e a u ty .
she had
The r e a d e r n o t e s h er
d e s c r i p t i o n s o f th e p l a n t a t io n s and o f p l a n t a t io n l i f e ,
h er s t y le d e t r a c t s from a f u l l enjoym ent o f them .
a lth ou g h
Her d e s c r i p ­
t i o n o f C hristm as Eve at Wynn H a ll makes th e r e a d e r aware th a t
Mrs. P ike was n o t u n c o n s c io u s o f th e charm w hich v e ry o f t e n made
up a la r g e p a r t o f p la n t a t io n l i f e .
The a i r I s s o f t and s t i l l , b u t the sky i s clo u d e d
and th e n ig h t i s d a rk , and th e f l o o d o f l i g h t , th a t
stream s from e v e r y window o f the m an sion, f a l l s i n lo n g
l i n e s th ro u g h th e m isty atm osphere f a r i n among the
s t a t e l y p in e s th a t have k ep t solem n "w atch and ward”
o v e r so many s u c c e e d in g p e r io d s o f C hristm as f e s t i v i t y .
L ig h ts are f l a s h i n g a ls o i n y on d er g r o v e , w hich may be
seen f a r away a c r o s s th e c o t t o n f i e l d s ; and, b en eath th e
g la r e o f the fla m in g t o r c h e s , a jo y o u s m u ltitu d e o f th e
............ g g
.
" f i e l d p e o p le " are h e r e , around a w e ll-s p r e a d t a b l e ,
g o r g in g th e m se lv e s w ith m eats o f d i f f e r e n t k in d s , which
th e y t a s t e now f o r the f i r s t tim e i n a y e a r .60
Not o n ly i n sce n e s o f p l a n t a t io n l i f e
but a ls o i n th o se i n v o l v ­
in g n a t u r a l s c e n e r y , M rs. P ik e r e v e a ls h er pow ers o f o b se rv a ­
t i o n and d e s c r i p t i o n .
She d i s p l a y s h er i n t e r e s t in s e t t i n g s
by h e r a t t e n t i o n t o such t h in g s as f l o w e r s , b i r d s , or a r i v e r .
Par up the m ou n tain , on the sou th ern s lo p e o f which
la y the B e l l p l a n t a t i o n , were the s p r in g s th a t f e d a r i v ­
u l e t w h ich came d a s h in g , s p a r k lin g and le a p in g down i t s
s t e e p , r o c k y b ed , o c c a s i o n a l l y s p re a d in g ou t f o r a l i t t l e
space i n t o sm a ll p o o l s , where the b ir d s came t o d r in k ,
and where the sun-beam s, g l i n t i n g b r i g h t l y th rou gh g reen
l e a v e s , k is s e d the f lo w e r s th a t m ir r o r e d th em selv es i n
the sm ooth w a te r s .
Then h u r r y in g on a g a in , i t p la y e d
" h id e -a n d -s e e k " around huge l o g s , the w reck o f some f o r ­
e s t t o r n a d o ; o r p i l e s o f d r i f t - w o o d £hat i t s own co u rse
had h ea p ed ; or immense b o u ld e r s , p r e o r d a in e d o b s t r u c t io n s
flu n g i n i t s p a th b y the th r o e s and s t r u g g le s o f the
p rim e v a l w o r id .
Mrs. P ik e d o e s n o t overem ph asize u n n e c e s s a r ily h er
s e t t i n g s , b u t th e re a d e r has the f e e l i n g th a t the author t h o r ­
o u g h ly e n jo y s d e s c r ib in g them.
A lth ough the p l o t o f Id a May h e lp s t o b r in g out the
u n d e r ly in g a n t i - s l a v e r y them e, i t
im p rob a b le s i t u a t i o n s :
c o n t a in s many u n r e a l and
the d i s c o v e r y o f I d a » s i d e n t i t y , the
a r r i v a l o f W a lter at the T r ia n g le at ju s t th e r i g h t tim e , and
the re u n io n o f Mr. May and h i s d a u g h ter at th e T r ia n g le a l s o .
These o v e r -r o m a n t ic s i t u a t i o n s weaken the i n t e r e s t o f th e n o v e l
f o r the modern r e a d e r .
m ----------
I b i d . , p p . 2 1 4 -2 1 5 .
I b i d . , p . 92.
Mrs. P i k e ’ s s e n tim e n ta l s t y l e o f w r it in g i s p erh ap s
h er g r e a t e s t w eakn ess.
She shared, t h i s s t y le w ith o th e r fem ­
in in e w r it e r s o f th e 1 8 5 0 's .
U n fo r tu n a t e ly , what a ppea led t o many
o f h er r e a d e r s th e n , became p a r t i c u l a r l y d i s t a s t e f u l t o l a t e r
p e r u s e r s o f th e p o p u la r n o v e l .
Her f a i l u r e
in t o Ida May d e t r a c t s im m easurably from i t s
t o in tr o d u c e humor
a p p e a l.
She m ight
have made use o f the c o n t r a s t o f tr a g e d y and comedy t o e n liv e n
h er s t o r y .
I f Id a was su g g e ste d by Eva i n U ncle Tom 's Cabin
and Mr. P o t t e r by Simon L e g re e , th e re i s no c h a r a c t e r in Mrs.
P i k e 's f i r s t n o v e l t o p a r a l l e l T o p sy .
We m iss T op sy, w ith
h er a n t ic s and d r o l l rem arks, and w ith h e r p a th o s .
Another weakness in M rs. P i k e 's s t y le i s the fr e q u e n t
use o f t r i t e f i g u r e s o f s p e e ch :
"lik e
n e s t , " " l i k e a moth round a c a n d l e ,"
l i k e d ew -d rop s upon the r o s e s . "
a b ir d d a r t in g in t o h er
" q u ie t t e a r s , th a t f e l l
In a d d it io n t o th e se s i m i l e s ,
Mrs. P ike u s e s e f f u s i v e p h ra s e s and p i l e s a d je c t i v e on a d je c t iv e
t o a c h ie v e a c l o y i n g sw eetn ess th a t f a i l s t o a f f e c t th e modern
rea d er f a v o r a b ly .
He a ls o f a i l s t o sym pathize w ith the b lu s h ­
in g and th e f a i n t i n g f i t s
o f th e fem a le c h a r a c t e r s in the n o v e l.
Yet th e re are o c c a s io n a l p a s s a g e s in w hich M rs. Pike
w r it e s sim p ly and d i r e c t l y ,
and i n a few w ords says much.
One
o f th ese we f in d i n Maum A b b y 's w ords t o Id a a f t e r the l a t t e r 's
e x p e r ie n c e s at the T r ia n g le :
"You have had many sorrow s and t r i a l s ; I used t o see
them when you l i v e d at our house som etim es, and th e re were
o t h e r s g r e a t e r , th a t came b e f o r e and a fte r w a r d s ; but now,
I h op e, th e y are a l l o v e r , and you have n o th in g but h a p p i­
n e s s b e fo r e y o u . You have t r i e d t o do r i g h t , and you have
been a b l e s s i n g t o many p o o r c r e a t u r e s th a t had nobody
e l s e t o h e lp them. You have n o t been s e l f i s h o r a f r a id
to do you r d u ty , and I know God w i l l b l e s s y o u . . . .
Nor are th e se sim p le sp e e ch e s c o n fin e d t o n e g ro s l a v e s .
M rs.
Pike sums up v e r y a d e q u a te ly the c h a r a c t e r o f M abel i n the few
words w hich the g i r l speaks t o h er fa t h e r when she f i n d s th a t
W alter no lo n g e r c a r e s f o r h e r .
In h u m ilia t io n she e x p la in s
her f e e l i n g s to h e r f a t h e r ;
is
"it
n o t the l o s t l o v e r . M a b e l
the l o s t lo v e I r e g r e t , . . .
c a r e s n o t a w hit f o r W a lte r, but
she r e s e n t s the f a c t th a t Id a has won the p r i z e f o r w hich th ey
were r i v a l s .
One w ish es th a t the n o v e l i s t had used an u n a ffe c t e d
s t y le th rou gh ou t the s t o r y , w h ich i s n o t t o t a l l y la c k in g i n
in t e r e s t .
The c h a r a c t e r s in Id a May are q u ite w e ll drawn, i f
somewhat la c k in g i n f o c u s ;
th e c e n t r a l p l o t i s h ig h ly rom a n tic
and f i c t i o n a l ; the s e t t i n g s are b e t t e r than e i t h e r p l o t o r
c h a r a c te r iz a t io n .
I f th e re a d e r o f the n o v e l can o v e r lo o k the
s e n tim e n ta l s t y l e o f w r it in g , he w i l l p erh ap s e n jo y the s t o r y .
A lthough he w i l l r e c o g n iz e th a t Mrs. P i k e 's n o v e l d o e s n o t have
the power o f Mrs. S t o w e 's , he w i l l r e a l i z e
th a t Id a May, l i k e
Uncle Tom 's Cabin a p ro d u c t o f the 1 8 5 0 's , was one o f the f o r c e s
w hich s tim u la te d em otion and im a g in a tio n and w hich h e lp e d t o
i n s t i g a t e the C i v i l War.
62
I b i d . , p . 423.
CHAPTER V II
CASTE:
A STORY OF REPUBLICAN EQUALITY
Mrs. P ik e ’ s secon d n o v e l, C a s te , p u b lis h e d i n 1856
under the pseudonym Sydney A. S t o r y , J r . , i s lik e w is e an a n t i­
s la v e r y n o v e l.
I t d w e lls on one a s p e c t o f th e s la v e r y ques­
t i o n , c o n f i n i n g i t s e l f p r i n c i p a l l y t o the c r u e l t y o f ra ce d i s ­
c r im in a t io n .
T h is n o v e l was n o t so p o p u la r as Id a May.
The
s t o r y opens in New Y ork w ith th e m arriage o f
/
J u lie Conant t o C h a rles Dupre, a handsome young man who i s
em ployed by J u l i e ’ s f a t h e r .
H elen D u p r /, a g o v e rn e ss in
South C a r o lin a , has come to the N orth f o r h er b r o t h e r ’ s wed­
d in g .
A lth ough the D u p res, b r o t h e r and s i s t e r , have been w e ll
ed u ca te d and a c ce p te d i n th e b e s t o f s o c i e t y , t h e ir p a ren ta g e
i s unknown e v e n t o them.
T h eir e d u c a tio n has been secu red by
means o f money anonym ously sent t o the s c h o o l w hich th ey
a tte n d e d .
A ft e r the w edding J u lie t r i e s t o persu a de H elen to
make h e r home w ith the new c o u p le , but H elen w i l l n ot le a v e
h e r p o s i t i o n as g o v e r n e s s w ith th e Warner fa m ily in the South.
Mrs. Warner has been v e ry k in d t o H elen , and a lth ou g h g ov ern ­
e s s e s are g e n e r a ll y n o t a c c e p te d
t io n fa m ilie s
in a l l r e s p e c t s .
as s o c i a l e q u a ls by the p la n ta ­
o f the S ou th , Mrs. Warner t r e a t s H elen as an eq u a l
On h e r re tu r n t o the South by b o a t , H elen i s
met by Hubert W arner, the o n ly unm arried son o f th e W arners.
He i s in lo v e w ith h er and has d eterm in ed t o win th e b e a u t i­
f u l , t a l e n t e d , and prou d H e le n , who f u r t h e r spurs him on by
r e f u s in g t o resp on d t o h i s f e e l i n g s .
On th e b o a t H elen i s
a ls o s u r p r is e d by C o lo n e l B e l l , a n e ig h b o r o f the W arners,
who th in k s he s e e s i n H elen someone whom he has known p r e ­
v io u s ly .
H elen *s l i f e
at the W a rn er's i s v e ry happy.
The
p la n t a t io n i s run i n a most e f f i c i e n t but k in d ly manner, and
the s la v e s are happy and w e ll ca re d f o r .
H elen has n ever had
any re a s o n t o form an u n fa v o r a b le o p in io n o f th e s la v e r y system ,
f o r she s e e s o n ly a few exam ples o f i t s r e a l c r u e l t i e s .
One o f
th ese i s the s e p a r a t io n o f K is s y , a se rv a n t o f the W arners, and
h er husband, M ic h e l, who has been s o ld by h i s m is t r e s s , the
w ife o f C o lo n e l W illia m B e l l .
Hubert and H elen h e lp to s e c r e t e
the e sca p e d M ich e l in o r d e r th a t he and K is s y may b e g in a new
life
t o g e t h e r somewhere e l s e .
C o lo n e l B e ll and h i s w i f e , C la r a , are a stra n g e
c o u p le .
A lth ough th ey appear t o g e t a lon g a m ica b ly when they
appear in s o c i e t y , th e y are h o s t i l e i n p r i v a t e .
secon d m a r ria g e .
T h is i s B e l l 's
C la ra i s a b e a u t i f u l but u n p r in c ip le d woman,
who lo v e s the glam or o f c i t y l i f e
from w hich she has been
removed by the C o lo n e l b eca u se o f h er immoral and i r r e g u l a r
life .
She a ttem p ts in e v e r y way t o persu ade him t o tak e h er to
E u rope, and f a i l i n g in t h i s , d o e s e v e r y t h in g she can t o make h is
life
d is a g r e e a b le .
L i f e i s m is e r a b le t o h e r , f o r a lth ou g h she
adorn s h e r s e l f in b e a u t i f u l a r r a y , th e re i s no one t o see and
admire h e r .
She lo o k s down on H elen as a s o c i a l i n f e r i o r ,
and
H elen in tu rn d i s l i k e s the h a u gh ty , d is a g r e e a b le woman.
F i n a lly H elen , who has fe a r e d th a t Hubert i s o n ly
t r i f l i n g w ith h e r a f f e c t i o n s , le a r n s t h a t he wants t o marry
h er.
She r e a l i z e s th a t she i s
th ey become en g a ged .
a ls o in lo v e w ith him , and
The W arners are v e ry p le a s e d w ith th e
arrangem ent.
By t h i s tim e C o lo n e l B e l l knows th a t H elen i s h i s
dau gh ter by the l o v e l y quadroon C o r i l l a w ith whom, a lth ou g h
fo r b id d e n t o marry h e r , he had been d e e p ly i n l o v e .
He has
done a l l he can t o keep th e s e c r e t o f the p a ren ta g e o f H elen
and C h a rle s from them i n o rd e r th a t th ey may n e v e r have t o
b ea r the stigm a w hich must i n e v i t a b l y f a l l upon them i f i t
known who t h e i r m other was.
is
U n fo r tu n a t e ly , a form er f r i e n d o f
h i s , R obert B ern ard, who has f a l l e n i n t o d e g r a d a tio n and v i c e ,
r e c o g n iz e s C o r i l l a * s fe a t u r e s in the f a c e o f H elen , and C o lo n e l
B e l l i s f o r c e d t o b r ib e him t o keep the s e c r e t .
H is w ife se e s
a p i c t u r e o f C o r i l l a s e c r e t e d in a h idden draw er o f th e C o l o n e l 's
d e s k , and lik e w is e g u e ss e s th a t H elen i s
husband.
the da u gh ter o f h er
Now in d e e d C la r a has a weapon t o use a g a in s t him to
g a in h e r own e n d s.
She t h r e a t e n s to r e v e a l th e s e c r e t w hich
she has d is c o v e r e d u n le s s th e C o lo n e l a g r e e s to take h er away.
Her husband, d r iv e n t o o f a r ,
says th a t i f
she d a r e s t o r e v e a l
the p a ren ta g e o f H elen , he w i l l pu t h i s w ife away in a madhouse.
C la r a , n o t d a r in g t o come ou t w ith an open a c cu s a ­
tio n ,
s t a r t s rum ors w hich f i n a l l y r e a c h the e a r s o f the W arners.
They are g r e a t l y shocked and summon the C o lo n e l, who can no
lo n g e r keep h i s s e c r e t .
i s stu n n ed .
H elen o v e r h e a r s th e c o n v e r s a t io n and
Hubert d o e s n o t at f i r s t b e l i e v e th e s t o r y , but
i s f i n a l l y fo r c e d to accep t i t s
tru th .
The W arners, a lth ou g h
s o r r y f o r H elen , now c o n s id e r a m a rria ge betw een h er and t h e i r
son im p o s s ib le .
Hubert i s no mere b o y ,
and he r e a l i z e s
th a t
he w i l l b r in g d is g r a c e upon h im s e lf
and h i s fa m ily i f he mar­
r i e s H elen , but h i s lo v e f o r h er i s
n o t one th a t can be
o f f c a r e le s s ly .
h i s d e s ir e t o stand by h i s
He i s to r n betw een
tossed
f ia n c e e and h i s p r e ju d ic e a g a in s t the r a c e w hich i n h i s e y e s
is in fe r io r .
Mr. Warner t r i e s t o make Hubert see th a t such
a m arria ge must n o t be th ou gh t o f .
" ... A n d now the s t o r y must be g e n e r a lly known, and
you c o u ld n ev er m arry any body who was even s u sp e cte d
t o be t a in t e d w ith n e g ro b lo o d .
Think o f the d is g r a c e
i t would c a s t upon you r b r o t h e r s and s i s t e r s , and what
a l l the w o rld would say about i t I
They w ould th in k you
e i t h e r c r a z y o r a f o o l , and you would be ashamed o f i t
y o u r s e l f by and b y . " ° 4
H ubert, n e v e r t h e l e s s , d e c id e s t o m arry H elen and
g o e s to see h e r .
She r e a l i z e s th a t he i s
s t i l l w illin g to
marry h e r , but she cann ot endure h i s c o n d e s c e n s io n .
H elen
knows th a t under the c ir c u m s ta n c e s th ey would n e v e r be happy
tog eth er.
She i s made d e s p e r a te by sorrow and g r i e f ,
and
though now in a weakened p h y s ic a l c o n d i t i o n , manages t o go
t o th e home o f Mrs. X v e n e l, who i s h e r f r i e n d .
M --------------"Sydney A. S to r y , Jr'.1, C aste
Here the C o l­
(B o s to n , 1 8 5 6 ), p . 278.
o n e l t r ^ e s t o see H elen , but as she i s v e ry i l l
and m oreover
f e e l s no d a u g h te r ly a f f e c t i o n f o r him , she r e f u s e s t o a llo w
him near h e r .
When th e C o lo n e l le a r n s th a t i t i s h i s w ife who
has cau sed H e le n 's u n h a p p in e ss, he c a r r i e s ou t h i s t h r e a t to
have h er c o n fin e d t o an asylum .
r e s t o f h er l i f e ,
Here C la r a B e l l spends the
abandoned by a l l who have known h e r .
M rs. A venel w r it e s C h a rle s th a t H elen i s v e ry i l l .
C h a rle s must le a v e J u l i e , who i s about t o have a c h i l d .
He
g o e s t o South C a r o lin a , and a t the home o f M rs. A venel f in d s
H elen , who i s about t o ta k e laudanum.
d r e a d fu l news o f t h e ir p a r e n ta g e ,
A ft e r t e l l i n g him th e
she a ttem p ts t o persuade
C h a rle s t o d r in k th e p o t io n w ith h e r .
" I t i s e s c a p e , . . . i t i s r e s t ; r e s t from t h i s weary
p a in .
0 C h a r le s , why sh ou ld we n o t d r in k i t ?
I t i s so
d r e a d fu l t o l i v e i
Born o f th e d e s p is e d r a c e , — the
a cc u rse d r a c e , — what hope i s th e re f o r us in t h i s w orld ?
Cast ou t t o be tro d d e n under f o o t , — the P a ria h s o f the
e a r t h from i t s c r e a t i o n u n t i l n ow ,— where d id our r a c e
e v e r f i n d sympathy o r h e lp ?
Where can we f i n d i t , any
m ore?"
C h a rle s r e p l i e s in a manner w hich a p p a re n tly r e s t o r e s
s a n it y t o H e le n ’ s d i s o r d e r mind*
"Dear H elen , God i s g o o d . He has p e r m itte d t h i s to
come upon u s , and he w i l l g iv e us s t r e n g t h t o b ea r i t .
L ike y o u r s e l f , I shudder t o lo o k i n t o th e f u t u r e , f o r we
can n ot t e l l what i s b e f o r e u s ; but I know— I know our
F ather in heaven w i l l n o t fo r s a k e u s .
H is hand w i l l le a d
us e v e ry ste p o f the way, and i f we le a n upon i t , i t w i l l
g u id e us s a f e l y th ro u g h . We may be c u t o f f from a l l h a p p i­
n e s s o r h e lp i n t h i s w o r ld , b u t i n the w orld t o come i s our
e v e r la s t in g p o r t i o n ; and our j o y , our h e l p , our co m fo rt w i l l
come from G o d .11®®
£5“
I b i d . , p . 410.
C h a rle s r e t u r n s home to f i n d th a t the C on ants, h avin g
le a r n e d o f h i s p a ren ta g e d u rin g h i s a b s e n ce ,
share the same
f e e l i n g as th e W arners, and w ish J u l ie t o be se p a ra te d from
him .
The t e n d e r , lo v i n g J u lie ca n n ot b e a r the sh ock o f h e a r­
in g h er f a t h e r say th a t she must n ev er see C h a rles a g a in , and
she d i e s at th e prem ature b i r t h o f h er c h i l d a few days a f t e r
h er h u sb a n d 's r e t u r n .
C h a rle s now d e c id e s t o do m is s io n a r y
work f o r h i s own r a c e in the N orth ern s t a t e s .
He f e e l s th a t
i f th e n e g ro e s are e d u c a te d , th e y th e m se lv e s w i l l t e a r down
the p r e ju d ic e w hich has been b u i l t up a g a in s t them.
ta s k he d e v o t e s the
To t h i s
r e s t o f h is l i f e .
H elen becom es r e c o n c i l e d w ith C o lo n e l B e l l and d e c id e s
to t r a v e l a b roa d .
W hile in I t a l y she m eets Hubert W arner, who
has come to r e a l i z e
th a t he ca n n ot g iv e
and no lo n g e r f e e l s
th e p r e ju d ic e w hich h i s p a r e n ts and f r ie n d s
s t i l l r e t a in .
up h i s lo v e f o r H elen
He and H elen are m arried and make t h e i r home in
I t a l y , where th e y le a r n t o know and lo v e ea ch o th e r b e t t e r .
C aste has a theme w hich i n t e r e s t s p e o p le o f any gen­
e r a tio n ;
the i n j u s t i c e
o f r a c ia l d is c r im in a tio n .
Whereas Mrs.
P ike c o n ce rn s h e r s e l f m ain ly w ith the p rob lem o f m is c e g e n a t i o n ,^
the g e n e r a l theme i s p e r t in e n t as lo n g as r a c i a l c o n f l i c t s e x i s t .
I t i s one w hich has alw ays o c c u p ie d the m inds o f t o l e r a n t p e o p le ,
57
F or more r e c e n t n o v e ls d e a lin g w ith the same p rob lem ,
see L i l l i a n S m ith 's S trange F r u it and S i n c l a i r L e w is 's K in g sb lo o d
R o y a l. See a ls o the p la y Deep are th e R o o t s , by Arnaud d 'U ssea u
and James Gow.
and Mrs. P i k e 's n o v e l, i n th a t r e s p e c t , i s t im e ly now as i t was
in the 1 8 5 0 's .
The c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n i s on th e whole b e t t e r than th a t
o f Id a May.
The c h a r a c t e r s are s t i l l c o n t r a c t e d , and in a d d i­
t i o n the in d iv id u a l s k e tc h e s are somewhat l e s s ty p e d .
t r a l f i g u r e , H elen Dupr^, i s more v i v i d than I d a .
c h a r a c t e r , J u l ie C onant, i s com parable t o I d a .
i s too f r a g ile
The ce n ­
A m inor
C h a r le s 's w ife
and t o o good t o be r e a l .
She [ J u l i e j had h a r d ly numbered e ig h t e e n y e a r s , and
she lo o k e d even y o u n g e r, f o r h er f i g u r e was sm a ll and
d e l i c a t e , h er co m p le x io n pure as a l i l y , and h er g o ld e n
c u r l s , s o f t and f i n e as f l o s s s i l k , f e l l o v e r m ild b lu e
e y e s , th a t h id b en ea th t h e i r la s h e s i f one sought t o
gaze in t o them; and h er f a c e was so in n o c e n t and c h i l d ­
l i k e in i t s e x p r e s s io n , th a t w h ile lo o k in g a t h e r , one
e x p e r ie n c e d an in v o lu n t a r y d e s i r e th a t a b e in g so pure
and so h e l p l e s s sh ou ld n e v er be c a l l e d t o e n co u n te r the
storm s o f li f e .® ®
In p h y s ic a l appearance and i n many o th e r r e s p e c t s H elen and
J u l ie are d i r e c t c o n t r a s t s .
J u l i e i s the o n ly c h a r a c t e r in
Caste who seems alm ost c o m p le t e ly u n r e a l. She h e lp s t o fu r n is h
C h a rle s w ith th e r e l i g i o u s i n s p i r a t i o n w hich dom in ates h is
a c t io n s and ca u s e s him t o save H elen and h im s e lf from d e s t r u c ­
tio n .
T h is elem en t o f - r e l i g i o n ,
s tr o n g i n th e se n tim e n ta l
n o v e ls o f the p e r i o d , i s fou n d in b o th Id a May and C a s t e .
In h e r second n o v e l M rs. P ik e in t r o d u c e s humor throu gh
Gus, a l i v e l y
"little
n ig " s la v e .
Gus , as d e v i l i s h though n ot
so c l e v e r as T op sy, s e r v e s t o h e ig h te n the i n t e r e s t o f the s t o r y .
" S t o r y , ” 0£ c i t . , p . 26.
In the p l o t o f C aste M rs. P ike a g a in makes use o f
im p rob a b le s i t u a t i o n s .
The m y s te r io u s manner in w hich the
Dupres acquired, t h e ir e d u c a t io n , the unusual m eetin g o f H elen
and the C o lo n e l on the s h ip , and the a r r i v a l o f C h a rles ju s t
as H elen i s about t o tak e laudanum seem foi*ced in t o th e p l o t
w ith o u t r e g a r d f o r c r e d u l i t y .
One o f the m ost e f f e c t i v e
sce n e s i n e i t h e r a n t i ­
s la v e r y n o v e l i s an e p is o d e e n t i t l e d ,
w hich o c c u r s i n C a s te .
“Vtfhat ’ s i n a Name?"
Henry, a sm a ll n eg ro b o y , i n t e l l i g e n t
and
s e n s i t i v e , has been a d op ted by the youn ger M rs. A venel in
New
Y o rk .
Mrs. A v en el, a t o l e r a n t , k in d woman, has sen t him
t o a s c h o o l f o r w h ite b o y s i n the c i t y , where th e la d i s t o r ­
mented by h i s c la s s m a t e s .
Rendered sad by th e s i t u a t i o n , Henry
r e t u r n s one day in t e a r s and in fo rm s Mrs. A venel o f h i s p l i g h t .
She i s im m ed ia tely aware o f h i s f e e l i n g o f i n f e r i o r i t y , but
d o e s n ot o v e r sym pathize w ith him.
In s te a d she speaks t o him
in a fa s h io n w hich e n co u ra g e s him t o g a in s e l f - r e s p e c t and
r e s p e c t from o t h e r s a l l th rou gh l i f e .
"But you mind b e in g c a l l e d a n i g g e r , c h i l d .
You
must con qu er t h i s . I t i s n o th in g t o be ashamed o f , th a t
you b e lo n g t o a d i f f e r e n t r a c e from y ou r s c h o o l f e l l o w s .
When th e y see i t no lo n g e r t e a s e s y ou , th e y w i l l no more
th in k o f u s in g i t as a term o f r e p r o a c h , than th e y would
now th in k o f c a l l i n g you an I n d ia n , t o v ex y ou .
A ccept
i t as a f a c t , and th e y w i l l c e a s e t o a p p ly i t as an
i n s u l t . “ 6®
Henry f o l l o w s M rs. A v e n e l’ s good a d v ic e and ea rn s th e h ig h re g a rd
o f h i s w h ite c la s s m a te s .
_
I t i s t h i s a t t it u d e which C h a rles Dupre
h o ld s in common w ith Mrs. A venel and w h ich a f t e r J u l ie * s
d ea th le a d s him to d e v o te th e r e s t o f h i s l i f e
t o the e d u c a tio n
and en lig h ten m en t o f N orth ern n e g r o e s .
Mrs. P i k e 's s t y le in t h i s n o v e l i s
s t i l l e ffu s iv e
ands e n tim e n ta l, and i n the scene o f J u l i e 's d e a th
she o u t ­
d o e s h e r s e l f in a tte m p tin g to w ring t e a r s from th e e y e s o f the
reader.
I f Mrs. Stowe was i l l f o r a few weeks a f t e r w r it in g
o f the d e a th o f l i t t l e
Eva,^® one w onders what e f f e c t r e c o r d in g
the d e a th o f J u lie Conant Dupr^ had on M rs. P ik e .
The v e r b o s i t y o f the d e s c r i p t i v e elem en ts makes the
n o v e l un du ly lo n g .
An i l l u s t r a t i o n o f Mrs. p i k e 's o c c a s io n a l
waste o f words i s foun d i n the f o l l o w i n g p a s s a g e :
S w if t l y the days sped on .
0 , happy days I G olden
sa n d s, d rop p ed s p a r k lin g from the g l a s s o f Time, to
gleam f o r e v e r b r i g h t l y m i d th e c o a r s e r and dark er
g r a in s o f common l i f e . ” 1
By e lim in a t in g or co n d e n sin g such p a s s a g e s , Mrs. Pike m ight
have fou n d as much re sp o n se among r e a d e r s o f h er own day and
c e r t a i n l y more among l a t e r o n e s .
The theme o f C aste i s a stro n g on e , but M rs. p i k e 's
s t y le i s
se n tim e n ta l and h e r p l o t - u n r e a l i s t i c .
i z a t i o n i s b e t t e r than th a t o f Id a May.
The c h a r a c t e r ­
The au th or has i n j e c t e d
humor in t o h er n o v e l and has com bined s e n t im e n t a lit y and s o c i a l
c o n f l i c t t o p rod u ce a s t o r y th a t was f i l l e d
------------- 7 3 ----------
P a t t e e , 0£ . c i t . , p p . 7 4 -7 5 .
0S t o r y ," Q£. c i t . , p . 1 20 .
w ith a p p ea l f o r
r e a d e r s o f h e r own g e n e r a t io n .
CHAPTER V I I I
LATER WRITINGS
Agnes and "John Brown i n
P r is o n "
" L ig h t ly thou s a y 's t th a t woman's lo v e i s f a l s e :
The th ou gh t i s f a l s e r f a r ;
F or some o f them are tru e as m a r ty r s ' l e g e n d s ,—
As f u l l
o f s u f f e r i n g f a i t h , o f b u rn in g l o v e ,
Of h ig h
d e v o t i o n , w o r th ie r heaven than e a r t h l
0 , I do know a t a l e l " 7 2
M rs.
ground o f the
P i k e 's l a s t n o v e l i s a romance w ith ab a ck ­
American R e v o lu t io n .
In i t
she a ttem p ts t o
p r e s e n t , in a d d it io n t o the main c h a r a c t e r s , a p i c t u r e o f
the American In d ia n o f the Delaware t r i b e .
As the t a l e o p e n s, M ajor P e rc y Grey and h i s b r o t h e r
Frank Grey are a t home on a b r i e f r e s p i t e from t h e i r army s e r ­
v ic e .
They have a r r iv e d t o f i n d t h e i r house ra n s a ck e d , t h e i r
f i e l d s b u rn ed , and t h e i r p a r e n ts f a c i n g a hard w in te r beca u se
o f a B r itis h r a id .
S to p p in g at the Grey home d u rin g the
storm th a t e v e n in g are Mr. C h ester and h i s d a u g h te r, E v e ly n ,
a t whose home M ajor Grey had p r e v io u s l y been b i l l e t t e d .
are now on t h e i r way t o New Y ork C it y .
They
Accom panying them i s
C o lo n e l S ta n le y o f the B r i t i s h Army, who t r e a t s P e rcy w ith
con tem p t, but who i s n o t m o le s te d b eca u se he i s p r o t e c t i n g Mr.
C h e ste r and E v e ly n .
-------------------------------------------------------- 7
S ta n le y i s aware th a t th e re i s a stro n g
5 ---------------------------------------------
Mary H. P ik e , Agnes (B o s to n , 1 8 5 8 ), t i t l e
page.
attachm ent betw een P e rc y and E v e ly n , w ith whom b o th o f f i c e r s
are in l o v e .
E velyn i s i n lo v e w ith the M a jor, but cann ot
en cou rage him b eca u se h e r f a t h e r c o n s id e r s him a '’r e b e l . ”
W ithout the know ledge o f h i s d a u g h te r, h ow ev er, Mr. C h ester
is
s e c r e t l y a id in g the Y an k ees, w ith whom E v ely n i s in sym­
p a th y .
A f t e r the group le a v e s the Grey h o u se , P e rc y w o r r ie s
about t h e i r w e l f a r e - - p a r t i c u l a r l y E v e l y n 's — and g o e s ou t in t o
the storm t o in v e s t i g a t e
home.
the b rok en b r id g e n o t f a r from h is
Here he f i n d s what appears t o be a sm a ll boy who i s
b a d ly in ju r e d and u n c o n s c io u s .
P e rc y d i s c o v e r s th a t i t i s
r e a l l y a g i r l in b o y 's c l o t h i n g and ta k e s h e r home t o h i s
m oth er.
The g i r l i s i l l f o r many w eeks,and when she r e c o v e r s ,
the G reys can n ot le a r n from h e r the s t o r y o f h e r l i f e ,
she d o e s n o t c o n f i d e t o them.
She asks t o be c a l l e d
which
" A g n e s .”
Prank f a l l s d e e p ly in lo v e w ith h e r , bu t a lth o u g h she i s fon d
o f him , she d o e s n o t en cou ra ge h i s a d v a n ces.
P e rc y and Prank r e t u r n t o t h e i r d i v i s i o n s ,
and P e r c y 's
tim e i s w e ll tak en up w ith f i g h t i n g and c a r r y in g m essages from
G en eral L e e , w ith whose d i v i s i o n he i s
W ashington.
s t a t i o n e d , t o G en eral
C h a rle s L ee, an i l l - n a t u r e d o f f i c e r ,
je a lo u s o f
h i s s u p e r io r s , r e f u s e s t o ob ey an im p orta n t o r d e r from Washing­
t o n , th e r e b y en d a n g erin g th e l i v e s o f th e g r e a t g e n e r a l and h i s
men.
G eneral W ashington i s f o r c e d t o r e t r e a t i n t o J e r s e y , and
Lee i s ca p tu re d by the B r i t i s h and ta k e n , a lo n g w ith P ercy and
o th e r o f f i c e r s ,
t o New Y o rk , w hich i s in p o s s e s s io n o f the Eng-
C o lo n e l S ta n le y In New York has asked E v ely n t o
m arry him b u t h a s been r e f u s e d .
Made s p o r t o f by h i s sub­
o r d in a t e s f o r h i s u n s u c c e s s fu l lo v e v en tu re and com ing in t o
p o s s e s s io n o f p a p e rs from Mr. C h ester to the " r e b e l " army,
S ta n le y d e c id e s t o use h i s in fo r m a t io n as a means o f g a in in g
h i s w i l l w ith E v e ly n .
R a th er than have h e r f a t h e r e x p o s e d ,
E v ely n a g re e s to m arry S ta n le y , whom she l o a t h e s .
The C o lo n e l
w ish es t o have the m arriage ta k e p la c e in a week, by w hich
time C o r n w a llis e x p e c t s to have c o m p le t e ly d e fe a t e d G en eral
W ashington and h i s shabby army.
As i t happens, G en eral Wash­
in g t o n r e f u s e s t o be d e f e a t e d , and S ta n le y d e c id e s to t r y t o
win E v e ly n 's a f f e c t i o n s by r e t u r n in g th e p a p e rs t o h e r .
E velyn
b e g in s t o hope th a t th e re may be a r e l e a s e f o r h e r from th e
h u m ilia t in g b on d , but S ta n le y g iv e s h er the p a p e rs o n ly w ith
the s t i p u l a t i o n th a t she m arry him a t some fu t u r e d a t e .
E velyn
has at l e a s t g a in e d tim e .
Meanwhile L a w on tica , an In d ia n p r i n c e s s who l i v e s
w ith h e r grandm oth er, S a n oso, has f a l l e n in lo v e w ith Frank.
When she le a r n s o f h i s lo v e f o r A gnes, she p la n s t o avenge h e r ­
s e l f on him .
She m a r rie s Tamaque, an In d ia n c h i e f , a ro u s e s the
73
E n viou s o f W ashington b eca u se he had h im s e lf hoped
t o be c o m m a n d e r -in -c h ie f o f th e Am erican Army, C h a rles Lee
r e fu s e d t o j o i n the main army when W ashington o r d e r e d him to
do s o .
As a r e s u l t Lee was ca p tu re d w ith some o f h i s men at
Basking R id g e , New J e r s e y , on December 1 3 , 17 7 6 . L ee, then a
p r i s o n e r , a id ed the B r i t i s h , w h ile W ashington was a rra n g in g
f o r h i s ex ch a n ge.
Lee a g a in began h i s t r e a c h e r o u s a c t i v i t i e s
and c a r r i e d on a co r re s p o n d e n c e w ith C lin t o n and Howe. Envy
In d ia n s a g a in s t th e w h ite p e o p l e ,
p in g o f A gnes.
and i n s t i g a t e s the k id n ap ­
S h o r t ly a f t e r Agnes*s c a p t u r e , L aw on tica r e g r e t s
h er a c t io n s and d o e s h e r b e s t t o c a r e f o r the w h ite g i r l .
E v e n tu a lly she le a r n s the Agnes i s n o t in lo v e w ith Frank, and
she a id s in h e r r e t u r n t o the G rey s.
L a w on tica , b e in g a pow er­
f u l f o r c e i n the t r i b e , b r in g s the In d ia n s under c o n t r o l a g a in .
During t h i s tim e P e rc y has e sca p e d from the p r is o n
camp.
S ta n le y has in tu rn been taken p r i s o n e r and i s c o n fin e d
n o t f a r from th e Grey h o u se , t o w hich Mr. C h ester and E velyn
have f l e d .
When S ta n le y le a r n s o f t h e i r p re s e n ce i n the Grey
home, he comes th e re t o rem ind E v ely n o f h e r prom ise t o him .
The g i r l i s t o o p rou d n o t t o keep h er w ord.
Agnes ov e rh e a rs
the c o n v e r s a t io n betw een the c o u p le , and r e v e a ls t o E velyn
th a t she i s S t a n le y ’ s w i f e .
E v ely n and P e rc y are o v e r jo y e d
t o le a r n t h a t th e re i s n o th in g t o p r e v e n t t h e i r u n io n .
Agnes g o e s t o see C o lo n e l S ta n le y , who has b e li e v e d
her to be dead.
w ife .
He r e p u ls e s h e r , and d e n ie s th a t she i s h i s
P e r c y , Frank, and E v e ly n , who have f o llo w e d Agnes, e n t e r
the room .
Agnes has no p r o o f o f h er m arria ge t o S ta n le y , s in c e
she l o s t th e cap i n the l i n i n g o f w hich she had s e c r e t e d the
m arriage c e r t i f i c a t e .
Frank p ro d u ce s the c a p , w hich he had
and v a n it y ca u se d him t o assume an a t t it u d e o f i n t o l e r a b l e a r r o ­
gance tow ard W ashington, who endured i t beca u se he had a h ig h
r e g a rd f o r L e e ’ s a b i l i t y .
Taking o v e r th e command from L a fa y e tte
a t Monmouth, Lee e f f e c t e d a d i s g r a c e f u l r e t r e a t w hich was n o th in g
s h o rt o f t r e a c h e r y .
He was c o u r t - m a r t ia l e d , suspended from the
Am erican Army, and n e v e r re tu rn e d t o i t .
For a d e t a i l e d t r e a t ­
ment o f L e e 's t r e a c h e r y , see C a rl Van D oren ’ s S e c r e t H is t o r y o f
the American R e v o lu tio n (New Y ork , 1 9 4 1 ).
fou n d n e a r Agnes on th e n ig h t when he and P e rcy brou g h t h e r
i n from the storm .
S ta n le y ca n n ot now deny th a t Agnes i s
h i s w i f e , but he p l o t s t o r i d h im s e lf o f h e r .
away and abandons h e r .
He ta k e s h er
Anges r e a l i z e s th a t he i s d e s e r t in g
h er and f o l l o w s him , o n ly t o d ie o f i l l n e s s and e x p o s u re .
Frank and C o lo n e l S ta n le y m eet i n b a t t l e ,
and
A gnes’ s p e r s e c u t o r i s k i l l e d .
M rs. P i k e 's l a s t n o v e l, A gnes, c o n t a in s a welcome
change in theme and ba ck grou n d .
It is
a s t o r y o f the lo v e
o f Agnes f o r S ta n le y , h er husband, who d o e s n ot r e tu r n h er
lo v e ,
and o f the m utual lo v e o f E v ely n and P e r c y .
The lo v e
p l o t s are c o m p lic a te d by S t a n le y 's d e s e r t i o n o f Agnes; by
h i s p r o p o s a l t o E v e ly n , who d o e s n o t know th a t S ta n le y i s
a lre a d y m a r rie d ; and by h i s h o ld on E v e ly n th rou gh h er f a t h e r .
They are made even more com plex by F r a n k 's d e v o t io n t o Agnes,
h i s deep sorrow at h e r d e a th , and h i s v i c t o r y o v e r S ta n ley
by aven gin g A g n e s 's i l l tr e a tm e n t; and by the w ild and
u n p r in c ip le d p a s s io n o f L aw on tica f o r Frank, and h er m arria ge
t o Tamaque, whom she p e rsu a d e s t o kidnap Agnes.
Mrs. Pike
com bines th e se th re a d s o f p l o t w ith th e s t o r y o f the R e v o lu ­
t io n a r y War and o f the Delaw are In d ia n s t o c r e a t e a n o v e l which
has p o in t s o f i n t e r e s t but w hich in v o l v e s so many elem en ts th a t
it is
somewhat c o n fu s in g .
The m ystery su rrou n d in g Agnes p r o v id e s suspense u n t i l
the f i n a l d is c o v e r y o f h e r r e l a t i o n s h i p
to C o lo n e l S ta n le y , which
i s n o t r e v e a le d u n t i l the end o f th e t a l e .
A lth ou gh Agnes
p la y s the r o l e o f th e t y p i c a l h e r o in e o f the se n tim e n ta l
n o v e l- - t h e
sw e e t, v ir t u o u s maiden who i s d e lu d e d , d e c e iv e d ,
and b e tr a y e d by S ta n le y t o h er u ltim a t e d e s t r u c t i o n — th ere
i s enough o f h i s t o r i c a l i n t e r e s t i n th e s t o r y to co u n te r a c t
the u n fo rtu n a te e f f e c t o f the melodrama in v o lv e d in the Agnes
p l o t o f th e n o v e l.
The c h a r a c t e r o f Agnes i s u n r e a l i s t i c ; however the
rem a in in g c h a r a c t e r i z a t io n s are q u ite w e ll d on e.
as a c o n t r a s t to A gnes.
y e t fe m in in e .
She i s b r a v e ,
E velyn serv es
s t r o n g , co u ra g e o u s, and
I t i s no wonder th a t S ta n le y adm ires h e r , even
when she t r e a t s him w ith c o l d con tem p t, f o r she has the same
d e te r m in a tio n th a t he p o s s e s s e s w ith a d i f f e r e n t d i r e c t i o n .
Anger, r e p r o a c h e s , e n t r e a t i e s , he m ight have b o rn e ,
b ut h e r d i g n i f i e d su b m ission disarm ed him .
Of the s e l f ­
s a c r i f i c e th a t prom pted h er a c t io n s he u n d e rsto o d l i t t l e ;
but the fir m n e s s w ith w hich she f o r c e d h e r s e l f t o meet
what seemed in e v i t a b l e he c o u ld a p p r e c ia te and adm ire,
f o r i t was a k in t o h i s own s tr o n g w i l l , and the i n f l e x i ­
b i l i t y o f h i s p u rp ose s .
A stu d y o f the two b r o t h e r s , P ercy and Frank, r e v e a ls
a marked d i f f e r e n c e i n p e r s o n a l i t y and tem peram ent.
o ld e r b r o t h e r , i s d i g n i f i e d ,
s e lf-r e s tr a in e d ,
P e r c y , the
and t h o u g h t fu l;
Frank i s th e f u n - l o v i n g and i r r e s p o n s i b l e youn ger b r o t h e r .
Through th e c h a r a c t e r o f Frank Mrs. p ik e adds an elem ent o f
humor t o the s t o r y .
U n fo r tu n a te ly th e se two c h a r a c t e r s are
somewhat ty p e d , as i s a ls o C o lo n e l S ta n le y , who i s overwhelm ­
------------------- 71--------------P ik e , Agnes, p . 1 76 .
i n g l y w icked and d e p ra v e d .
The c o n v e r s a t io n and a c t io n s o f th e c h a r a c t e r s in
Agnes are f o r th e most p a r t l e s s u n l i f e l i k e
and t h e a t r i c a l
than th o se o f c e r t a i n o th e r c h a r a c t e r s in M rs. P i k e 's a n t i ­
s la v e r y n o v e ls .
T h is le s s e n in g o f s e n t im e n t a lit y and m elo­
drama makes M rs. P i k e 's t h ir d n o v e l more i n t e r e s t i n g to the
modern r e a d e r .
Mrs. P ike s t i l l g iv e s a t t e n t io n t o s e t t i n g s , p a r ­
t i c u l a r l y the ones i n w hich L a w on tica and h e r grandm other,
S an oso, a p p ea r.
When Prank, who has h e lp e d h im s e lf t o h i s
h o r s e , which was s o ld by the B r i t i s h s o l d i e r s , h id e s deep i n
the f o r e s t t o e sca p e p u r s u it , he a c c i d e n t a l l y comes upon the
home o f h i s tow In d ia n f r i e n d s :
. ..[ P r a n k ] fou n d h im s e lf in a h o llo w o r d e p r e s s io n
among the h i l l s , n e a r ly c i r c u l a r , and c o n t a in in g a sm all
p o o l.
T h is was now co v e r e d w ith t h in b lu e i c e , e x ce p t
i n one sp o t where th e l i v i n g s p r in g s th a t f e d i t pou red
out t h e i r su rp lu s o f w ater i n a stream th a t ran a l i t t l e
way, and was soon l o s t b en ea th the snow.
Over t h i s open­
in g a w illo w threw i t s p e n d u lou s b r a n ch e s , and a few
e v e r g r e e n s re a r e d t h e i r dark s p ir e s b e s id e i t ; but the
rem ainder o f the b a s in was d e s t i t u t e o f t r e e s , a lth ou g h
the grow th on the su rrou n d in g e l e v a t i o n was t h ic k e r than
u s u a l.
In a l i n e from the c o p s e , a p a th m ight be t r a c e d
t o a low hut h a lf-w a y up the h i l l o p p o s it e to where Frank
s t o o d ; and as he h e s it a t e d w hether t o pursue h i s way home­
w ard, o r to s to p f o r a few moments' ch a t w ith i t s in m a te s,
the c u r t a in w hich se rv e d f o r a d o o r was w ithdraw n, and
L aw on tica came o u t , b e a r in g i n h e r hand an e a r th e r n p i t c h e r
she w ished to f i l l at the s p r in g . 5
Mrs. P ik e , who l a t e r in l i f e
d id la n d sca p e p a in t i n g , o b serv ed
the d e t a i l s o f s c e n e r y , and the r e s u l t d i s p la y s i t s e l f in h e r
7 5 --------------I b i d . , p . 198.
d e s c r ip t io n s .
They a r e , h ow ever, w r it t e n in the t y p i c a l fem ­
in in e s t y l e o f the p e r i o d .
The p o r t r a y a l o f the custom s and h a b it s o f th e D ela ­
wares w hich M rs. P ik e le a r n e d from a h i s t o r y o f the M oravian
m is s io n s '^ g iv e s some c o l o r t o th e s t o r y .
The manner o f In d ia n
c o u r t s h i p , the g r e a t t r i b a l r e v e r e n c e f o r the c h i e f s and p r i n ­
c e s s e s and the s u p e r s t i t i o u s b e l i e f s o f the In d ia n s e n te r i n t o
h er a ccou n t o f the t r i b e .
Along w ith the h i s t o r i c a l background o f the n o v e l,
Mrs. P ike p r e s e n t s p o r t r a i t s o f W ashington, the d i g n i f i e d ,
a r is to c r a tic ,
and c a p a b le l e a d e r , and L ee, the je a l o u s , p e r ­
s o n a lly u n a t t r a c t i v e , and t r e a c h e r o u s g e n e r a l.
One i s le d t o
u n derstan d from M rs. P i k e 's works th a t she was a r a p id and
wide r e a d e r .
She seems t o have adequate knowledge o f the
p e r io d and o f the r e g io n i n w hich th e n o v e l Agnes i s s e t .
The one o t h e r p i e c e o f w r it in g o f Mary Hayden Green
Pike w hich i s e x ta n t i s
a poem e n t i t l e d
"John Brown in
P r i s o n . " " ^
T h is poem, in the W ashington County Scrap Book i n p o s s e s s io n o f
the New England H i s t o r i c G e n e a lo g ic a l S o c i e t y , i s a newspaper
c l i p p i n g w ith no d a te and no s o u r c e .
The r a i d on H a r p e r 's P erry
to o k p la c e in O cto b e r, 1 8 5 9 , and Brown was hanged December 2 ,
1859.
The poem may have been w r it t e n about t h i s tim e , or l a t e r
-------------------76--------------I b i d . , n o te a t the end o f the n o v e l.
See a p p e n d ix .
a f t e r th e war, when r e f l e c t i v e N o rth e rn e rs and S ou th ern ers
th ou gh t o f the man who had " t a lk e d i n a m y s te r io u s manner o f
h a v in g been a p p o in te d by H eaven, a M oses, t o le a d the s la v e s
out o f b o n d a g e .
The words o f the poem, spoken by John Brown, are
o f a p r o p h e t ic n a t u r e , im p ly in g th a t the h e r o i c le a d e r f e l t
th a t h i s d e a th would b r in g about th e u n ion o f n e g ro e s t o
r e v o l t a g a in s t the i n j u s t i c e o f t h e i r p o s i t i o n ,
m ight o f a n t i - s l a v e r y sy m p a th iz e rs.
a id ed by the
Some a b o l i t i o n i s t s f e l t
th a t the hand o f God d i r e c t e d them i n t h e i r a c t io n s t o f r e e
the s l a v e s .
Even Mrs. Stowe v i s u a l i z e d h e r s e l f as "G o d 's
amanuensis i n a h o ly war. "^9
Many S o u th e rn e r s , h ow ev er, p r o f e s s e d t o b e li e v e that
n e g r o e s were b e t t e r o f f as s la v e s than as f r e e men.
The p r o ­
s la v e r y w r it e r D r. Nehemiah Adams used U ncle Tom as a good
exam ple o f the advan tages o f s l a v e r y , sa y in g th a t a system
w hich c o u ld p rod u ce such a man ou t o f a s la v e o f the A fr ic a n
r a c e was n o t an unmixed e v il.® ®
To him M rs. Pike and John
Brown m ight have r e p l i e d , c o n c e r n in g U ncle Tom, "He i s th a t
way i n s p it e o f s la v e r y and n o t beca u se o f i t . "
---------------------- 7 5 -----------------
Newspaper c l i p p i n g c o n t a in in g M rs. P i k e 's "John
Brown in P r is o n ,
no d a t e , no s o u r c e , W ashington County Scrap
B ook, p . 4 , New England H i s t o r i c G e n e a lo g ic a l S o c ie t y .
79
era tu re
Pred L . P a t t e e , The F i r s t C entury o f American L i t ­
(New York and London, 1 9 3 5 ), p” 574.
80
*
Brown, o p . c i t . , p . 264.
M rs. P i k e 's poem i s
s p i r i t e d and v ig o r o u s , i f r a th e r
rough and uneven i n form and s t y l e .
One can f e e l h er en th u ­
siasm b eh in d th e words o f th e poem and a p p r e c ia te them f o r
th a t r e a s o n .
Whereas t h i s poem has 3 ome power as a n t i ­
s la v e r y p rop a ga n d a , i t h a s l i t t l e
v a lu e as a work o f a r t .
That the w r it e r o f "John Brown i n P r is o n " composed
o th e r p o e m s ,p r o b a b ly more f o r
amusement than f o r p u b l ic a t io n ,
i s in d ic a t e d i n a l e t t e r by one o f Mrs. P i k e 's young f r i e n d s :
She [M rs. P ik e ] w rote some p o e t r y i n w hich she and
my m other were r i v a l s , and f r a n k ly ( i f I am n o t p r e j u d i c e d ) ,
Mother won.*®1
L e t t e r o f M rs. A lb io n H. E a ton , August 1 2 , 1934.
SUMMARY
Mary Hayden Green P ik e , an a n t i - s l a v e r y n o v e l i s t
o f C a la is , M aine, was one o f the more p o p u la r w r it e r s who
fo llo w e d in th e wake o f H a r r ie t B eech er S tow e.
D eep ly c o n ­
cern ed w ith th e m oral is s u e o f th e s la v e r y q u e s t io n , she
v i s i t e d the S ou th , where she made a c l o s e o b s e r v a t io n o f the
s la v e r y system .
v is it,
C onfirm ed i n h er a n t i - s l a v e r y v iew s by t h i s
she was f u r t h e r en cou ra g ed by h e r husband, F r e d e r ic k
A. P ik e , a Congressm an, by h i s f r i e n d s Hamlin and B la in e ,
and by h er b r o t h e r - i n - l a w , James S. P ik e , a b r i l l i a n t
jo u r n a l­
i s t and sometime m in is t e r to the Hague.
Mrs. P i k e 's n o v e ls were w r it t e n i n the se n tim e n ta l
and m elod ra m atic s t y le o f the women w r it e r s o f the 1 8 5 0 's .
Her f i r s t n o v e l, Id a May, p u b lis h e d under the pseudonym o f
Qp
Mary Langdon, was e x tr e m e ly p o p u la r ,
and p r o b a b ly h e lp e d t o
stre n g th e n the deep im p r e s s io n made by U ncle Tom 's C a b in .
Mrs.
Stow e, w h ile g a in in g prom inence as the w r it e r o f the f i r s t
a b o l i t i o n i s t n o v e l and as a m aster in the a r t o f s t o r y - t e l l i n g ,
d oes n o t e c l i p s e M rs. P ik e as an a n t i - s l a v e r y e n t h u s ia s t .
s p it e o f the wide s a le o f Mrs. p i k e 's f i r s t n o v e l,
la c k c r i t i c s in h er own d a y .
In
she d id n ot
A con tem porary c r i t i c i s m
o f Id a
----------------------52------------------
When the n o v e l a p p ea red , 6 0 ,0 0 0 c o p i e s were s o ld
in e ig h t e e n m onths. (D ic t io n a r y o f American B io g ra p h y , XIV, 5 9 7 .)
May r e a d s :
We must c o n fe s s th a t the s t o r y o f t h i s n o v e l has
so l i t t l e p l a u s i b i l i t y as t o m a t e r ia l ly d e t r a c t from
the p le a s u r e o f i t s p e r u s a l.
The i n t r o d u c t io n o f the
c h i l d i s h c o n v e r s a t io n in th e f i r s t c h a p te r seems t o us
in v e ry bad t a s t e . . . . We, how ever, r e c o g n iz e much m erit
i n th e work and w ish i t a wide c i r c u l a t i o n . 83
Ida May* s p o p u la r i t y was due c h i e f l y t o i t s theme,
and Mrs. P ik e , l i k e M rs. Stow e, d id n ot w r ite an oth er n o v e l
t o e q u a l h er f i r s t i n s e l l i n g v a lu e .
Her secon d n o v e l, C a ste ,
p u b lis h e d un der the pseudonym Sydney A. S t o r y , J r . , d e a lt w ith
the problem s o f r a c i a l d i s c r i m i n a t i o n , s p e c i f i c a l l y m isceg en a ­
t i o n , and was n o t so p o p u la r as h er f i r s t .
Agnes, Mrs. P ik e ’ s
t h ir d and l a s t n o v e l, a romance s e t i n the Am erican R e v o lu tio n ­
ary p e r i o d , was l e a s t p o p u la r o f the t h r e e w orks, perh aps
beca u se the s u b je c t m a tte r was l e s s t im e ly .
About 1870 th e p l a t e s o f Mrs. P i k e 's n o v e ls were
d e s tr o y e d in a f i r e ,
in g them made a g a in .
and she n e v er went t o the expense o f hav­
There are n o t many c o p i e s o f h er books
a v a ila b le t o d a y , and th e y must have been grow in g s c a r c e in
1 901, when J osep h Dana M i lle r w r o te :
"But th e most rem arkably c i r c u l a t e d work i n American
lite r a r y
h i s t o r y i s 'I d a May' by Mrs. Mary H. P ik e , o f
w hich 6 0 ,0 0 0 c o p i e s were s o ld i n e ig h t e e n m onths.
As t h i s
was in 1 8 5 4 , i t i s d o u b t f u l , when we r e f l e c t th a t ou r popu­
l a t i o n was much l e s s than h a l f o f what i t i s t o - d a y , i f the
r e c o r d o f any su bsequ ent book v e ry much su rp a ss e s i t ." ® ^
S3
The New E n g la n d e r, V o l. X I I I , No. 1 , F eb ru a ry, 1855,
p . 154.
84
J . D. M i l l e r , "p o p u la r N ov els That Have Been For­
g o t t e n , " qu oted from The Era (O c to b e r , 1901) in the L it e r a r y
D ig e s t , November 1 6 , 1 9(31, p p . 6 0 3 -6 0 4 .
M i l l e r 's a s s e r t i o n i s i n c o r r e c t ,
s in c e o th e r n o v e ls su rp a ssed
Id a May i n c i r c u l a t i o n w it h in i t s own p e r i o d ; h ow ever, Mrs.
P i k e 's work was one o f th e more p o p u la r n o v e ls o f the 1 8 5 0 ' s .
Mary Hayden Green P ike sh ou ld be c o n s id e r e d in the
l i g h t o f th e tim es in which she w r o te .
Her s t y l e i s t h a t o f
o th e r p o p u la r fe m in in e n o v e l i s t s o f the m id -n in e te e n th c e n tu r y .
As a s tr o n g s u p p o r te r o f th e a n t i - s l a v e r y c a u s e ,
m ention in Am erican l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y .
she d e s e r v e s
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I.
Anonymous,
c lip p in g ,
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December 9 , 1 8 8 6 .
C a la is Tim es,
. O b itu a ry n o t i c e o f F r e d e r ic k A. P ik e .
S e n t in e l, December 8 , 1 8 86.
E a s tp o rt
Bangor Whig and C o u r ie r , 1854 t o 1 85 9 .
B a ltim o re Bureau o f V i t a l S t a t i s t i c s .
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R ecord o f d ea th o f
B oston A t la s , 1 8 5 5 .
B oston D a ily E vening T r a v e l l e r , 1854.
B oston S atu rday E vening G a z e t t e , 1 855.
C a la is Town R e c o r d s .
H. G reen.
M arriage o f F r e d e r ic k A. P ik e t o Mary
E a s tp o r t S e n t in e l, 1855.
E a ton , M rs. A lb io n H.
Hayden, C h a rle s S.
C o rre sp o n d e n ce , 1934.
C o rre sp o n d en ce, 19 33, 1 93 4.
MacDonald, Mrs. C o r d e lia Howard.
1937; March 2 5 , 1937.
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P a t t a n g a ll, W illia m R.
C o rresp on d en ce, J u ly 1 5 , 1932.
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P ik e , F r e d e r ic k A. L e t t e r t o M. D. P h i l l i p s , June 2 1 , 1857.
M an u scrip t in th e B oston P u b lic L ib r a r y .
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W ill.
Copy in th e C a la is L ib r a r y .
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Sampson and Company, 1 8 5 4 . 478 p p .
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graduate work i n the f i e l d
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on h er t h e s i s , w hich she co m p le ted i n J u ly , 1947.
APPENDIX
JOHN BROWN IN PRISON*
By M rs. F red . A. P ike
" I th ou gh t him a monomaniac b eca u se he t a lk e d i n a
m y s te r io u s way o f h a v in g been a p p o in te d by H eaven, a M oses,
t o le a d the s la v e s o u t o f b on d ag e. [ " ] — A w r it e r t o the N. Y.
T rib u n e .
D e fe a t o r v i c t o r y !
What i s i t ?
For my s o u l i s d a rk ,
And i t h e a r e th th rou gh the m id n ig h t,
Only s l a v e r y ' s b a n -d o g s b a r k .
H ears a lo n e the S outhern p o u rin g
C urses o 'e r my c h i l d r e n 's grave
And the f a l s e and f r a n t i c p r o t e s t ,
Of the c o w e r in g , tre m b lin g s la v e .
Can I tr e m b le ? Can I f a l t e r ?
Such a man as I - Who f o r y e a r s have seen the w atch sign
Flaming i n th e Southern sky?
Who have h eard the s p i r i t w h isp er
Through the solem n n ig h t t o me,
“Go— the Red Sea s h a l l be o p e n e d -Thou s h a lt s e t th y b r e th r e n f r e e . "
Was i t then a ly in g v i s i o n ?
Did I do a wrong,
When I sought t o a id the h e l p l e s s —
Arm th e weak a g a in s t the s t r o n g .
S a ith th e word th a t n ev er f a i l e t h ,
11A id in g t h e s e , t h o u 'r t a id in g me. "
Oh my L ora l
whose d e a th was v i c t o r y !
Humbly th u s I f o l l o w T h ee.
When the J ew ish h o s t b e le a g u e r e d ,
J e r i c h o 's o ld town,
Sword i n hand, 'tw a s by t h e i r sh o u tin g ,
That th e w a lls f e l l down.
Emblem o f th e m igh ty power
G iven t o th e spoken work l s i c ] ,
That the s o u ls e n c lo s e d in e r r o r ,
May be rea ch ed w ith o u t the sw ord.
* Newspaper c l i p p i n g , no d a t e , no s o u r c e , W ashington
County Scrap B ook, p . 4 , New England H i s t o r i c G e n e a lo g ic a l
S o c ie t y .
L iv in g , I had been a u n i t ,
D yin g, men s h a ll see
What a s t r o n g and c o u n t le s s army
W ait t o s e t the bondmen f r e e .
Never c o u ld my v o i c e t h 1o p p r e s s o r ,
Prom h i s f a t a l slum ber w a k e-O 'e r my grave the shout o f th ou sa n d s,
S h a ll the g u i l t y s i l e n c e b re a k .
Lol
I see th e v i s i o n b r ig h t e n s —
C le a r e r grow s th e s ig n —
And th e "Red Sea" i s a r i v e r ,
Red w ith b lo o d th a t once was m ine.
They, who p e r is h e d , I who f o l l o w ,
'N eath th a t J o r d a n 's s w e llin g wave
Through d e f e a t a c c e p t ou r v i c t o r y - Gain ou r trium ph th rou gh th e grave