Frances_Courtenay_Baylor

Frances Courtenay Baylor

Frances Courtenay Baylor

American author

Frances Courtenay Barnum (née Dawson, later Baylor; January 20, 1848 – October 15, 1920) was an American writer of fiction.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Biography

Frances Courtenay Dawson was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas on January 20, 1848.[1] Her father, James Dawson, was an army officer, and her childhood was spent in San Antonio and New Orleans, where her father was stationed.[2][3]

During her teen years her parents divorced and Frances began using her mother's maiden name, Baylor. After the Civil War ended, she spent several years (1865–67, 1873–74) traveling and living in Europe.[2][4]

In the late 1870s, she began contributing articles to newspapers and periodicals such as the Atlantic Monthly and the Princeton Review.[2] In 1885 she published a well-received first novel, On Both Sides, that examined the differing manners and customs of American and English society.[2][5]

Family

In 1896, Frances married George Barnum, who died shortly after they were wed. After his death she moved to Winchester, Virginia, where she spent the remainder of her life. She died in Winchester on October 15, 1920, aged 72.[6][7]

Bibliography

  • On Both Sides (1885)
  • Behind the Blue Ridge (1887)
  • Juan and Juanita (1888)
  • A Shocking Example, and Other Sketches (1889)
  • Claudia Hyde (1894)
  • Miss Nina Barrow (1897)
  • The Ladder of Fortune (1899)
  • A Georgian Bungalow (1900)

References

  1. [1]
    Blain, Virginia; Clements, Patricia; Grundy, Isobel (1990). The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Batsford Books. p. 71. ISBN 9780713458480. Retrieved April 19, 2021 – via Google Books.
  2. [2]
    Willard, Frances E., and Mary A. Livermore, eds. "Miss Frances Courtenay Baylor". In A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-Seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. Moulton, 1893.
  3. [3]
    Wright, H.M. "Frances Courtenay Baylor Barnum". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  4. [4]
    Shinn, Thelma J. "Frances Courtenay Baylor Barnum". Novel guide. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  5. [5]
    "In Book advertisement". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  6. [6]
    "Mrs. Barnum, Author, Dead". The Washington Post. Winchester, Virginia. October 16, 1920. p. 3. Retrieved April 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. [7]
    "VA. Novelist Dead". The News Leader. Winchester, Virginia. Associated Press. October 16, 1920. p. 1. Retrieved April 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

  • Gordon, Amistead Virginia Writers of Fugitive Verse. New York: James T. White, 1922.
  • Mishler, Catherine T. "Baylor, Frances Courtenay." Edited by John T. Kneebone, J. Jefferson Looney, Brent Tarter, and Sandra Gioia Treadway. Vol. I of The Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Richmond, VA: The Library of Virginia, 1998.
  • Taylor, Welford D. Virginia Authors Past and Present. Richmond, VA: Association of Teachers of English, 1972.
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