Person Detail: Marietta Holley

Is this YOU? Click here to request an update to your information.

General Information:
Full Name: Marietta Holley
Biography: (1836-1926) Novelist. Born between Pierrepont Manor and Adams in southern Jefferson County in 1836, Marietta Holley turned her early life on a North Country farm into the values and voices of the literary comedian "Josiah Allen's Wife," Samantha. Sometimes called "the female Mark Twain," Ms. Holley had the same publisher and illustrator that Mr. Twain did, though she pioneered the use of comedy for women's rights. Her unique position in American literature was the intersection of dialect humor, women's domestic fiction and local color writing. In 21 books, Holley created and developed the first sympathetic female comic figure in American literature. Usually Samantha, the naÏve farm wife, makes a journey outside of "Jonesville" to places where she encounters the movers and shakers of the late 19th century. These meetings contrast the simple good sense and democratic ideals of North Country folk with the values and opinions of politicians and celebrities in popular venues such as Coney Island, the Thousand Islands, The World's Fair and Saratoga. Disguised as travelogues, Ms. Holley's Samantha novels blended three literary traditions into memorable characters who insisted on a true American democracy. Ms. Holley died in 1926, well after the vote was finally secured for women. Her novels include: "My Opinions and Betsey Bobbett's," "Samantha at Saratoga," and "Samantha Among the Brethren." Critical biography of Ms. Holley: Kate H. Winter, Marietta Holley: Life With "Josiah Allen's Wife" Syracuse University Press. (Our thanks to Ms. Winter for this biography.)
Author's Timeline:
1836		Jefferson County Marietta Holley was born between Pierrepont Manor and Adams, New York, on July 16, 1836.
1887		Saratoga County Samantha at Saratoga (Pub: Philadelphia: Henry Altemus ISBN: ) Ms. Holley's novel, "Samantha at Saratoga" is set in Saratoga Springs, New York. It was published under the pseudonym, "Josiah Allen's Wife."
1926		Jefferson County Marietta Holley died in Pierrepont Manor, New York, on March 1, 1926.
1872		(Unknown) County My Opinions and Betsey Bobbett's (Pub: Hartford, Connecticut: American Publishing Company ISBN: ) Novel.
1890		(Unknown) County Samantha Among the Brethren (Pub: Funk & Wagnalls ISBN: ) Novel.
1877		(Unknown) County Samantha at the Centennial (Pub: Hartford, Connecticut: American Publishing Company ISBN: ) Novel.
1880		(Unknown) County My Wayward Pardner (Pub: Hartford, Connecticut: American Publishing Company ISBN: ) Novel.
1882		(Unknown) County Miss Richard's Boy (Pub: Hartford, Connecticut: American Publishing Company ISBN: ) Collection of stories.
1926		Jefferson County Marietta Holley was interred in Pierrepont Manor Cemetery, Pierrepont Manor, New York.
1914		(Unknown) County Josiah Allen On The Woman Question (Pub: New York: Fleming H. Revell ISBN: ) Fiction.
1913		(Unknown) County Samantha On The Woman Question (Pub: New York: Fleming H. Revell ISBN: ) Novel.
1892		(Unknown) County Samantha On The Race Problem (Pub: New York: Dodd, Mead & Company ISBN: ) Novel.
1896		(Unknown) County Samantha in Europe (Pub: New York: Funk & Wagnalls ISBN: ) Novel.
?		St. Lawrence County Ms. Holley lived near Pierrepont, New York.