Mary Ashley Townsend
Mary Ashley Townsend (pen name, Xariffa; 1836 – June 7, 1901) was an American poet and writer. She was the first American invited to join the "Liceo Hidalgo", a prestigious Mexican literary club.
Also recorded as Mary Ashley Van Voorhis · Xariffa · Mary Ashley Van Voorhis Townsend
Mary Ashley Townsend
Internet Archive identifier: womanofcenturyfo00will · Public domain
- Name
- Mary Ashley Townsend
- Birth Name
- Mary Ashley Van Voorhis
- Born
- 1836
- Birthplace
- Lyons, New York, U.S.
- Died
- 7 June 1901
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- poet · writer · novelist · essayist
- Fields
- essay
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Mary Ashley Townsend • Birth Name — Mary Ashley Van Voorhis • Born — 1836 • Birthplace — Lyons, New York, U.S. • Died — 7 June 1901
Biography
Biography
Mary Ashley Van Voorhis was born in Lyons, New York in 1836 (some sources say 1832). She was educated in her native town and married Gideon Townsend, of New Orleans, Louisiana. She began to write for publication in about 1856 and, under the pen-name of "Xariffa", earned a reputation as the author of "Quillotypes", a series of humorous papers that appeared in the New Orleans "Delta" and were widely copied by the southern and western press. Her other works are The Brother Clerks (1859), Poems (1870), The Captain's Story (1874), and Down the Bayou, and other Poems (1884). Among her short poems are "Creed", which was copied in newspapers in England as well as the United States, "A Woman's Wish", "The Bather", and "The Wind". She was appointed to deliver the official poem on the opening of the New Orleans exposition in 1884, and that at the unveiling of the statue of General Albert Sidney Johnston in 1887. She was the first American invited to join the "Liceo Hidalgo", a prestigious Mexican literary club.
Selected works
Selected works
• The Brother Clerks (1859) • Poems (1870) • The Captain's Story (1874) • Down the Bayou, and other Poems (1884)
Source attribution
Source attribution
*
Critical reception
Her work gained "high critical acclaim in the 1870s and 1880s". By 1916, fifteen years after her death, an article in A History of American Literature said, "Her humorous sketches in prose are forgotten, but her mildly sentimental poems hold for her a place in the anthologies." She is mentioned in The History of Southern Women's Literature (2002) for her work having freshness and genuineness in dealing with traditional subjects.
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Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Mary Ashley Townsend, revision 1354648836 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Rutherford, Mildred Lewis, The South in history and literature, The Franklin-Turner Company, Atlanta GA., 1907. Retrieved September 18, 2011
- 2.Cairns, William B., A history of American literature, Oxford University Press, 1916, page 436. Retrieved September 18, 2011
- 3.Carter, Hodding The past as prelude: New Orleans 1718-1968, Firebird Press, 2009, page 182. . Retrieved September 18, 2011
- 4.Perry, Carolyn and Mary Louise Weaks, The history of southern women's literature, Louisiana State University Press, 2002, pages 199-200. . Retrieved September 18, 2011
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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