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Edward Eggleston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the historian and writer. For the painter and illustrator, see Edward Mason Eggleston.

Edward Eggleston
Born(1837-12-10)December 10, 1837
Vevay, Indiana, U.S.
DiedSeptember 3, 1902(1902-09-03) (aged 64)
Lake George, New York, U.S.
Occupation
  • Historian
  • Novelist
Notable worksThe Hoosier Schoolmaster (1871)
Spouses
  • Elizabeth Goodsmith Snider
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1858; died 1890)​
  • Frances Goode
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1891; death 1902)​
[1]
ChildrenElizabeth Eggleston Seelye, Allegra Eggleston, Blanche Eggleston, Edward William Eggleston

Edward Eggleston (December 10, 1837 – September 3, 1902) was an American historian and novelist.

Biography

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Eggleston was born in Vevay, Indiana on December 10, 1837, to Joseph Cary Eggleston and Mary Jane Craig.[2] The author George Cary Eggleston was his brother. As a child, he was too ill to regularly attend school, so his education was primarily provided by his father. He was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1856.[3] He wrote a number of tales, some of which, especially the "Hoosier" series, attracted much attention. Among these are The Hoosier Schoolmaster, The Hoosier Schoolboy, The End of the World, The Faith Doctor, and Queer Stories for Boys and Girls.[4]

Eggleston used well-known historical events as the basis for several of his novels. In The End of the World, he describes the build-up to the Second Coming of Christ in 1843, as prophesied by William Miller, set in southern Indiana. The Graysons is a fictionalized account of a famous murder trial that Abraham Lincoln won in 1858 in central Illinois. Other books were romanticized stories based on his personal experiences, including The Mystery of Metropolisville, about land speculation in southern Minnesota, and The Circuit Rider, about itinerant preachers, set in southwestern Ohio. Most of his novels contain characters who speak in local "dialect".

He wrote many articles for the children's magazine The Little Corporal, and in 1866, he worked as an editor for the periodical. In December 1866 he accepted a higher-paying editorial position at The Sunday School Teacher.[5] From 1869 to 1877 Eggleston edited the eight-page weekly publication Little Folks, advertised as being "an illustrated Paper, for every Sunday, for Infant Scholars." He wrote two stories for each issue.[6] In 1871 he was briefly the supervising editor of the New York periodical The Independent.[1]

In 1884, Eggleston helped organize the American Historical Association. He was elected its president in 1899. In his presidential address, he called for a change from a history of important battles to one of important lives.[1] Eggleston was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1893.[7]

Eggleston's childhood home in Vevay, Indiana

His boyhood home at Vevay, Indiana, known as the Edward and George Cary Eggleston House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[8] His summer home, Owl's Nest, in Lake George, New York, eventually became his year-round home.[4] Eggleston died there on September 3, 1902, at the age of 64.[9] Owl's Nest was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

His oldest daughter, the writer Elizabeth Eggleston Seelye, was married to Elwyn Seelye, the founder of the New York State Historical Association. His second daughter, Allegra Eggleston, was an artist and illustrator. She collaborated with her sister and her father on a number of books including The Story of Columbus, The Story of Washington, and The Graysons. He had a third daughter, Blanche, and a son, Edward William, who died at age 3.[1]

Religious Background

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The relationship Eggleston held with religion changed many times throughout his life, yet he left an impact in the activities he took part in as part of his faith. He grew up in a region that had a strong association with Methodism which would become significant attribute of part of his life. Moving further into his practice Eggleston would spread his theology across two states. Eventually would be lead him to non-sectarianism after a moment of being outside his relgious values he grew to accept. By the age of 41 he would take on a more agnostic point of view leaving behind his Methodist roots.[10] His explorations of his beliefs were given a position of prominence in his life which prior to him expelling the ideas that he concerned himself with, it sent him down many avenues.

During his adolescence, he would follow a schedule that would strictly dictate when he could pray. The books inspired these methods were specifically recommended by John Wesley for those who would like to pursue a career as a preacher. After reading the information regarding this lifestyle pattern, Eggleston began engaging with the instruction he learned. This schedule required him to wake up at four in the morning and pray for an hour uninterrupted. Past that initial prayer, throughout the day he would pray at specific times and he would also eat sparingly.[11] Given the dedication he had showed for his faith at an early age, it would push him further into spreading the word of Methodism.

Determined to share his theology with others Eggleston took up different professions to amplify his voice. His commitment to his religion guided him to aquire a license to work as a Methodist circuit rider.[12] The actions he took served the purpose of strengthening his faith through the act of service. He also worked as a Bible agent and eventually transitioned to become a pastor which happened in a nine year period he spent in Minnesota. Shortly after turning 21 years old, in 1959, he was operating a pastor for a Methodist church in Minnesota that was regarded as one of the biggest in the state.[10] His youth revolved immensely around his religion which granted him these opportunities. As he got older his perspective started to change which shifted the trajectory of his future.

After spending time in Minnesota he decided to take up different ventures elsewhere. Eggleston would leave the state in 1866 and move to Evanston, Illinois where he would start as an associate editor of the Little Corporal in Chicago. Upon leaving Minnesota he also made the decision in reducing the power of his perspective on the Methodist faith.[13] Even though he left that portion of his life in past it did not eliminate his ambition towards relgion fully and continued work in Sunday-school activities. This could be attributed to his enjoyment in teaching children who he found to be his most well rounded listeners.[10] Identifying his audience gave him purpose when engaging with the ideas that still remained of his faith. Their immature behavior did not bother him while bring them joy and making attempts to hold their attention.[14]

Observing the decisions Eggleston has made within his practice of religion, he has formed a significant footprint in regards to the influence he made. Archives of church history it shows that he founded the first Christian Endeavor Society in America.[15] Moving forward this would signify a prominent moment in the religious journey Eggleston has taken. In the latter half of 1870s he had exhausted his mental growth that would decrease his Sunday sermons and remove any association with orthodox Christian dogma.[13]

Principal works

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Novels

  • The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1871)
  • The End of the World (1872)
  • The Mystery of Metropolisville (1873)
  • The Circuit Rider (1874)
  • Roxy (1878)
  • The Graysons (1888)
  • The Faith Doctor (1891)
  • Duffels (short stories) (1893)

Juvenile

Illustration from The Hoosier Schoolboy
  • Mr. Blake's Walking Stick (1870)
  • Tecumseh and the Shawnee Prophet (1878)
  • Pocahontus and Powhatan (1879)
  • Montezuma (1880)
  • The Hoosier Schoolboy (1883)
  • Queer Stories for Boys and Girls (1884)
  • Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans (1895)
  • Home History of the United States (1889)

History

  • A History of the United States and Its People (1888)
  • The Beginners of a Nation (1896)
  • The Transit of Civilization From England to America (1901)
  • New Centennial History of the United States (1904)

Religion

  • Christ in Art (1875)
  • Christ in Literature (1875)

Writing Style

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The work that Edward Eggleston produced came from a specific style that would be a staple of his writing. Like authors such as Mark Twain and William Dean Howells, Eggleston made major contributions to pushing the general and critical approval of literary genre known as realism. Much of the texts he created aided in the popularization of the Middle West as a region to be utilized in literature.[13] As he continued to write there have been other influences that conditioned the direction of his creative expression. On top of his work as a realist, he also made efforts in elevating the structure of naturalism or veritism.[16] Readers who followed Eggleston would become familiar with direction he would take with everything he published. He was noted deliver a style that was very comprehensive with a strong basis of knowledge on what he wrote about.[17]

Eggleston's time in Minnesota shaped a lot of his regional literature and inspired the approach he took when elaborating on an aspect of his stories. When constructing his written material he operated under a particular format that focused on an authentic image of being person in the era of his interest.[14] He prioritized making every event that he wrote seem natural to the eyes of another person living in a Western region. Much of his wiriting involved events commonly occur in those areas such as barbacues, political rallies, Methodist revivals, and spelling bees.[16]

For much of his early work Eggleston was very detail oriented when it came to the portrayal of his characters. It made him consider non-verbal and verbal language that affected the mentality of fictionalized individuals. Each person displayed in his writing had to seem as if they could exist. Handling dialogue, Eggleston considered his principles involved regional literature which would affect the vernacular of how one of his created personalities would talk.[18] Realism firmly pushed his ideas concerning the lifestyles and settings shown in his work.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Randel, William Peirce (1946). Edward Eggleston. New York: King's Crown Press.
  2. ^ Bridges, Karl (2007). 100 great American novels you've (probably) never read. Popular authors series. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-59158-165-9. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
  3. ^ "Edward Eggleston". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Chisholm 1911.
  5. ^ Kelly, R. Gordon, Children's Periodicals of the United States, pages 277 - 282, Greenwood Press, 1984
  6. ^ Pflieer, Pat American Children's Periodicals, 1789-1872 (Kindle Edition), location 9748-9765, Merrycoz Books, 2016
  7. ^ American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
  8. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  9. ^ "Edward Eggleston (obituary)" (PDF). The New York Times. September 6, 1902. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
  10. ^ a b c Stone, Edward (1939). "Edward Eggleston's Religious Transit". Studies in English ([19]): 210–218. ISSN 2158-7957.
  11. ^ Wolford, Thorp L. (1967). "Edward Eggleston: Evolution of a Historian". Indiana Magazine of History. 63 (1): 17–48. ISSN 0019-6673.
  12. ^ Danner, Effa Morrison (1937). "Edward Eggleston". Indiana Magazine of History. 33 (4): 435–453. ISSN 0019-6673.
  13. ^ a b c "Shibboleth Authentication Request". srv-proxy2.library.tamu.edu. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  14. ^ a b Randel, William Peirce (1953). "Edward Eggleston's "Minnesota Fiction"". Minnesota History. 33 (5): 189–193. ISSN 0026-5497.
  15. ^ Rawley, James A. (1944). "Edward Eggleston: Historian". Indiana Magazine of History. 40 (4): 341–352. ISSN 0019-6673.
  16. ^ a b Flanagan, John T. (1944). "The Novels of Edward Eggleston". College English. 5 (5): 250–254. doi:10.2307/370931. ISSN 0010-0994.
  17. ^ Gura, Philip F. (1989). Eggleston, Edward (ed.). "The Real History of Men and Women: Edward Eggleston's the Transit of Civilization". Reviews in American History. 17 (4): 639–647. doi:10.2307/2703445. ISSN 0048-7511.
  18. ^ Johannsen, Robert W. (1952). "Literature and History: The Early Novels of Edward Eggleston". Indiana Magazine of History. 48 (1): 37–54. ISSN 0019-6673.

Further reading

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