Mary Gay Humphreys

Mary Gay Humphreys
Born	1843 Ripley, Ohio
Died	1915(1915-00-00) (aged 71–72)
Other names	Henry Somerville Elinor Gray

Mary Gay Humphreys (1843 - 1915) was an American journalist and author. She is best known for her writings in multiple news outlets, and her books including one on Catherine Schuyler, a socialite in Colonial America.

Life

She was born in Ripley, Ohio ^[1] in 1843 to William Smith Humphreys and Henrietta Somerville Write and died in 1915. ^[2] She served as a nurse in the Civil War and the Philippines. ^[1]

Writings

Humphreys wrote in multiple periodicals including The Art Amateur , Scribner's Sons, ^[3] Harper's Bazaar , ^[4] Harper's Weekly , ^[5] The Evening Sun , ^[6] and The Chicago Inter-Ocean . ^[7] In 1885, she co-authored, using the pen name Elinor Gray, ^[1] a book with American Christian author, William Boardman. The book was called Skilful Susy: A Book of Fairs and Bazars , and it reviewed ouvrages de dames, fancy work, and other craft-work required in an 18th century household. Her next book, Catherine Schuyler, was a biography of Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler who was born in colonial New York to a prominent Dutch family and provides insight into the daily toils of upper-class 18th century women.

Humphreys then used the nom-de-plume, Henry Somerville, for her next two books. When Jack Racer was first published, the news described the author Henry Somerville as a native of Ohio who worked in the newspaper business and who had been encouraged by his mother to write fiction. ^[8] Later it was revealed that Somerville was the nom-de-plume of Humphreys. ^{[9] [10]} Humphreys went on to publish a sequel, Racer of Illinois, in 1902.

Her final book, Missionary Explorers Among the American Indians, was included as a volume in Scribner's in 1913. The article was devoted to the lives of six American missionaries: John Eliot, Samson Occum, David Brainerd, Marcus Whitman, Stephen Riggs and John Lewis Dyer.

Selected publications

• Humphreys, Mary Gay (1885). "Skilful Susy. A book of fairs and bazars". Library of Congress . OCLC   1157217061 . Retrieved 2022-07-09.
• Humphreys, Mary Gay; Woodrow Wilson Collection (Library of Congress) (1897). Catherine Schuyler. New York: C. Scribner's Sons. OCLC   1861828. ^[11]
• Humphreys, Mary Gay (1901). Jack Racer. Written as Henry Somerville. McClure, Phillips & Co. OCLC   25959199. ^[12]
• Humphreys, Mary Gay; McClure, Phillips & Co (1902). Racer of Illinois. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co. OCLC   669223104. ^[13]
• Humphreys, Mary Gay (1913). Missionary explorers among the American Indians. New York, N.Y.: C. Scribner's Sons. OCLC   1526495. ^[14]

References

1. Coyle, William (1962). Ohio authors and their books: biographical data and selective bibliographies for Ohio authors, native and resident, 1796-1950. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Cleveland, New York, The World Pub. Co. p. 329.
2. "LIBRARY TALK – MARCH 14, 2022 – Union Township Public Library". 2022-05-25. Archived from the original on 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
3. "Clipped From The Owensboro Messenger". The Owensboro Messenger. 1896-07-29. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
4. "Clipped From The Valley Virginian". The Valley Virginian. 1890-05-08. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
5. "Clipped From The Hillsdale Standard". The Hillsdale Standard. 1898-07-26. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
6. "Clipped From The Times-Democrat". The Times-Democrat. 1894-07-12. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
7. "Clipped From The Inter Ocean". The Inter Ocean. 1889-03-17. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
8. "Clipped From The Brooklyn Citizen". The Brooklyn Citizen. 1901-09-08. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
9. "The Literary Outlook". Savannah Morning News. 1902-02-09. pp.  , . Retrieved 2023-02-14.
10. "Clipped From The Brooklyn Citizen". The Brooklyn Citizen. 1902-01-19. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
11. Reviews for Catherine Schuyler "Clipped From The Inter Ocean". The Inter Ocean. 1897-10-16. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
    • Sucato, Sabrina (2022-03-08). "Catherine Schuyler: A Force in the Hudson Valley During the Revolution". Hudson Valley Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
12. Reviews of Jack Racer
    • "Reviews of new books". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1901-09-21. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
    • "A Study of a Prairie Village.*". The New York Times. 1901-11-23. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-02-14.
13. Review of Racer of Illinois
    • "Fiction of the Hour". The Courier-Journal. 1902-10-04. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
14. Reviews for Missionary Explorers among the American Indians
    • Smith, Charles W. (1913). "Review of Missionary Explorers among the American Indians". The Washington Historical Quarterly. 4 (4): 293. ISSN   0361-6223. JSTOR   40473688.
    • B., D. H. (1915). "Review of Missionary Explorers among the American Indians" . Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. 47 (7): 539. doi:10.2307/201441. hdl: 2027/uc1.$b59323 . ISSN   0190-5929. JSTOR   201441.

External links

Media related to Mary Gay Humphreys at Wikimedia Commons