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William Gilmore Simms and The Family
Companion
by
Robert A. Rees and
Marjorie Griffin
In the 1840's William Gilmore Simms was the South's most celebrated author and had vast experience as an editor and contributor to Southern periodicals.[1] He was probably the best qualified person in the United States to speak on Southern literature and Southern periodicals, and he gave this pessimistic view of them for publication in the Magnolia:
But Simms was caught between the hard facts of his experience and his persistent hopes for Southern periodicals. Within a year of his
It is not surprising, therefore, that when Mrs. Sarah Lawrence (Drew) Griffin of Macon, Georgia, wrote to Simms during the winter of 1840-41 asking for his support in her projected literary venture, The Family Companion and Ladies' Mirror,[3] his response was ambivalent.
Mrs. Griffin and her husband, Benjamin F. Griffin, although originally from New England, had lived in Georgia since 1835. Mr. Griffin was a successful printer and Mrs. Griffin had authored a collection of tales for children and co-authored a series of school readers. Their youth (in 1841 he was thirty-three and she was twenty-nine) and earlier successes probably made the venture with the Companion the high point of optimism and ambition in their related careers.
Simms's first letter to Mrs. Griffin — now missing — probably contained the same sentiments as his letters to the Magnolia. She was apparently offended, for in his letter of June 8, 1841, he apologizes for being "a somewhat rude, blunt man," and, with typical Southern graciousness, accepts the blame for the misunderstanding. He explains the reason for his candor: "If in the case of young beginners, however, they [his views] produce an extra degree of caution, and lessen to a certain extent, that wild and sanguine confidence, which in our country ruins so many thousand, my purpose will be answered, and I shall be satisfied." But Simms was encouraging as well: "I wish you god speed, and will try to do what I can to promote your successes. . . . That you will do well, & prosper, I not only sincerely wish, but sincerely believe."
Mrs. Griffin sent Simms an advance copy of the first (October, 1841) issue of the Companion in early September, apparently in an attempt to get his reaction. In his reply the day following receipt of the magazine, he praised her efforts: "You have done wonders. In fineness of paper, neatness of appearance, general propriety and completeness, your work will bear free comparison with the best of our periodicals." He comments on the articles and poems in the issue and generally praises the quality and variety of the literature and her editorial ability.
Perhaps her contentious reaction to his earlier letter had caused Simms to be less candid with her than he might otherwise have been, for in a letter to his good friend James Lawson, for whom he had just ordered subscriptions to the Companion and the Magnolia, Simms says, "I trust that these will amuse & interest you. They contain some good things though scarcely a fair sample of what might be done in the South with good Editorial management" (Letters, I, 283). On the other hand, this comment to Lawson may represent his sensitivity to Northern critics, for his correspondence with Mrs. Griffin indicates that he was genuinely impressed with the Companion.
For almost a year Simms maintained a serious interest in the Companion. During the early months of 1842, however, his direct connection with the Companion came to an end. At this time Simms was trying to finish his first important novel, Beauchampe, and may have been too busy to respond to further requests for editorial assistance and advice. Another and more important reason, perhaps, is that early in 1842 Simms began to have closer ties with the Magnolia. In April of that year he assumed its editorship, a position which he held until June, 1843.
In the letter to the Magnolia quoted earlier, Simms said, "When I sit down to write for a Southern periodical — which I do only as a professional duty — I do so under the enfeebling conviction that my labors and those of the editor are taken in vain; — that the work will be little read, seldom paid for, and will finally, and after no very long period of spasmodic struggle, sink into that gloomy receptacle of the 'lost and abused things of earth,' which, I suspect, by this time possesses its very sufficient share of Southern periodical literature" (Letters, I, 200).
Simms's presentiment about Southern periodicals came to pass for the Companion. In May, 1842, he wrote to Lawson that the Companion would "probably go down at the end of the year." In August he was more definite, indicating that it would "probably stop on the 1st January" (Letters, I, 310, 322). The signs of decline were all too evident to Simms. A short August number was followed by an announcement in the September issue that there would be a reduction in price, "which would put it in the power of every one to become a subscriber." Apparently the subscriptions were not immediately forthcoming, however, for no numbers were issued in October and November. The December, 1842, and January, 1843, numbers appeared on schedule, but the February number was late. A note in the Editorial Department apologized for the delay and announced that there would
The failure of the Companion was due to many factors. To begin with, it was established at a time when competition was great. Frank Luther Mott suggests that approximately 500 periodicals (not counting newspapers) were begun between 1825 and 1850. Many of thesedid not survive more than a few months.[4]
In his introduction to James Russell Lowell's The Pioneer, Sculley Bradley points out that "in 1843 . . . the world of the American magazine was characterized by rapid expansion, ruthless competition, high mortality, and cheap devices to win the largest number of subscribers at whatever cost to artistic integrity."[5]
There were several personal factors involved in the failure of the Companion. A dispute developed between the Griffins and William Tappan Thompson in the late spring of 1842. Thompson had joined the Griffins in the early part of 1842, in a merger prompted by their need for editorial assistance and Thompson's need for funds with which to salvage his Augusta Mirror from financial collapse. The union lasted only a few months, however. According to Bertram Flanders, "The new editor had not been working long at his duties before friction developed between him and his associates. First of all, Thompson, in ill health at the time, was irked by his arduous duties. Griffin wanted him to perform the labors of a journeyman in the printing establishment. Thompson was editor, contributor, and general superintendent of the office. He read proof sheets, made up the pages of the magazine, and directed and assisted with the job work. He had no control over what went into the Companion or what was left out of it."[6]
The trouble came to a head when Thompson suggested that a series of sketches begun in an earlier issue and entitled "Cousin
It also seems reasonable to assume that the magazine's failure was due in part to the fact that Mrs. Griffin could not supply the time and effort needed. Her seventh child was born in February, 1842, or February, 1843; either date would indicate an inevitable diminution in her professional efforts.
The Griffins remained in or near Macon until 1856, when they removed to Brunswick, Georgia. Four years later, they moved to Manhattan, Kansas. Mr. Griffin remained in printing and publication activities until his death in 1887. Mrs. Griffin is described as already an invalid when the family moved to Kansas. She had borne fourteen children of whom only five survived. Family tradition has it that in later years disaster or tragedy drew no more from her than the words, "I have no more tears." She died in 1872.[7]
Bertram Flanders offers this estimate of Mrs. Griffin's success: "The Family Companion stands at the very top of Georgia ante-bellum monthlies, sharing honors with the Magnolia (Savannah) and the Orion (Penfield). Mrs. Sarah Lawrence Griffin, though not the best judge in the world of reading matter, in some way managed to get
Although Simms's interest in the Companion was short-lived, his influence on it was substantial. He was generous with advice, encouragement, contributions, and editorial assistance. Judging from the suggestions she employed, it seems clear that Mrs. Griffin respected Simms's editorial experience and his knowledge of Southern periodicals.
Although several of Simms's letters to Mrs. Griffin are missing, those which are presented here provide a full picture of an interesting relationship. They also add a chapter to our understanding of Simms and his relationship to Southern periodicals.
*
The style followed in presenting these letters is similar to that employed in the collected Letters. The letters are printed verbatim — including misspellings, faulty punctuation, and Simms's own erratic capitalization — except for inadvertently repeated words and crossed-out words which have been omitted. Significant inadvertent omissions have been supplied in square brackets. Indecipherable words are represented by dashes in angle brackets, with a dash for each word. Conjectural readings are also supplied in angle brackets.
*
Letter I
Your last favor has been lying by me unanswered because of my Sheer physical inability to bring myself to the labors of the desk. My little family, myself not exempt, have all been suffering from Sickness, not the less annoying because it was not actually dangerous. Even now I am suffering from disordered digestion the certain consequence of our warm climate & my Sedentary pursuits. I trust this statement of facts will do away with any impression of neglect which may have been induced by my delay to answer.
I gather from Something in the tone of your last letter that I must have
In giving utterance to my opinions on Magazines & Southern Literature, I was prompted by a desire to comply with your request. It is not improbable that I exaggerate the difficulties in your way. I trust Sincerely you will find it so. But in thinking as I do, I was bound to speak Sincerely. The easiest task in the world is to answer as the world would wish to be answered. My choice is not the Easiest, and my opinions, therefore, are not likely to be often the most popular. If in the Case of young beginners, however, they produce an extra degree of caution, and lessen to a certain extent, that wild and sanguine confidence, which in our country ruins so many thousand, my purpose will be answered, and I shall be satisfied. I have no doubt that you know better than I do, the Sort of material which will better please the great body of readers — Nay, with Some qualification, I am willing to agree with you; but it does not need that we should attempt a discussion which involves So many controversial points. Enough that I wish you god speed, and will try to do what I can to promote your Successes. The notice of the 'Companion' which I sent you, contained in The Charleston Courier was only in part written by myself.[10] The portions so Eulogistic of the Novel, were interpolated by the Editor, who is a very warm friend of Mine, and, I believe, conscientiously thinks of the work all that he said. I need not again assure you, — in spite of your very flattering
I enclose you a batch of Sonnets,[12] which I really think among the best of these things which I have Ever done. I am very much afraid that I shall be able to do nothing in Season of the Sort you wish. My Engagements with my publishers are very pressing. I am pledged for two large works to be finished this Summer;[13] and to coerce the imagination is to destroy it. The task of inventing against the desire is unfavorable to the author and would be productive of discreditable performances. If I feel the impulse I will obey it and you shall have the fruits. But my daily tasks must now be resumed; and I have written So many <small> stories that I should really be at a loss for a topic. If the scheme, the groundwork, the agents were suggested to me, — if I had any clue to them, there would perhaps be little difficulty. Recollect, Even Shakespeare, with all his invention, Stole all his plots — his stories ready made to his hands. I fancied when I sent you Oakatibbe,[14] that I was actually send.g. you one of my best labors — not as a Story perhaps, but as comprising a very bold, original philosophical argument, on a Subject, of all others, the most vital to the interests and feelings of the South. The grand questions with regard to the Indian & negro races, I sought to discuss in a Style equally fanciful & philosophic, and I am pleased to think that there is a gradual & not slow rising of the
Letter 2
Your first number was received yesterday, & I must confess quite Surpasses my expectations. You have done wonders. In fineness of paper, neatness of appearance, general propriety and Completeness, your work will bear free comparison with the best of our periodicals. Your letter press too is very good. John Neal's verses are rather less mad than usual & Contain some forcible & fine lines.[20] Those by Wilde,[21] though not equal to some others of his pieces, are graceful & sensible. The paper on Classical Literature by our young Countryman Holmes[22] shows reading and is very well expressed. Perhaps it shows too much reading. The notes are quite unnecessary & cumber the narrative, besides giving an air of pedantry to the paper which lessens the reader's interest as well in the writer as in the Subject. If they are to be put in, I would recommend that you throw them at the foot of the columns, and not suffer them to be massed like so many hyeroglyphics, to themselves. The article on Education, though very <sensible> & Showing thought is too long.[23] The commonplaces of this Subject should be rejected in Such essays. Of the tales I cannot well judge having only glanced at a few paragraphs. Your own Editorials (Qu?) betray unnecessary timidity. I suspect you feel alarmed, but you really
I do not know what your calculations are. I trust you may not deceive yourself. I suppose you See the Magnolia. I think it not possible that such a work can be successful. It wants variety.[26] Yours has Enough; but subscriptions in the South are bad things, and Correspondents not to be relied on. Your chance is better as your book is larger, better looking, and promises to compete on Equal ground with the Northern journals of the same class. In the number of pages you beat both the N. Y. Companion and Godey's Lady's Book. I have just bought one of your first books for children[27] I think it very good. It is not improbable that your Class Books for the South will take the lead of all others. —[28]
At this moment I am a<laborer> at the mill. I have Some literary engagements with Northern publishers which Scarcely leave me time for sleep. I have written you this scrawl, with tremulous fingers, after penning 20 pages foolscap. In the early part of the Season Sickness, night-watching &
W. G. Simms Mrs. S. L. Griffin
Letter 3
If I might presume so far, I should concur entirely with your husband in assuming that you do want nothing but practice and very little more of that, to edit your Companion with satisfactory Success. At all Events do not weaken yourself by a premature distrust of your own ability. One thing alone should make you confident. There is precious little ability in any editorial department, in any of the established monthlies. What is the Messenger's, the Knickerbocker's, which are considered among the best? The one is a blank, the other a petit maitre in the literary image of a monstrous petty circle.[32] In the Competition, at least, which you are to meet, there is nothing to alarm you. But I trust you will work out your editorials without regard to the doings of your bretheren. The standards
I should prefer that the Sonnets should go together. They were meant as a sort of family group. I am very sorry that Oakatibbe does not please you, the more particularly as just now I am over head & ears in labor and can do nothing out of the <brain>. You are aware that the story was meant to be Subservient to the argument. Perhaps a brief note to this effect would be of Service.[33] At all Events you promised me a proof of it. Do let me have two impressions sent by different mails — So that if one sh'd fail, we should still be tolerably sure of the other. Touching the price of these contributions I can say nothing. I leave this matter entirely to yourself for the present. I should be better pleased that you should determine their value for yourself. This will depend on the degree of patronage you receive. At all Events I am willing that it should be so, in respect to the Sonnets & Oakatibbe. We can have a more decided understanding in the Event of further contributions.
I do not know that I shall be free to do anything for a month, unless it be to correct some occasional Copies of verse which are already by me. Pledges of performance made a year ago, and interrupted by the Sickness & death in my family, are now pressing upon me. I write daily, an average from 15 to 22 pages of foolscap. Hard work this, & grievously against the Spirit. I trust to be free by November & to continue tolerably free during the winter. The paper of Mr. Curtis on Sacred Poetry[34] is very well written. The Ins & Outs very spirited — very well done. Perhaps a little over done — but Still lively & stirring. Who is the author? — I can not guess.[35]
I repeat that your book is singularly creditable, — not as a first number merely. I do not doubt that you will Succeed in making a deserving & valuable miscellany — of your recompenses I say nothing. Time will show. You give perhaps too much matter, but you know best. — I regret to hear that you have been sick, but the bracing airs of October are already with us, and you cannot help but do well now. You have my Sincere wishes for your restoration to health, with the Success of your literary & all other pursuits.
Very respectfully
[Y]r obt Sevt &c
W. G. Simms
P. S. You request a very spirited article for No. 3? When will that number appear? I know not what leisure will be left me, and can therefore promise
The toil of inventing a tale of 20 pages is about as great as that of inventing it for 2 vols. I do not think you will Ever want for Stories. Our magazine writers are Spinning them day & night. They are the Staple. You will rather want the <—> weights by which they are to be balanced — kept down — kept from being too etherial & flying away with the 'Companion.' You must give me the privilege accorded me elsewhere, of writing according to the movements of my own mind. I shall then write more confidently, and I trust more successfully.
W. G. S.
Letter 4
My dear Madame:
My new work is not yet published, though I suppose it will be very shortly. I have not a Sheet or passage of it in my possession, and by the time you could receive them from Phila. I suspect the whole work would be in the hands of the public. I should have no sort of reluctance to provide you with the sheets, were I able. I send by Mr. Hart's bundle to Mr. Griffin a copy of my Poems. I am in possession of a few copies which I should like to dispose of, as I happened to be originally interested in their Sale. Do you suppose that Macon would furnish a market to a small extent. Pray, oblige me by making this inquiry of your husband to whom they may be sent if the prospect of selling them shall seem fair to him. For my own part I have no faith in our taste for any of the Fine arts. I send you by this mail, a copy of the Charleston Courier of this day which contains a notice of the "Companion."[38] Our papers are chiefly business sheets, do not deal
With much respect,
I am, Madam,
Yr very obt Servant
W. G. Simms
P. S. I can provide Mr. Griffin with a few copies of three of my works, which I suspect have never been offered for sale in Macon — viz:
The sale of these would promote my interests in Some small degree.W. G. S.
Mrs. S. L. Griffin
Letter 5
My Dear Madame,
Do send your work to "James Lawson, Esq, New York, ["][46] and credit him with his subscription for one year, which amt. you will please charge to me. Mr. Lawson, by the way, is a Gentleman of Letters who writes both prose & verse with ability, and you would find him a valuable acquisition could you Secure his assistance. He writes for the Knickerbocker & the South. Lit Messenger, and was the author of the Biography of Bryant.[47] I reviewed his writings in the latter work sometime last year.[48] May I hope to hear from Mr. G. shortly on the subjects of my last letter. I should like to treat with him for an Edition of 1500 Copies of a School History of Georgia. On the first Novem. my address will be "Midway, Barnwell District, South Carolina.—" I send you a vol. of Poems in a bundle which Hart puts up for you today.
W. G. Simms
Mrs. S. L. Griffin.
Letter 6
Mrs. S. L. Griffin My Dear Madam.
You see by this I have changed my abode for the Season. Jack Frost gives us carte blanche (almost literally) and we are once more among the "woods and braes of bonny" Edisto. Perhaps, this change has Somewhat delayed the progress of your proofsheet; the first part of which only reached me last evening. I have corrected it and return it by this day's mail. You refer to Some portions of your last which I left unanswered. The omission was surely accidental. Indisposition & the singular pressure of my literary
Yr obt Sevt.
W. G. Simms
Letter 7
Mr. B. F. Griffin, Sir
My suggestion on the subject of my History of South Carolina[51] was in anticipation of a new stereotype Edition of that work which I am about to prepare. Since writing to you on the subject I have opened a Sort of treaty with Mr. Hart, Book Seller of Charleston, who, being in the city, in the way of trade, appears better calculated than myself to attend to the publication of Such a work. I have requested him to treat with You on the Subject. — I have ordered that a certain small supply of copies of Carl Werner, Southern Passages, Atalantis, and the Defense of Slavery,[52] should be sent to you on Sale. The remaining copies are few, and I have counselled them not to burden your shelves unnecessarily. Please advise me what number of these works you may receive. — We very much want a Southern Publishing House in our country, and a Publisher of any courage & tact must do well. Our public ought to be provided with Educational books at home, which Should do justice to the fame of our people, and conserve the character of our Institutions. They are, I think, just becoming aware of
W. G. Simms
Letter 8
My dear Sir.
In making out my account and drawing upon you, I entirely forgot to give you credit for the subscription of Mr. Lawson[60] (not Hall) of New York. But I will send an article to Mrs. Griffin which will Square our obligations.[61] I deducted one half of the difference of exchanges, however, as amounting to something like Six dollars. I had directed an exchange with the Companion before receiving your letter, and by this time, I suppose that Mrs. G. must be in receipt of the July number of the Magnolia. A notice of her School Books was prepared but excluded from our July number by the press of matter which had been lying some time on hand. I am in hopes that Mr. Binger will treat with you for the Companion. Say to Mrs. G. that I should really be well pleased to have her a <resident> of Charleston. I do not see that the injustice of her contemporaries is any evil, since it will have the effect of Stimulating her exertion to disprove their disaparagements, and babble their hostility.[62] If wrong indues her with the proper strength and courage it will prove a blessing rather than an injury. As for the Knickerbocker & some of its kindred works, as I happen to know them well, I know how to despise Them. I am glad that Mrs. G. is sufficiently bold to see, the truth, even through that thick veil of Veneration, which, in the South, our people are too apt to cast over the real character of what is distant. Here we venerate any thing that is not known. By a joint & corresponding action, we may soon strip these miserable Jays of their borrowed plumage. —
On the subject of the work "Beauchampe"[63] I should much prefer just now to say nothing. It and its Companions are imputed to me, and in such cases I neither deny nor admit. It will give me no sort of concern
Your obt. servant
W G Simms
Mr. B. F. Griffin
Notes
See William Stanley Hoole, "William Gilmore Simms's Career as Editor," Georgia Historical Quarterly, XIX (1936), 47-54; also articles by John C. Guilds, Jr., based on his Ph.D. dissertation, "William Gilmore Simms as Magazine Editor: 1825-1845: With Special Reference to His Contributions" (1954): "Simms's First Magazine: The Album," Studies in Bibliography VIII (1956), 169-183; "William Gilmore Simms and the Cosmopolitan," Georgia Historical Quarterly, XLI (1957), 31-41; "William Gilmore Simms and the Southern Literary Gazette," Studies in Bibliography XXI (1968), 59-92; and "The 'Lost Number' of the Southern Literary Gazette," Studies in Bibliography XXII (1969), 266-273. We wish to acknowledge the research assistance of Mr. Stephen Drinkard and to thank the Research Council of the UCLA Academic Senate for a grant which supported this study. We wish especially to thank Mrs. Mary C. Simms Oliphant, who graciously granted permission to publish the eight previously unpublished Simms letters presented here.
The first in a series of letters published in the Magnolia, III (1841), 1-6; 69-74; 189-190. The letters may also be found in The Letters of William Gilmore Simms, ed., Mary C. Simms Oliphant, A. T. Odell, and T. C. Duncan Eaves (1952-56), I, 196-208, 215-228, 236-240. Hereafter cited as Letters.
A History of American Magazines, 1741-1850 (1930), pp. 341-342. Mott quotes the New-York Mirror as giving the average life of periodicals in 1828 as six months. Although Mott feels this estimate is too low, his own figure of two years is also clearly a guess.
An extensive letter collection of the Griffins was preserved by descendants and is presently being studied for the first time. Some seventy of the letters are chiefly of biographical and historical interest; approximately eighty pertain directly to the Companion. The letters in the latter group originated from the following named persons (with the number of letters indicated after each name): William Cullen Bryant, 1; William Alexander Carruthers, 3; Robert M. Charlton, 2; George Washington Crawford, 1; Emma C. Embury, 2; Rufus Dawes, 1; Caroline Howard Gilman, 1; Hannah Flagg Gould, 1; Charles Julius Hadermann, 1; James Edward Henry, 2; Caroline Lee Hentz, 3; George Frederick Holmes, 1; William G. Howard, 3; James Lawson, 1; Mary Elizabeth Lee, 6; [T? L?] Locke, 1; Maria J. McIntosh, 1; John Newland Maffitt, 1; Brantz Meyer, 1; Grenville Mellen, 1; Maria G. Milward, 3; John Neal, 16; Caroline F. Orne, 2; Frances S. Osgood, 3; George Washington Patten, 2; Albert Pike, 1; Sergeant Smith Prentiss, 1; William S. Rockwell, 1; William Sanders, 1; Frederick William Sheldon, 1; Elizabeth Oakes Prince Smith, 1; Anne Sophia Stephens, 1; Henry Theodore Tuckerman, 1; E. G. Walker, 1; Hardy Vickers Wooten, 2. Many of these are letters declining to contribute, but there are also instances where several letters were exchanged. Most notable are the 16 lengthy letters from John Neal, which are being prepared for separate publication.
Early Georgia Magazines, p. 68. Flanders also compares the Companion favorably with one of the most popular periodicals of the time: "The reading matter of the periodical is not inferior to the etchings, which compare favorably with those in Godey's" (p. 63).
Besides the general tone which indicates that the first number of the Companion had not yet appeared, this letter is dated by Simms's references to (1) a notice in the Charleston Courier (see note 10, below), (2) his story, "Oakatibbe" (which appeared in the November and December, 1841, issues), (3) his sonnets (one of which appeared in the October, 1841, issue), and (4) the matter of the plate (see note 11, below).
The review of the March, 1841, issue of The Ladies' Companion included the following praise of Simms's The Kinsman: "Mr. Simms already stands so high in the estimation of the reading public, that any commendation of ours is almost nugatory, yet we cannot refrain from expressing our conviction that the Kinsman is, in many respects, superior to his preceding productions. So full is it of thrilling incidents, and powerful character, it is difficult to select any one particular part for especial praise[;] we will venture, however, to say that the combat of the brothers is compeer to that of Rhoderic Dhu and Fitzjames, in the Lady of the Lake, while many other descriptions and situations are equal to those of any of our best living writers of fiction." (Charleston Courier, XXXIX [March 30, 1841], 2).
The Editorial Department for October, 1841, explains the matter: "Our plate for this number is not what we intended it should be. The volume and page of the Partisan was designated from which the artist was to make the sketch, but from some inadvertance, the wrong volume was taken, which changed the entire character of the plate. "We now have two beautiful sketches in the hands of the engravers, which will be ready in due season for the subsequent numbers" (I, 64). Apparently the sketch in question was prepared for the anticipated spring, 1841, publication of the first issue.
One of these was published in the first number of the Companion (I, [1841], 9). All eight, including a repetition of No. I, were later printed in a group under the caption "Heart Fancies: A Series of Sonnets" (I [1842], 200-201).
Probably Confession: or, The Blind Heart; A Domestic Story (1841) and Beauchampe, or The Kentucky Tragedy; A Tale of Passion (1842).
"Oakatibbe; or The Choctaw Sampson" was originally written for the Magnolia under the title of "Slim Sampson" (See Letters, I, 233-234), but was published instead by the Companion in two parts, the first in the November (I, 76-82) and the second in the December, 1841, issue (I, 163-169). An earlier version of the story entitled "Indian Sketch" was published in the Southern Literary Gazette, I (1828), 142-149.
In her Editorial Department for the November, 1841, issue, Mrs. Griffin borrowed this statement about the story from Simms's letter and used it as a justification for the inclusion of the story in the Companion (I, 128).
John Neal (1793-1876) and Benjamin Griffin were both residents of Portland, Maine, and may have had mutual friends and overlapping interests in publishing enterprises. They probably did not know each other personally, as Griffin was younger and grew up and left the state while Neal was in Charleston and London. During the years after Neal returned to Portland, the Griffins lived in the South. Mrs. Griffin probably contacted him when she sent prospectuses to other writers, but details are unknown. The sixteen Neal letters in the Griffin Papers are lengthy and rich in advice on many facets of editing. Though his irascible nature led him into controversies with many of his peers, Neal was uniformly eager to help beginners — especially crusaders. He thought establishing a first-rate Southern periodical would be an admirable but difficult endeavor. He was also an ardent feminist and wished Mrs. Griffin to succeed as an editress. Neal was one of the most frequent contributors to the Companion.
Dated by Simms's reference to receiving the first number of the Companion, which was dated October, 1841, but of which Simms undoubtedly received an advance copy.
Richard Henry Wilde (1789-1847) was known as much for his political career (five terms as a Congressman from Georgia) as for his literary achievements. He was an Italian scholar and poet and is best remembered for his "My Life is Like the Summer Rose," which was set to music by Sidney Lanier and others. The poem to which Simms refers here is "Lines Written for Viscountess _____'s Album" (I, 34).
George Frederick Holmes (1820-1897) was a Southern educator, author, and scholar. Besides writing for periodicals, he published numerous textbooks. He became professor of ancient languages at the University of Richmond, professor of history and political economics at William and Mary, and was the first president of the University of Mississippi. The article to which Simms refers is "Outlines of an Essay, on the Causes which Contributed to Produce the Peculiar Excellence of Ancient Literature" (I, 56-59). The article continued in the following issue (I [1841], 112-120). Apparently Simms's criticism of the notes caused Mrs. Griffin to omit them in the November issue, for in the Editorial Department for the month she says, "We may as well add that the essay was accompanied with a vast number of Notes, which displayed the extensive and critical reading of the author, but which we were obliged to omit" (I, 128).
"Education" by Professor J. Darby. (I, 51-55) Two additional articles by Darby appeared in subsequent issues: "Early Instruction" (I [1841], 121-123) and "Elementary Instruction" (I [1841], 186-188). In the Editorial Department for October, 1841, under the subject "Georgia Female College," Darby is listed as "Prof. of Chemistry and Philosophy" (I, 64).
An evidence of the Magnolia's want of variety is seen in the fact that two pieces of Simms's ("Logoodie" and "The Prayer of the Lyre") appeared in the Magnolia in 1836, 1839, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, and 1846 (See Letters, I, 66, note 2).
Sarah L. Griffin and M. M. Mason, Southern Primary Reader, Southern Second Class Reader, Southern Third Class Reader, Southern Fourth Class Reader (n.d.). Simms gave a favorable review of these books in the Magnolia, n.s. I (1842), 126.
According to Alexander S. Salley, it was about this time that "a species of guerilla warfare was begun between the Knickerbocker and the Mirror on one hand and Simms on the other. Cornelius Matthews, Evert Duyckinck, and Edgar Allan Poe were at times involved in the quarrel, the background of which is not entirely clear" (Letters, I, lxxiv). Part of the trouble with the Knickerbocker, according to Parks, arose when Simms "began demanding pay for his contributions to the magazine" (Simms as Critic, p. 94). It also had something to do with Simms's longtime quarrel with Willis Clark, editor of the Knickerbocker, over sectional literature. (See Letters, I, note 73, p. 320, 322, and the sketch on Clark and his brother, I, xcviii-xcvix.) Mrs. Griffin became involved in the discussion, as well. See "The Knickerbocker and Southern Periodicals" in Companion, I (1842), 820.
"Poetry of the Bible" by Rev. Thomas Curtis began in the first number of the Companion (I [1841], 27) and continued in subsequent numbers of Vols. I, II, and III.
"The Ins and Outs, or the Last of the Bamboozled — By a Disappointed Man" (I [1841], 13-23) was written by John Neal.
Dated by the postmark and by the reference to the Charleston Courier "of this day." The notice of the Companion for September 29, 1841, in the Courier (XXXIX, 2) was an enthusiastic review of the first number. The review concludes, "From the specimen before us we are certain that this work will deserve, and we hope it will command success." Also dated by Simms's reference to his "new work" which was shortly to be published. This is probably a reference to The Confession, the only work of Simms published in 1841 besides The Kinsman, which was published in February or March. In a letter to James Lawson dated September 10, 1841, Simms says, "In a short time, I suppose, you will see a new work of mine, told in the first person, called 'Confession or the Blind Heart'" (Letters, I, 278).
James Edward Henry (1796-1850) of Spartanburg, South Carolina, was the author of "Tales of the Packolette," which was published in the Magnolia. Like Simms, Henry served in the South Carolina House of Representatives. (See Letters, II, 344.)
The Simmons brothers, William Hayne (1784-1870) and James Wright (c. 1790-1858) were close friends of Simms's. William contributed frequently to the Southern Quarterly Review under Simms's editorship, and James was associated with Simms in editing and publishing the Southern Literary Gazette. (See sketches in Letters, I, cxxxvii.) William Simmons was the author of The History of the Seminoles to which Simms refers in this letter.
The History of South Carolina from Its First European Discovery to Its Erection into a Republic: with a Supplementary Chronicle of Events to the Present Time (1840).
Simms later decided against doing a history of Georgia. See letter dated November 3, 1841, to B. F. Griffin, below.
Carl Werner: an Imaginative Story; with Other Tales of Imagination, 2 vols. (1838); Southern Passages and Pictures (1839); Atalantis, A Story of the Sea: In Three Parts (1832).
Dated by the reference to Simms's offering his works to Benjamin F. Griffin for publication. See letter dated September 28, 1841.
James Lawson (1799-1880) was probably Simms's closest friend and the person with whom he most frequently corresponded. Lawson was born in Scotland and came to America at the age of sixteen. He was a poet, writer of romance and fiction, and playwright as well as a newspaper editor.
Lawson's "Moral and Mental Portraits: William Cullen Bryant," Southern Literary Messenger, VI (1840), 106-114.
Dated by the reference in the following letter of the same date to Benjamin F. Griffin regarding the publication of Simms's History of South Carolina which Simms had inquired about in his letter of September 28, 1841.
See note 49, above. This letter and the letter to Mrs. Griffin dated November 3, 1841, were written on the same sheet of paper.
"The Defense of Slavery" is probably a reference to Simms's review of Harriet Martineau's Society in America, which appeared in the Southern Literary Messenger (III [1837], 641-657), under the title "Miss Martineau on Slavery" and was later reprinted in pamphlet form under the title Slavery in America, Being a Brief Review of Miss Martineau on that Subject (1838).
The "Parley Books" were a series of popular books beginning with The Tales of Peter Parley About America (1827) by "Peter Parley" (pseudonym for Samuel Griswold Goodrich [1793-1860]), which were rather syrupy, innocuous books of moral instruction and literature.
Israel Keech Tefft (1794-1862), a close friend of Simms, in whose Savannah home many of the literary figures of the day gathered. (See Letters, I, cxxxix.)
Jarend Sparks (1789-1866), editor, historian, and noted biographer of figures of the American Revolution.
Simms carried out the three projects he lists here, although they were not published by the Griffins: The Life of Francis Marion (1844); a biographical sketch of General Thomas Sumter appeared, along with other biographical sketches written by Simms, in Rufus W. Griswold's Washington and the Generals of the American Revolution, 2 vols. (1847); The Life of Nathanael Greene, Major-General in the Army of the Revolution (1849). Simms wrote other biographies as well, including lives of Chevalier Bayard and Captain John Smith.
William Bacon Stevens (1815-1887) was one of the founders of the Georgia Historical Society and the author of a two-volume history of Georgia, A History of Georgia, I (1847); II (1859). Volume I was reviewed by Simms in the Southern Quarterly Review, XIII (1848), 470-501. (See Letters, I, cxxxviii.)
Dated by the reference to the Lawson subscription. See Introduction and letter dated October 14, 1841, above.
Payment for the Lawson subscription apparently was not settled in accordance with this promise. Considerable heat was generated over the matter, though the amount was trivial. See Letters, I, 322, 371-372, and 374-375.
This is probably a reference to the controversy with William Tappan Thompson. See the Introduction.
Beauchampe, or the Kentucky Tragedy (1842). The "companions" to which Simms refers are Richard Hurdis; or, the Avenger of Blood: A Tale of Alabama, 2 vols. (1838) and Border Beagles: A Tale of Mississippi, 2 vols. (1840). In a letter to Benjamin F. Perry, dated July 14, 1842, Simms explains the reason for his anonymous authorship: "The particular purpose with which the anonymous was adopted in respect to these books, has been answered. This was, in part, the bedevilment of the small tribe of underlying critics, who are sagacious enough to detect a man's style in his sneeze, and his talent in a whisper. You perhaps are not aware that in my birthplace even to this day, nothing is more common than to contrast the works of the author of Beauchampe, Rd. Hurdis &c, with my own greatly to my disparagement." (Letters, I, 316)
Mrs. Griffin's review of Thomas Campbell's (1777-1844) "The Pilgrim of Glencoe" in the May, 1842, Companion (II, 120-123).
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