Kate Brownlee Sherwood
Kate Brownlee Sherwood (née , Brownlee; September 24, 1841 – February 15, 1914) was an American poet, journalist, translator and story writer of the long nineteenth century, as well as a philanthropist, and patron of the arts and literature.[1] Sherwood was also the founder of the Woman's Relief Corps and served as its second president.[2]
Kate Brownlee Sherwood | |
|---|---|
| Born | Katharine Margaret Brownlee September 24, 1841/September 25, 1841 (disputed) Mahoning County, Ohio or Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania (disputed) |
| Died | February 15, 1914 (aged 72) Washington, D.C. |
| Occupation | Poet, journalist, and translator |
| Education | Poland Union Seminary |
| Spouse | Isaac R. Sherwood |
| Signature | |
After marriage, she entered into her husband's journalistic work, where she learned to typeset, proofread, and manage all the details pertaining to the work in order to assist him. She contributed to various magazines and periodicals, and from 1883, was an editor of the Woman's Department of the National Tribune at Washington, D.C., a paper devoted to the interest of soldiers.[3]
She is best known as the author of army lyrics and poems written for the celebration of military occasions.[2] She was the author of: Camp-Fire and Memorial Poems (1885); Dreams of the Ages; a Poem of Columbia (1893); The Memorial of the Flowers (1888), and Guarding the Flags (1890).[4] Sherwood's memorial poem, Albert Sidney Johnston, was written at the invitation of the Executive Committee for the Unveiling Ceremonies of the General Albert Sidney Johnston Equestrian Statue, held under the auspices of the Army of the Tennessee Louisiana Division (Ex-Confederate) at New Orleans.[citation needed] Helen Louisa Bostwick Bird and Alice Williams Brotherton were contemporary poets from Ohio.[5]
Early life and education
Sherwood was born Katharine Margaret Brownlee in either Mahoning County, Ohio or Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania on either September 24, 1841 or September 25, 1841.[4][6] She was of Scotch descent. Her ancestors were Revolutionary patriots. Her father was a classical scholar, and both parents were fond of song and poetry. One of the earliest recollections of the child is hearing them recount the ballads and lyrics of Scottish romance and adventure, which impressed upon her mind and cultivated her tastes for that style of poetry.[3]
She was a daughter of Judge James and Rebecca (née Mullin) Brownlee of Poland, Ohio; granddaughter of Alexander and Margaret (née Smith) Brownlee and of George and Katharine (née Hammer) Mullin and a descendant of James and Margaret (née Craig) Brownlee, who came to America in 1800.[citation needed] James Brownlee Sr. was the Laird of Torfoot, in the parish of Avondale, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and his grandson, James, was successor, by inheritance; but he chose America and emigrated from Scotland to the United States in 1828, and settled in Trumbull County, Ohio, and became associate judge of the third judicial district of which it was a part.[4] She was educated in Poland Union Seminary.[6]
At twelve, she was sent to school at Poland, Pennsylvania, and afterwards to a Presbyterian academy.[3]
Career
Writer
She met Isaac R. Sherwood, an editor of Bryan, Ohio, while he was a student at the Ohio Law College.[3] On September 1, 1859,[7] at the age of 18,[8] they married Isaac R. Sherwood. Later, he became a General, Secretary of state and Congressman from Ohio. The general was the editor of the Canton, Ohio Daily News-Democrat, and attracted to journalism, she learned everything in the line of newspaper work from typesetting to leader-writing. While the husband was in Congress, Sherman served as Washington correspondent for Ohio journals.[6] In 1883, General Sherwood became the sole proprietor of the Toledo Journal]]; Kate Sherwood assisted in the editorial management of the paper, until 1886, when Condict C. Packard and E. J. Tippett purchased the establishment.[9] For 10 years, she edited the woman's department of the soldier organ, the National Tribune of Washington D.C. Her career as a journalist and society woman was varied and busy. She was one of the first members of the Washington Literary Club, and the Sorosis of New York City; she also served as vice-president for Ohio in the first call for a national congress of women.[6]
In the spring of 1885, she published "Camp Fire and Memorial Poems," a volume of recitations for Grand Army camp fires, which was widely read, and some of the poems were translated into German;[8] it passed through several editions.[6] She was the chosen singer for many national celebrations, including army reunions, and in 1887, was the only northern poet ever invited by ex-Confederates to celebrate the heroism of a southern soldier. The broad, liberal and delicate manner in which she responded to that significant honor in her poem at the unveiling of the equestrian statue of Albert Sidney Johnston, in New Orleans, Louisiana, elicited praise.[6] "Mission Ridge" was an account of the bravery and death of a drummer boy. "A Soldier's Retrospect" reminisced after the Civil War. "The Men who Wore the Shield" was a spirited patriotic address.[10] "The Drummer Boy of Mission Ridge" was an account of the bravery and death of a drummer boy.[11] Having studied French and German, Sherwood's translations of Heinrich Heine, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Friedrich von Bodenstedt were widely copied.[6]
Albert Sidney Johnston was a memorial poem, written by Sherwood at the invitation of the Executive Committee for the Unveiling Ceremonies of the General Albert Sidney Johnston Equestrian Statue, held under the auspices of the Army of the Tennessee, Louisiana Division (Ex-Confederate) at New Orleans, April 6, 1887, 25th Anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh and of General Johnston's death. Sherwood received the following letter:[12]
At the unveiling of the equestrian statue to General Albert Sidney Johnston, April 6, 1887, in the city of New Orleans, on the memorial day of the association of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, your poem, sent us from your Northern home, a graceful tribute to him and our heroic dead, was read to an appreciative and admiring throng. In grateful response, the Association returns, with its greeting, its accompanying badge. The center bears the Confederate Cross, and the Pelican is of metal taken from a rivet of the statue itself. As "Peace hath her victories no less than War", we join heart with hand in reciprocating the cordial and fraternal sentiments set in those sweet and stirring strains, in which a woman's true soul, giving all honor to the knightly men and the gallant deeds on either side, in that "Great war that made ambition virtue", commemorates in charming numbers our day of reunion when veterans of the Blue and the Gray met. "But not as rivals, nor as foes, as brothers reconciled. To twine love's fragrant roses where the thorns of hate grew wild." We greet you in your own fitting words: "Our Country's Future. One heart, one hope, one destiny, one flag from sea to sea."
Sherwood was a fine German scholar and translated very much from that literature. Some of her poems appeared in German periodicals.[3]
Social reformer
Sherwood was the organizer of the first auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic outside of New England, and was a founder in 1883 of the national association known as the Woman's Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic. She served that order as the first National Senior Vice-President and the second National President (1884–85),[13] organized the department of relief and instituted the National Home for Army Nurses, in Geneva, Ohio.
Personal life
The couple's son, James Brownlee Sherwood, was associated with the father in the publishing business.[7] Their daughter was Lenore Sherwood.[14]
Sherwood was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church. She made her home in Canton.[6]
Kate Brownlee Sherwood died at her home in Washington, D.C., February 15, 1914, aged 72.[15]
Selected works
- nd, Washington's birthday. Program for school children ... With national songs ...
- 1878, Poem written by Kate M. Sherwood, for Forsyth Post, No. 15, G.A.R. (Decoration Day,) Thursday, May 30th, 1878
- 1884, The Great Army. Written for the Grand Encampment Camp-fire, Grand Army of the Republic, at Minneapolis, July 22nd, 1884, and delivered by Elizabeth Mansfield Irving, Toledo, Ohio
- 1885, Camp-fire, Memorial-day, and other poems
- 1887, Memorial poem
- 1890, Lucy Webb Hayes
- 1890, Tableaux of states and ritual for teaching patriotism in the public schools : issued for co-operation with the patriotic teachers of America, to inculcate the principles of patriotism in the rising generation : and dedicated to commemorate the adoption of the American flag, June 14, 1777
- 1890, The Massachusetts woman : dedicated to my first Massachusetts associates in National Relief Corps work, E. Florence Barker, Sarah E. Fuller and Lizabeth A. Turner, and to the Relief Corps of Massachusetts
- 1893, Dream of the ages : a poem of Columbia, by Kate Brownlee Sherwood ... Original drawings ... by J.E. Kelly and George W. Breck
- 1894, Circumstances, 1894
- n.d., The Guard of States
- n.d., We Keep Memorial Day
References
- ^ Moulton 1891, p. 21.
- ^ a b Stevens & Stevens 1917, p. 115.
- ^ a b c d e Rutherford 1894, p. 693.
- ^ a b c Johnson & Brown 1904, p. 368.
- ^ Bond 1943, p. 447.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 653.
- ^ a b White 1899, p. 153.
- ^ a b Crawford 1889, pp. 95–96.
- ^ Scribner 1910, p. 333.
- ^ Music Teachers National Association 1901, p. 547.
- ^ Werner 1899, p. 23.
- ^ Moulton 1891, p. 131-32.
- ^ Woman's Relief Corps (U.S.) 1914, p. 229-231.
- ^ "Kate Brownlee Sherwood (1841-1914)". Riverside Cemetery Journal. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ^ Woman's Relief Corps (U.S.) 1914, pp. 229–31.
Attribution
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Crawford, Jack (1889). The Poet Scout: A Book of Song and Story (Public domain ed.). Burr printing house.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Johnson, Rossiter; Brown, John Howard (1904). The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans ... (Public domain ed.). Biographical Society.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Moulton, Charles Wells (1891). The Magazine of Poetry (Public domain ed.). Charles Wells Moulton.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Music Teachers National Association (1901). Werner's Magazine: A Magazine of Expression. Vol. 26 (Public domain ed.). Chicago: Werner's Magazine Company.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Rutherford, Mildred Lewis (1894). American Authors: A Hand-book of American Literature from Early Colonial to Living Writers (Public domain ed.). Franklin Printing and Publishing Company.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Scribner, Harvey (1910). Memoirs of Lucas County and the City of Toledo : From the earliest hist. times down to the present, incl. a geneal. and biogr. record of representative families (Public domain ed.). Madison, Wiscconsin: Western Historical Association. ISBN 978-5-87795-998-9.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Stevens, Mrs. Ruth Frances (Davis); Stevens, David Harrison (1917). American Patriotic Prose and Verse (Public domain ed.). A.C. McClurg & Company.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Werner, Edgar S. (1899). Werner's Magazine. Vol. 23 (Public domain ed.). E.S. Werner.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: White, J. T. (1899). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time (Public domain ed.). J.T. White.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton. ISBN 9780722217139.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Woman's Relief Corps (U.S.) (1914). Journal of the ... National Convention of the Woman's Relief Corps (Public domain ed.). Griffith Stillings.
Bibliography
- Bond, Beverley Waugh (1943). The history of the state of Ohio. Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.
External links
- Works related to Woman of the Century/Kate Brownlee Sherwood at Wikisource
- Works by or about Kate Brownlee Sherwood at Internet Archive