Mary Edwards Bryan

Mary Edwards Bryan (May 18, 1846 – June 15, 1913) was an American journalist and author from the Southern United States.

Mary Edwards Bryan
Mary Edwards Bryan circa 1902
Born(1846-05-18)May 18, 1846
Lloyd, Florida[1]
DiedJune 15, 1913(1913-06-15) (aged 67)
Clarkston, Georgia[2]
OccupationWriter, editor, novelist
Spouse(s)Iredell E. Bryan (1832–1909)
Parent(s)Major John D. Edwards (1800–1883) and Louisa Crutchfield (Houghton) Edwards (1813–1891)[3]

Bryan was born in Lloyd, Florida in 1846 to Major John D. Edwards, a plantation owner, and Louisa Crutchfield (Houghton) Edwards.[3] On January 10, 1854, age 15,[4] she eloped and was married to Iredell E. Bryan.[3] Prior to 1858, she had already had poems and a story published by a small newspaper, and by 1859 became literary editor of the Georgia Literary and Temperance Crusader, where she stayed for about a year.[3][5][6]

After moving to Clarkston, Georgia in 1874 she joined on with the Sunny South as an associate editor and began to publish a number of novels. Manch (1880) and Wild Work (1881) were popular releases.[3]

In 1885, she accepted an editorial position with George Munro in New York City, as associate editor for Fireside Companion and Fashion Bazaar.[3] In 1891, it was reported that she was the "best paid woman editor in New York, her salary being $10,000 a year."[7] A contemporary account placed her as one of the top women writers of Georgia, along with Emily Verdery Battey.[8]

She returned to Georgia around 1895, returned to the Sunny South, and continued to edit and write until her death in 1913.[3][5] She wrote at least 20 novels in all.[9]

Bryan was buried in Indian Creek cemetery in Clarkston next to her husband.[3]

References
  1. McCarthy, Kevin M. The Book lover's guide to Florida, p.390-91 (1992) (ISBN 978-1561640126)
  2. Bryan, Mary Edwards, American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present (January 2000)
  3. James, Edward T. et al., eds. Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 264-65 (1971)(ISBN 978-0674627345)
  4. Mahoney, Caroline S. Great-Grand-Mothers In Atlanta Journalism, National Magazine, Vol. XVII, No. 3, December 1902, p.386-87
  5. Rutherford, Mildred Lewis. The South in history and literature: a hand-book of southern authors, p.242-43 (1906)
  6. Davidson, James Wood. The living writers of the South, p.71-76 (1869)
  7. (January 2, 1891) Bright Women These, The Day, Retrieved November 11, 2010
  8. "Southern Literary Women". Peterson's Magazine, vol. 106 (January–June 1895), p. 1176.
  9. Louisiana: a guide to the State, p.183 (1945)
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