Mary Lyons Mayo Crenshaw (August 5, 1875 - November 6, 1951) was an American author and civil servant who edited the book ''An American lady in Paris'', a travel journal about her great-grandmother Abigail Dehart Mayo's journey to Paris in 1828.

Life and work

She was born in 1875 to William Carrington Mayo and Margaretta Ellen Wise Mayo, the granddaughter of Virginia Governor

Henry Alexander Wise Henry Alexander Wise (December 3, 1806 – September 12, 1876) was an American attorney, diplomat, politician and slave owner from Virginia. As the 33rd Governor of Virginia, Wise served as a significant figure on the path to the American Civil W ...

. She lived in Washington D. C. She was married to Richard Parker Crenshaw, a mining engineer, on October 16, 1902, and the couple moved to Cuba in 1904 where he worked in the Camoa quarry. The family lived in Havana until returning to the United States in 1914. They had two children Richard Parker (1902) and Ellen Wise (1906). Upon their return to America, the Crenshaws worked at the Bureau of War Risk where Mary founded the translations section. She was the member of many heritage societies including the Daughters of the Cincinnati, Daughters of Holland Dames, Colonial Lords of Manors in America, and the

National Society of Colonial Dames The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America is an American organization composed of women who are descended from an ancestor "who came to reside in an American Colony before 1776, and whose services were rendered during the Colonial Pe ...

. She was also one of the founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution's Havana Chapter in 1907. Richard Crenshaw died in 1929. Mary Crenshaw died in 1951. She is buried with her husband in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Writing

Prior to her marriage Crenshaw was known as a writer of magazine articles and an expert on historic Southern homes. She continued writing during and after her marriage. She wrote for ''St. Nicholas Magazine'', ''Mentor Magazine'', ''Arts & Decoration'', ''Antiques'', and ''Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine''. In 1927 she published ''An American Lady in Paris, 1828-1829 Diary of Mrs. John Mayo'' which she edited. The book came out 99 years after her great-grandmother's travels and was published by Houghton-Mifflin. While the book's title says it is a diary, the notes are undated and the book itself is more of a travelogue. ''The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography'' said "Mrs. Crenshaw's editing is very well done."

References

External links

An American lady in Paris, 1828-1829; the diary of Mrs. John Mayo
edited by Mary Mayo Crenshaw (1927) at Hathi Trust {{DEFAULTSORT:Crenshaw, Mary Mayo 1875 births 1951 deaths American writers American women writers Writers from Washington, D.C. Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)