Mary Ross Banks (, Ross; after first marriage, Bowdre; after second marriage, Banks; March 4, 1846 – September 15, 1910) was an American litterateur and author of the
long nineteenth century
The ''long nineteenth century'' is a term for the 125-year period beginning with the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 and ending with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It was coined by Russian writer Ilya Ehrenburg and British Marxist his ...
. Her literary fame came to her suddenly and was the result of one book, ''Bright Days on the Old Plantation'' (
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, 1882).
Early life and education
Mary Matthews Ross was born in
Macon, Georgia, March 4, 1846. On her father's side she was from Scotch ancestry. Her grandfather, Luke Ross (1775-1844), was a wealthy man for his day, and had a well-appointed home, the furniture of which was hauled in wagons from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
. He moved to
Jones County, Georgia
Jones County is a County (United States), county in the Central Georgia, central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 28,347. The county seat is Gray, Ge ...
, when Macon was a small trading port. Mrs. Banks' father, John Bennett Ross, was one of seven brothers and three sisters. The Ross brothers established themselves in trade about the year 1832, which resulted in commercial success. There were changes in the course of time, some of the brothers embarking in other kinds of business, but John B. Ross continued in the wholesale and retail dry goods and planters' supply business till he died and made so large a fortune that he was known as "the merchant prince of the South." His home was the center of entertainment, and his children were reared in luxury. Married three times, his second wife, Martha Redding, descended from the Lanes and Flewellens, and was Banks' mother. Banks had 11 siblings,
included the sisters Flora and Violet, and a brother, William Henry Ross.
[ ]
Banks was educated in
Wesleyan Female College, in Macon, and in the private school of Mrs. Theodosia Bartow Ford.
Career
In 1863, she married Edward Preston Bowdre (1839–1874) of Macon, at that time a captain in the
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
. She went to the army with her husband and served in the hospitals. At twenty-five years of age, she was a widow with three sons, including Jack Ross Bowdre and Julien Leon Bowdre, and much of the fortune that should have been hers dissipated by the hazard of
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and the scarcely less trying period of reconstruction.
In June 1875, she married Dr. John Truman Banks (1829–1880) of
Griffin, Georgia
Griffin is a city in and the county seat of Spalding County, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 23,478.
Griffin was founded in 1840 and named for landowner Col. Lewis Law ...
, a gentleman of high standing, socially and professionally, and lived with him for four years, when she was again a widow. Crushed by her grief, she went to work to help herself and her boys, though she had no training for business, and no knowledge of labor. She was a successful farmer and turned many of her talents and accomplishments into money-making. After raising her sons to the age of independence, she accepted a position in the
Department of the Interior at
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, where she has been assigned to work in the
office of the Secretary.
Her literary fame came to her suddenly and was the result of one book, ''Bright Days on the Old Plantation'' (
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, 1882). It is a narrative of life on a broad plantation in
antebellum
Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to:
United States history
* Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States
** Antebellum Georgia
** Antebellum South Carolina
** Antebellum Virginia
* Antebellum ...
days, founded on the experiences of the author.
[ ] There were also a number of sketches and short stories published in various newspapers and periodicals.
Banks was a member of the
Daughters of the American Revolution, and was named a delegate to its Continental Congress of April 1910, on behalf of the Mary Hammon Washington Chapter of Macon.
[ ]
Death
She died at
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
,
September 15, 1910 at age 64,
[ ] and was interned in
Griffin, Georgia
Griffin is a city in and the county seat of Spalding County, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 23,478.
Griffin was founded in 1840 and named for landowner Col. Lewis Law ...
.
Selected works
* ''Bright Days on the Old Plantation'', 1882
Notes
References
Attribution
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Mary Ross
1846 births
1910 deaths
19th-century American writers
19th-century American women writers
19th-century American memoirists
People from Macon, Georgia
Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Women in the American Civil War
American women memoirists
Daughters of the American Revolution people
Wesleyan College alumni
Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century