Mary Elizabeth Wilson Sherwood

Mary Elizabeth Wilson Sherwood (pen name, M. E. W. S., M.E.W. Sherwood, Mrs. John Sherwood; October 27, 1826 - September 12, 1903) was an American author and socialite.[1] She wrote short stories, poetry, several books, and etiquette manuals, in addition to contributing to many magazines and translating poems from European languages. Among her writings are The Sarcasm of Destiny, A Transplanted Rose, Manners and Social Usages, Sweet Briar, and Roxobel. [2] Better known as Mrs. John Sherwood, some of her literary works were published as "M.E.W.S." or "M.E.W. Sherwood".[3]

Mary Elizabeth Wilson Sherwood
Mary Elizabeth Wilson Sherwood, "A woman of the century"
Born
Mary Elizabeth Wilson

(1826-10-27)October 27, 1826
Keene, New Hampshire
DiedAugust 12, 1903(1903-08-12) (aged 76)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationAuthor
Spouse(s)John Sherwood

Sherwood gave readings in parlors for charitable objects, making selections from her own works, and made eight trips to Europe. [4] She was decorated with the insignia of Officier d'Academie.

Early years and education

Mary Elizabeth (nickname, "Lizzie") Wilson was born in Keene, New Hampshire, October 27, 1826.[5][1][lower-alpha 1] She was the eldest daughter of Gen. James (1797-1881; a member of Congress from New Hampshire) and Mary Low (Richardson) Wilson, granddaughter of James (1757-1839; a representative from Keene, N.H., in the 11th congress, 1809–11) and Elizabeth (Steele) Wilson, great-granddaughter of Robert and Mary (Hodge) Wilson, and great-great-granddaughter of William Wilson of Scotch ancestry, who came with his family from the north of Ireland to New Hampshire.[4] Sherwood had three younger brothers and three younger sisters.[5]

When her father was in Congress, the family lived in Washington, D.C.. Soon alter his election, Sherwood's mother died, leaving Sherwood the responsibility of taking care of the large family. She was intelligent, received a thorough education,[8] and was acquainted with George Bancroft, John Lothrop Motley, William Cullen Bryant, William H. Prescott, and others. Her first literary work, at the age of seventeen, was an essay on the "Novel of Jane Eyre" sent to the New-York Tribune in 1848, which attracted much friendly criticism.[4][9]

Career

In 1854, while living in Washington, D.C., she married John Sherwood,[9] a lawyer of New York City, who died in 1894.[4] Their family consisted of four sons. James Wilson Sherwood died in infancy. John Philip Sherwood died at the age of 24.[10] Samuel Sherwood became an artist. Arthur Murray Sherwood, the broker, was the father of Robert E. Sherwood, playwright, editor, and screenwriter.[9]

Sherwood's literary work included correspondence with eminent men and women abroad, and many contributions to the Atlantic Monthly, Harper's Bazaar,[11] Scribner's Magazine, Appletons' Journal, the Galaxy, the New-York Tribune, The New York Times, the New York World, and Frank Leslie's Weekly. For years, she was a correspondent for the Boston Traveller. Her work in journals, from Maine to Oregon, would fill many volumes. Among her published books were The Sarcasm of Destiny (New York, 1877); Home Amusements (1881); Amenities of Home (1881); A Transplanted Rose (1882); Manners and Social Usages (1884); Royal Girls and Royal Courts (Boston, 1887); and Sweet Brier (Boston, 1889). She wrote many poems, to which she signed the initials, "M. E. W. S.", and translated some poems from European languages. She contributed some 300 short stories to various magazines and newspapers,[4] many of which appeared anonymously.[9]

For years, Sherwood traveled extensively in Europe. There, she formed the acquaintance of Queen Victoria, and had three interviews with Margherita of Savoy, the Queen of Italy. Among her many testimonials of recognition abroad, she was decorated with the insignia of Officier d'Academie, an honor conferred by the French Minister of Public Instruction on persons who distinguished themselves in literary pursuits. It is said to be the first time this decoration was conferred upon an American woman.[9]

In 1883, the Sherwoods experienced financial losses which forced them to sell their home and furnishings in New York City.[12] In 1885, Sherwood gave readings in her home in aid of the Mount Vernon Fund, and they became so popular, that she continued them for several years, giving the proceeds to charity, realizing over US$10,000 in that way. Her readings comprised essays on travel, literature and history. Sherwood was the president of the "Causeries", a literary club composed of women distinguished in New York society. In Sherwood's parlors hung the original drawings and paintings of her two artist sons. One was by Samuel, of his brother Philip, taken just before Philip's death; several were by Philip. In his name, Sherwood contributed to the funds of the Home for the Destitute Blind, the St. Joseph's Hospital, the Kindergarten for the Blind, the Woman's Exchange, the New York Diet Kitchen, the Manhattan Hospital and Dispensary, the Home of St. Elizabeth and various other schemes to care for children. She also contributed to many institutions known to only her friends, who confided to her sufferings not made public, and especially for women in need and for young women who were striving to fit themselves for a profession by which they could earn a living. She did much to advance literature and science in New York City, being active in benevolent and literary ways.[9]

Sherwood died suddenly at the Hotel Majestic, in New York City, September 12, 1903.[5][2][3]

Selected works
  • Metropolitan Fair, for the U.S. Sanitary Commission : Receiving depot, 2 Great Jones Street, New York, [blank] 1864. A great exhibition called the Metropolitan Fair, will be opened in the city of New York, March 28th, 1864. The proceeds of the sales to be for the benefit of the Sanitary Commission. ... (1864)
  • The Sarcasm of Destiny or, Nina's experience (New York, 1877)
  • Home Amusements (1881)
  • Amenities of Home (1881)
  • A Transplanted Rose : a story of New York society (1882)
  • Manners and Social Usages (1884)
  • Royal Girls and Royal Courts (Boston, 1887)
  • Sweet Brier (Boston, 1889)
  • Poems (1892)
  • Washington before the war (1894)
  • Joseph Smith and the Mormons ... (1897)
  • An epistle to posterity (1897)
  • Here & there & everywhere : reminiscences (1898)
  • New York in the seventies (1898)
  • Etiquette, the American code of manners : a study of the usages, laws, and observances which govern intercourse in the best circles of American society
  • The Art of Entertaining

Notes
  1. According to Aldrich (1991) and Fletcher & Bowker (1904), Sherwood was born in 1830.[6][7]
gollark: So, say, OLEDs, capacitative touchscreens (okay, I'm not sure how old those are), much faster RAM and new RAM technologies, laptops which you can actually carry, and transistors at the scale of tens of nanometres are not "new technologies"?
gollark: Laptops now are very different to ye olden laptops, touchscreens... are generally better now, I guess, LCDs can go to crazy resolutions and refresh rates and are being replaced by OLEDs in some areas, "microprocessors" is so broad and ignores the huge amount of advancement there.
gollark: I mean, yes, we have those still, but they're very broad categories.
gollark: What "20-30 year old technology"?
gollark: M.2 is just a form factor, M.2 SSDs can use SATA or NVMe, NVMe is a newer PCIe-based protocol for SSDs which is faster but not really that significant for everyday use, you can use your existing SSD if your thing supports it.

References

Citations
  1. "Sherwood, Mary Elizabeth Wilson (1826-1903), socialite and writer". American National Biography. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1601498. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  2. Warner, Cunliffe & Thorndike 1917, p. 577.
  3. Leypoldt 1903, p. 455.
  4. Johnson & Brown 1904, p. 368.
  5. James, James & Boyer 1971, p. 284.
  6. Aldrich 1991, p. 206.
  7. Fletcher & Bowker 1904, p. 269.
  8. Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 653.
  9. Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 654.
  10. Alonso 2007, p. 12.
  11. "M.E.W. (Mary Elizabeth Wilson) Sherwood". Harper's Magazine. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  12. Carson 2003, p. 158.

Attribution

Bibliography
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