As I research through hundreds of pages of documents, newspapers and other sources, I often come across unrelated bits of information that catch my eye. These stories are often sad or even tragic, though many are amusing, endearing or just somehow connect with me.
Such was the case today, when a tiny news blurb from 7 March 1908 scrolled past. I currently live in Roswell, Georgia, and we are proud that President Teddy Roosevelt’s mother lived here in a stately home known as Bulloch Hall, now preserved and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Now I know this is a tiny tidbit of history. A small thing about a mostly-forgotten book by a now obscure author. And yet, there’s a real human story here. A fun tidbit.
Here’s what the little news article related:
This is a bit of insight into Mr. Harben’s life. I have not read the book and I’m not familiar with him beyond his Wikipedia entry.
His father was a southern abolitionist and that the family had to flee to the North after helping the Union cause. Will was a merchant from a wealthy family. While he wrote in several genres, it seems his biggest successes were books about North Georgia and its culture.
However the decision was made to use Bulloch Hall as the model, and the eventual book cover illustration with added columns, the homage to Georgia culture seemed show a fondness and appreciation for the complexities of the South.
The New York Times titled a Dec 1907 article:
Noted Novelist Corrects Misconceptions of the South; In His Last Novel, “Mam’ Linda,” Will N. Harben Contends that Lawless Punishment of the Negro No More Represents Southern Sentiment Than Black Hand Crimes Typify the North.
While I think his book would likely spark heated debates even today, the review shows that he was a thoughtful author with good intentions. I’m not here to defend or condemn his ideas or writing, though I do note the obvious that Bulloch Hall is still here and our society’s race problems still exist in a complex culture. History is never just the “past.” It is also “passed” on to us.
An amusing snippet of trivia. A small discovery of family.
Cover photo by SimonATL