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Mary E. Ireland

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Mary E. Ireland
"A Woman of the Century"
"A Woman of the Century"
BornMary Eliza Haines
January 9, 1834
Brick Meeting House (now, Calvert), Maryland U.S.
Died1927
Pen nameMarie Norman
Occupation
  • author
  • translator
SpracheEnglisch
NationalityAmerican
SpouseJohn M. Ireland
Children3
Signature

Mary E. Ireland (pen name, Marie Norman; January 9, 1834 – 1927) was an American author, known as "the poetess of Cecil County".[1] She lived a busy life in Washington, D.C., looking upon her literary labors as a recreation. She commenced to write poetry comparatively late in life, and not until she had attained distinction as a writer of prose.[2]

Early life and education

Mary Eliza Haines[3] was born in the village of Brick Meeting House, now called Calvert, Maryland, January 9, 1834. She was a daughter of Joseph and Harriet (Kirk) Haines. Her siblings were: Charles (1826-1866), Cornelia (b. 1828), Lewis K. (1831-1835), William L. (b. 1825), and Reuben (b. 1840).[4] In the old homestead of her parents, she grew to adulthood.[5]

Ireland was educated in the ladies' seminary of Jamaica, Long Island, and had talent for music and painting.[5] Wishing to read German literature in the original, she undertook the study of German by herself, and procuring a German pronouncing reader, succeeded in learning to read and translate.[2]

Career

1913

Literary work, particularly translating from the German, was her favorite pastime. She translated from the German several books, two of which were published as serials in the Oxford Press, and the Lutheran Board of Publication published one of her translations, entitled Betty's Decision. From the same language, many short stories were translated by Ireland and included in periodicals of the era.[2] Her translations published in book form also included Red Carl (treating of the labor question), Lenchen's Brother, Platzbacker of Plauen, The Block House on the Shore, and Erna Stark.[5]

One of her first sketches was "The Defoe Family in America," published in Scribner's Magazine in 1876, which was widely copied into other periodicals.[5]

When quite young, Ireland' wrote a short story entitled "Ellen Linwood", under the nom de plume of "Marie Norman", which was published in the Cecil Whig. For the next few years, she occasionally wrote for the Cecil Whig and Oxford Press. She afterward became a contributor to Arthur's Magazine, then to Cottage Hearth, Household, and other domestic magazines, besides the Literary World, Ladies' Cabinet, Woman's Journal, and several church papers. She wrote two prize stories which took first prizes. In 1882, her short stories were collected and made into a continued story which was published by J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, under the title of Timothy, His Neighbors and His Friends. She then, by request of the Presbyterian Observer Company, of Baltimore, wrote for their paper a serial "Ivandale".[2]

Personal life

Elisha Kirk House

In 1859, she married John M. Ireland, son of Colonel Joseph Ireland, of Kent County, Maryland, with whom she has lived in her own homestead. During the period of 1867 through the mid 1880s, they lived at the Elisha Kirk House,[1] and while Mr. Ireland held the position of United States Storekeeper in the Internal Revenue Department, they lived at Baltimore before they removed to Washington, D.C. They were the parents of three children, one of whom died in infancy.[5][2]

Selected works

Translations

  • Red Carl (translated from the German of John J. Messmer; 1888)
  • Erna Stark: a story of conscience (translated from the German of Elise von Fernhain; 1892)
  • In fair Silesia (translated from the German of Gustav Nieritz; 1894)
  • The shepherd's family (translated from the German of Karl Gustav Nieritz; 1894)
  • The doctor's family; or, The story of the Erlaus (translated from the German of Elizabeth Halden; 1896)
  • Dr. Eckhart's boys (translated from the German of Emma Seifert; 1901)
  • Prince Albrecht of Brandenburg; a story of the reformation (translated from the German of Hermann Otto Nietschmann; 1907)
  • Homes in Schafhausen; stories from the seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer (translated from the Tenth Edition of the German of Pastor Nikolaus Fries; 1913)
  • Prince Frederick and the dawn of the reformation (translated from the fifth edition of the German of Richard Roth; 1913)
  • King Otto's crown (translated from the German of Richard Roth; 1917)

Books

  • What I told Dorcas : a story for mission workers (1895)
  • Thamar and the destruction of Jerusalem (19??)
  • Grandma Elliot's farmhouse : a story for girls and boys (1900)
  • Hilda's Mascot: A Tale of "Maryland, My Maryland" (1902)
  • Nan's first term : and other stories of school and adventure (1902)
  • Timothy and his friends (1902)
  • Otterbrook's blessing : a delightful story gleaned from a girl's diary (1902)
  • The young patriot ; and, the table prayer (1903)
  • Otterbrook parsonage (1904)
  • The young violinist (illustrated by Carll B Williams; 1906)
  • Daniel Defoe, the Author of Robinson Crusoe: With Notes about Brick Meeting House, Maryland, where Some of Defoe's Relatives Still Live (1906)
  • Otterbrook people (1907)
  • The Titanic (1912)
  • The emigrants (1918)

References

  1. ^ a b Sturgill, Erika Quesenbery (12 August 2017). "Historic gem hits the market in Elisha Kirk House". Cecil Daily. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e Perine, George Corbin (1898). "MRS. MARY E. IRELAND (1834 ).". The Poets and Verse-writers of Maryland: With Selections from Their Works (Public domain ed.). Editor Publishing Company. pp. 216–17. Retrieved 2 January 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ The United States Catalog: Books in Print ... (Public domain ed.). H. W. Wilson Company. 1908. p. 341. Retrieved 2 January 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ Stubbs, Charles H. (1872). Historic-genealogy of the Kirk Family (Public domain ed.). Wylie & Griest. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-0-608-31894-3. Retrieved 2 January 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ a b c d e Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "IRELAND, Mrs. Mary E.". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Charles Wells Moulton. pp. 411–12. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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