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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 and translator. She lived a busy life in Washington, D.C., looking upon her literary labors as a recreation. Though she is remembered as "the poetess of Cecil County",[1] 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.[4] 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).[5] In the old homestead of her parents, she grew to adulthood.[6]

Ireland was educated in the ladies' seminary of Jamaica, Long Island, and had talent for music and painting.[6]

Career

1913

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, then edited by Palmer C. Ricketts.[4] 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.[6] For the next few years, she occasionally wrote for the Cecil Whig and Oxford Press.

She wrote a story for Arthur's Magazine, and being in Philadelphia soon after it was written, she took it to the publishing house, and there met for the first time Timothy Shay Arthur, whom she had known from childhood through his books. He received her kindly, promised to read her story, and to let her know his decision the next day. That decision was, that though entertaining and well written, it was scarcely suited to his magazine. He suggested another periodical where it would likely meet with favor. He also asked for another story, and presented her with a set of the magazines that she might see the style of writing that he desired. Her next story for Arthur's was a success, and from that time until his death, he remained the candid critic of all she sent him for publication, as well as of some stories published elsewhere, and the kind literary adviser and friend. She retained her first story (which he had declined) for three years, made some changes in it, and he accepted and published it.[4]

She afterward became a contributor to Cottage Hearth, Household, and other domestic magazines, besides the Literary World, Ladies' Cabinet, Woman's Journal, and several church papers. Her time included reviewing new books for the press.[4] 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. Many letters of appreciation from distant parts of the country testified to the merit of the book, and she was encouraged to accede to the request of the Presbyterian Observer Company of Baltimore to write a serial for their paper. It was entitled "Ivandale", and was warmly commended by judges of literary work.[2][4]

In Otterbrook's Blessing (1902), Ireland wrote a tender, inspiring story of girl life, as told by Liela Harcourt in her diary, commenced the day she was sixteen, at the suggestion of her grandmother. Otterbrook Parsonage (1904), a continuation of Otterbrook's Blessing, is as cheery and wholesome in tone as its predecessor, depicting Liela Harcourt living a happy and useful life as the wife of the village pastor.[7]

Wishing to read German literature in the original, she undertook the study of German, and as she had no time which she was willing to devote to regular lessons, she obtained a German pronouncing reader, and without instruction from any one she succeeded in learning to read and translate, pronouncing correctly enough to be understood by any German. This knowledge of the language has been a well-spring of pleasure to her, and well repays her for the few moments' attention she daily bestowed upon it.[4][2]

Translating from the German was a 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] Doctor Eckhart's Boys Translated from the German of Emma Seifert, by Mrs. Ireland (1902) is a story of a family of girls and boys, and tells of the simplicity and beauty of the life of the family in the rural home from which emanates a religious influence. Days of Peter the Great Translated by Mrs. Ireland from the seventeenth edition of the German of Gustav Nieritz, is a true story of the times of that sopereign. Happy Days at Grandfather's Translated from the fourth edition of the German of Bertha Clement by Mrs. Ireland tells of Lottie Von Alstyne, whose father, an officer in the army, was ordered to Constantinople, and went to remain a year, accompanied by Mrs. Von Alstyne. Lottie's Second Year with the Wendorfs Translated from the German of Bertha Clement by Mrs. Ireland is a sequel to Happy Days at Grandfather's. Stolen for Ransom Translated from the German of Gustav Nieritz by Mrs. Ireland, is about the adventures of a crown prince who was stolen while walking with his teacher on the bank of a river, and taken to a secluded house on an island, where he led a sad life until kind Providence sent him a companion, a boy near his own age, the son of a cultured and educated gentleman who passed as a fisherman.[4] Other 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.[6][4]

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] By 1887, they resided in Baltimore, where Mr. Ireland held the position of United States storekeeper in the Internal Revenue Department.[4] Thereafter, they removed to Washington, D.C. They were the parents of three children, one of whom died in infancy.[6][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)
  • Days of Peter the Great (translated from the seventeenth edition of the German of Gustav Nieritz)
  • Happy Days at Grandfather's (translated from the fourth edition of the German of Bertha Clement)
  • Lottie's Second Year with the Wendorfs (translated from the German of Bertha Clement)
  • Stolen for Ransom (translated from the German of Gustav Nieritz)

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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Johnston, George (1887). The Poets and Poetry of Cecil County, Maryland (Public domain ed.). The editor. pp. 200–01. Retrieved 2 January 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Religious Telescope. Vol. 69 (Public domain ed.). William R. Rhinehart. 1903. p. 1440. Retrieved 2 January 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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