Harriet Bates

American poet

Arlo Bates

(m. 1882)

Harriet Bates (July 30, 1856 – March 1886) was a 19th-century American author of poetry and novels.^[1]^[2] Her pen name, Eleanor Putnam, had been the maiden name of her great-grandmother.

Early years and education

Harriet Leonora Vose was born at Quincy, Illinois, July 30, 1856. She was the eldest daughter of Prof. George L. Vose, author of a number of works on civil and railroad engineering.^[2] She went to live in Salem, Massachusetts in 1865, remaining for six years. The family then moved temporarily to the West, in search of health for the mother. In that time, she attended a dame school.^[3]

Her literary pseudonym, "Eleanor Putnam," had been the maiden name of her great-grandmother. She began to write in her early youth, and previous to her marriage, had contributed numerous stories to American periodicals.^[2]

Career

On September 5, 1882, she married Arlo Bates. With him, she wrote Prince Vance (published 1888). In 1885, she began to contribute to the Atlantic Monthly a series of sketches of life in Salem, Massachusetts where much of her childhood had been passed and many of her ancestors had lived. These were interrupted by her death, but were collected and published in a volume edited by her husband. As pictures of life in an ancient New England town, they are unsurpassed for humor, clever character drawing, and delicacy of touch.^[2]

She died at her home in Boston, Massachusetts, in March, 1886. After her death, Arlo prepared for the press her sketches, "Old Salem" (1886), and a novel, A Woodland Wooing (1889). In her memory, he wrote "Sonnets in Shadow", which was dedicated to her.^[2] Her son was the archaeologist, Oric Bates (1883–1919).^[4]

Selected works

Bob's Breaking in, 1880
Prince Vance: The Story of a Prince with a Court in His Box, 1888 (with A. Bates)
A Woodland Wooing, 1889
Old Salem, 1893

References

^ Dictionary of Women Worldwide (2007). "Bates, Harriet Leonora (1856–1886)". Gale. Online version retrieved 17 July 2014 (subscription required).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Derby & White 1898, p. 12.
^ Putnam 1893, p. 16-17.
^ Association of Alumni and Alumnae of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1919, p. 105.

Bibliography

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Association of Alumni and Alumnae of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1919). Technology Review (Public domain ed.). Association of Alumni and Alumnae of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Derby, George; White, James Terry (1898). The National Cyclopedia of American Biography ... V.1- (Public domain ed.). J. T. White.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Putnam, Eleanor (1893). Old Salem (Public domain ed.). Houghton, Mifflin.