Marietta Holley (1836-1926)
Marietta Holley (1836-1926) was a popular American humorist, often compared to Mark Twain, who used satire to comment on the social and political reform movements of her era. Holley was a private woman who lived in or near her home in Jefferson County, NY, for her entire life. She published her first book at age thirty-six, when she was commissioned by Mark Twain's publisher to write a humorous novel, My Opinions and Betsy Bobbet's (1872). This novel launched her successful series of "Samantha" books, a series that revolved around the characters of Samantha Allen, her unwise husband, Josiah Allen, and an aging, man-hungry spinster, Betsey Bobbet.
All of Holley's ten "Samantha" books follow a set pattern. In the beginning of each story, Samantha encounters a problem that necessitates leaving on a journey outside of her rural hometown. On her journey, Samantha displays small-town common sense that Holley used to satirize big-city American life. Through Samantha, Holley tackled tough issues like women's suffrage, gender equality, and temperance that gave her humorous novels an insightful social perspective that won her the friendship of prominent reformers, including Susan B. Anthony.
In light of the numerous journeys that Samantha takes, it is ironic that Holley herself rarely left Jefferson County. Indeed, she did not go on her first trip until she was forty-five years old, and turned down numerous speaking invitations, including requests to address the US Congress on the subject of women's suffrage. She lived quietly at her family home until she died peacefully at the age of ninety in 1926.
OCP Resources
Published Works
Holley, Marietta. Miss Richards' boy: and other stories. Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Co., 1883.
Holley, Marietta. Sweet Cicely, or, Josiah Allen as a politician. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1885.
Holley, Marietta. Samantha at Saratoga, or, "Flirtin' with fashion." Philadelphia: Hubbard Bros., 1887.
Holley, Marietta. Josiah Allen's wife as a P.A. and P.I.: Samantha at the Centennial, designed as a bright and shining light to pierce the fogs of error and injustice that surround society and Josiah and to bring more clearly to view the path that leads straight on to virtue and happiness. Hartford, Conn.: American Pub. Co., 1888.
Holley, Marietta. Samantha among the brethren. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1892.
Holley, Marietta. Samantha at the World's Fair. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1893.
Holley, Marietta. Samantha among the colored folks: "my ideas on the race problem." New York: Dodd, Mead, 1894.
Holley, Marietta. My wayward pardner, or, My trials with Josiah, America, The Widow Bump, and etcetery. Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Co., 1895.
Holley, Marietta. Samantha at the St. Louis Exposition. New York: G.W. Dillingham, c1904.
Holley, Marietta. Samantha vs. Josiah: being the story of a borrowed automobile and what came of it. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1906.
Holley, Marietta. Who was to blame? Evanston, Illinois.: National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, c1910.
Holley, Marietta. Samantha at Coney Island and a thousand other islands. New York: The Christian Herald, Bible House, c1911.
Holley, Marietta. Samantha on the woman question. New York: F.H. Revell, c1913.
Web Resources
American Association of University Women. Women of Courage: Ten North Country Pioneers in Profile.
Donna Campbell, Professor of English at Gonzaga University. Marietta Holley. 2004.
Houghton Mifflin. Kate Winter, "Marietta Holley," in The Heath Anthology of American Literature, ed. Paul Lauter. 4th ed, Volume II. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co., 2001.