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Anne Bozeman Lyon

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Anne Bozeman Lyon
B&W oval portrait photo of a woman with her hair in an. up-do, wearing a white blouse.
Portrait from A Woman of the Century
BornFebruary 25, 1860
Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
DiedDecember 25, 1936
Mobile, Alabama
OccupationGulf States writer
Genre
RelativesDavid Hunter Strother

Anne Bozeman Lyon (1860–1936) was an American Gulf States author[1] of Southern U.S. literature. She wrote poetry, short sketches and novels, excelling in descriptive work.[2][3] Lyon wrote verses for the Louisville Courier-Journal and other daily papers before 1890, and afterward, short stories and articles for various papers and magazines. She made a special study of colonial history of Alabama and Louisiana.[4]

Early life and education

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Anne Bozeman Lyon was born in Mobile, Alabama, February 25, 1860. Her parents were Thomas Temple Armstrong and Mary Morgan Coffee (Heard) Lyon. Her father's ancestors were English and Welsh. He was connected with families from Virginia, among them the Temples, the Pendletons and the Strothers. General David Hunter Strother of the Union Army was his cousin. Mr. Armstrong was a native of Stokes County, North Carolina, later a resident of Mobile, where he was successfully engaged in the wholesale mercantile and cotton business. He was a major in the Confederate States Army.[3] Anne's mother was a descendant of two families from Georgia. Anne was the oldest of ten children. In early childhood, she resided in Mobile and in the bayou of the Mississippi River, where her father was constructing a railroad.[2]

Lyon received her preparatory and academic education in Locquet Institute and other schools in New Orleans, Louisiana. This was followed by further studies in Mobile at the Quigley school and with Prof. Amos Towle,[4] specializing in modern languages and music.[3] Her favorite studies were French, history and mythology, and she enjoyed read poetry.[2]

Career

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Her first published verses appeared in the Memphis Appeal, in 1884–86, and in the Louisville Courier-Journal about the same date. Her character sketches, verses, short stories and "negro dialect" stories were published in the New Orleans Times-Democrat during 1892. In 1892, she won a prize in the Current Literature category for a dramatic etching, entitled "The Mourner" against 1,300 competitors. "Mobile's distinguished women" was published in the Montgomery Advertiser, November 1893.[5] Vanity Fair became the publishing medium during 1895–96.[3][4] Dr. Charles J. O'Malley published Lyon's "Padre Felipo: A Story of Old Mobile" in Poor Soul's Advocate, 1895, and in a 2-volume book form in the same year.[6] It was Lyon's first short colonial story. It was widely copied, and received the commendation of Walter Lecky, the novelist, and others. Early Missions of the South (1893)[6] was published in Germany and in England, and adopted as a textbook in some of the schools of Florida.[7]

Other writings by her included: "A Futile amendment", published in The Southern Magazine, Louisville, Kentucky; "Ninita", published in The Mid-Continent Magazine (formerly The Southern Magazine); "Chitto's marriage", published in The Catholic Telegraph, Cincinnati; "L'Huile de Marie", published in Chicago New World; and "Casimir Jacques", published in The National Magazine, Boston, and in book form in 1912.[6] "The Bonapartist in Alabama", appeared in Southern Home Journal, April 1900,[4] and was published in book form in 1903.[8]

In addition to the foregoing, she also did considerabale newspaper and feature work, and wrote a number of historical articles from time to time.[3] She was a contributor to the Stratford Journal, Boston Transcript, Ladies' World, and the Mobile Tribune.[6]

No Saint (Louisville, 1890), her first novel, made an immediate name for itself. At Sterling's Camp, her second novel, was equally well received.[2]

The realism of Lyon's fiction is explained by her statement: "When I start one of these colonial stories, I see the characters vividly, and actually hear their names and feel their presence. They move and sway me and not I them. When the story is done, I couldn't write another until the spirit moves me, not if I were going to be burned at the stake."[7]

For some time, she conducted the "Feminine Fancies" woman's department for the Saturday Review of Mobile.[4]

She was a member of the National League of American Pen Women,[6] serving as the Alabama state representative, 1917–1919.[9] She was also a member of The Poetry Society of London.[10]

Personal life

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Lyon was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.[11]

Anne Bozeman Lyon made her home in Mobile, Alabama,[3] where she died December 25, 1936.[12]

Selected works

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Books

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  • No Saint, 1890
  • At Sterling's Camp
  • Early Missions of the South, 1893
  • Padre Felipo and Other Stories of Old Mobile (2 vol.), 1895
  • The Bonapartist in Alabama, 1903
  • Casimir Jacque, 1912

Short stories

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  • "The Mourner", 1892
  • "Mobile's distinguished women", November 1893
  • "Padre Felipo: A Story of Old Mobile", 1895
  • "A Futile amendment"
  • "Ninita"
  • "Chitto's marriage"
  • "L'Huile de Marie",
  • "Casemir-Jacques"
  • "The Bonapartist in Alabama", April 1900

References

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  1. ^ "The Gulf States Historical Magazine". Magazine of American History. Vol. 30, no. 5. A.P. French. July 1902. p. 116. Retrieved 24 December 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ a b c d Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "LYON, Miss Anne Bozeman". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. Charles Wells Moulton. pp. 479–80. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Owen, Thomas McAdory (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. S. J. Clarke publishing Company. p. 1079. Retrieved 24 December 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ a b c d e Leonard, John William; Marquis, Albert Nelson (1901). Who's who in America. A.N. Marquis. p. 709. Retrieved 24 December 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ American Historical Association (1898). Annual Report of the American Historical Association. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 1027. Retrieved 24 December 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ a b c d e Traub, Hamilton Paul (1919). The American Literary Yearbook: A Biographical and Bibliographical Dictionary of Living North American Authors; a Record of Contemporary Literary Activity; an Authors' Manual and Students' Text Book. P. Traub. p. 146. Retrieved 24 December 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ a b "Let's Talk It over". The National Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly. Vol. 36. Bostonian Publishing Company. 1912. p. 698. Retrieved 24 December 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ^ Lyon, Anne Bozeman (1903). The Bonapartists in Alabama ... Retrieved 24 December 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ^ Marquis Who's Who Inc (1975). Who was who in American History, Arts and Letters. Marquis Who's Who. p. 302. ISBN 978-0-8379-3301-6. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Alabama Authors » Blog Archive » LYON, ANNE BOZEMAN, 1860–1936". The University of Alabama University Libraries. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  11. ^ Daughters of the American Revolution (1919). Lineage Book. The Society. p. 138. Retrieved 24 December 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. ^ "Anne Bozeman Lyon Female 25 February 1860 – 25 December 1936". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
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