Catharine Webb Barber

American author, newspaper editor

John Culbreath Towles

(m. 1867; died 1877)

Jett T. McCoy

(m. 1884; died 1887)

Signature

Catharine Webb Barber (née, Barber; after first marriage, Towles or Towle; after second marriage, McCoy; October 25, 1823 - November 15, 1893)^[1] was an American teacher, newspaper editor, and author. She was born in Massachusetts, but came South, settling first in Georgia and afterward in Alabama.^[2]^[3] According to The Alabama Review, 1983,— "Establishing a bibliography of the works of Catharine W . Barber Towles McCoy is as difficult as establishing the facts of her life. Only a few of her numerous contributions to ephemeral Georgia periodicals can now definitely be known."^[4]

Biography

Catharine ^[a] Webb Barber was born in Charlemont, a village on the banks of the Deerfield River, in Franklin County, Massachusetts, October 25, 1823.^[b] She was the youngest of ten children of Rufus Barber,^[7] of Worcester, Massachusetts, a New England farmer. In 1843, her father died,^[c] and Barber, at the advice of her brother, came south, and entered the Lafayette Female Seminary, at Chambers Court House, Alabama.^[7] She afterwards taught in the same institution.^[8]

Barber began to write verses for the newspapers at an early age.^[7] From 1849 to 1852, in Madison, Georgia, she served as editor of the Madison Visitor. In 1861, she moved to Newnan, Georgia, and became editor of the Southern Literary Companion, which she continued to edit until its suspension in 1865.^[8] For several newspapers and magazines, she filled the role of the "Women's Department" editor.^[9]

In 1866, she became the editor and proprietor of Miss Barber's Weekly, which she continued till her marriage to John Culbreath Towles (1813-1877), of Lafayette, in 1867.^[7]

In 1884, she married Jett T. McCoy (1823-1887). After his death in 1887, she resided at Columbus, Georgia.^[7]

She published Stories for the Freemason's Fireside (New York, 1860); The Three Golden Links (Cassville, Georgia, 1857); and Poor Claire, or Life Among the Queer (1888).^[7]^[10] Her novelette Briarbrook (1866) was published by Scott's Monthly Magazine.^[11]^[12]

She died November 15, 1893, in Columbus, Georgia.^[13]

Awards and honors

She received honorary degrees from southern colleges.^[7]

Selected works

The Three Golden Links (Cassville, Georgia, 1857)
Stories for the American Freemason's Fireside (1860)^[14]^[15]
Briarbrook (1866)
Poor Claire, or Life Among the Queer (1888)

Notes

^ Her given name was sometimes spelled, "Catherine" or "Katherine".^[5]^[6]
^ Herringshaw 1914 gives: October 26, 1823 as date of birth.
^ According to Wilson & Fiske 1889, Barber's father died in 1846.

References

^ Johnson 1909, p. 59.
^ Alderman, Harris & Kent 1910, p. 21.
^ White 2013, pp. 93, 241, 242, 278.
^ Alabama Historical Association 1983, p. 177.
^ Owen 1921, p. 1678.
^ Engstfeld 1923, p. 47.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Wilson & Fiske 1889, p. 147.
^ ^a ^b Davidson 1869, pp. 33–34.
^ Wells 2011, p. 109.
^ Warner, Mabie & Warner 1897, p. 530.
^ Scott & Wylly 1866, pp. 227, 291, 380, 455, 525, 581.
^ Wells 2011, p. 127.
^ Herringshaw 1914, p. 99.
^ Towle, C. W. (1868). Stories for the American Freemason's Fireside. New York: Dexter & Co.
^ Towle 1860 etc: OCLC 1012486577 (all editions). 1868 edition available online. See also this copy in HathiTrust Digital Library.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Alderman, Edwin Anderson; Harris, Joel Chandler; Kent, Charles William (1910). Library of Southern Literature. Vol. 15: Biographical dictionary of authors. Martin and Hoyt Company. p. 21. hdl:2027/coo1.ark:/13960/t02z1sw51.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Davidson, James Wood (1869). The Living Writers of the South (Public domain ed.). Carleton. ISBN 9780608428185.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Engstfeld, Mrs. Caroline P. (1923). Bibliography of Alabama Authors (Public domain ed.). Howard college.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Herringshaw, Thomas William (1914). Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography. Vol. 4 (Maas-Richards). American Publishers' Association. p. 99.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Johnson, James Gibson (1909). Southern Fiction Prior to 1860: An Attempt at a First-hand Bibliography (Public domain ed.). Michie Company, Printers.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Owen, Thomas McAdory (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography (Public domain ed.). S. J. Clarke publishing Company.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Scott, William J.; Wylly, William Henry (1866). Scott's Monthly Magazine. Vol. 1–2 (Public domain ed.). J.J. Toon.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Warner, Charles Dudley; Mabie, Hamilton Wright; Warner, Charles Henry (1897). Library of the World's Best Literature: Biographical dictionary (Public domain ed.). International Society.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John (1889). Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. 6 (Public domain ed.). D. Appleton.

Bibliography

Alabama Historical Association (1983). The Alabama Review. Vol. 36. University of Alabama Press.
Wells, Jonathan Daniel (24 October 2011). Women Writers and Journalists in the Nineteenth-Century South. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-50349-5.
White, Barbara A. (7 May 2013). American Women's Fiction, 1790-1870: A Reference Guide. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-29092-3.