Jane T. Worthington

Jane T. Worthington (1821–1847) was a 19th-century American essayist, poet, musician, and linguist from Norfolk, Virginia, associated with Southern U.S. literature. She descended from a distinguished Virginian family and began writing at least by age 14 under a pen name. Her writings, which included numerous essays and poems, appeared almost exclusively in the Southern Literary Messenger. Noted for her graceful style, Worthington won a prize of US$100 for her story, "Life and Love," before her death at the age of 26 in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1][2]

Early life and education

Jane Tayloe[a] Lomax was born in Norfolk, Virginia, February 2, 1821.[4] She descended from a distinguished family of the State of Virginia. Her parents were Colonel Mann Page Lomax (1787–1842), of the U.S. Army,[1] and Elizabeth Virginia (Lindsay) Lomax (1796–1875). Jane had several younger siblings: Elizabeth, Lunsford, William, Mann, Ann, Mattie, Eleanor, Julia, Mary, and Lunsford.[5]

She was educated in different parts of the country, as the exigencies of the military service led to changes of residence by her father. Her extensive traveling instilled in her an appreciation for nature and while this gave her exposure to various parts of society, her love of Virginia remained.[6][7]

Career

She began writing at least age 14 under a pen name. Nearly all her writings, in prose and verse, appeared in the Southern Literary Messenger, which was edited by a personal friend, at Richmond, Virginia. She excelled most in the essay, with numerous compositions of this kind written in the four or five years of her literary life. Her poems, simple, graceful, and earnest.[1] Her story, "Life and Love", took the prize of US$100 from one of the Philadelphia papers, where there were more than 50 competitors.[6] While no collection of her works were published,[8] more than 50 years after her death, her fugitive (uncollected) verse[9] continued to be published.[10]

A poised writer, her style was characterized as being full of feminine emotion and brilliance, highlighting the beauties of nature and domestic life.[11] Her words were said to encourage readers like songbirds with her bright words.[12]

Personal life

Jane Tayloe Lomax moved to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1840. In 1842, she moved to Washington DC. Then, on February 7th 1843, she married physician,[13] Dr. Francis Asbury Worthington[14] (1819–1849),[1] son of Thomas Worthington, Governor of Ohio.[15] Together, they had two children, Elizabeth Lindsey Worthing (who died in childbirth), and Alice S. Worthington (1846-1900). The family resided in Chillicothe, Ohio.[7]

Jane Worthington died of tuberculosis in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 26, 1847 at the age of 26.[5]

Selected works

Hymns

  • "It visiteth the desolate"[16]

Poems

  • "Lines to One Who Will Understand Them"
  • "Moonlight on the Grave"
  • "Sleep"
  • "The Common Bramble"
  • "The Child's Grave"
  • "The Withered Leaves"
  • "The Poor"
  • "To the peaks of Otter"
  • "To Twilight"
  • "The Child's Portrait"
  • "A Memory"
  • "Madame De Stael"
  • "The Stranger's Grave"
  • "Korner"
  • "Schiller"
  • "Corinna's Last Song"

Short stories

  • "Life and Love"
  • "Ravenel Hall. A Tale in Two Parts."
  • "Love Sketches"
  • "The Widowers Bride"
  • "The Classmates"

Notes

  1. ^ Sometimes misspelled, "Taylor".[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Forrest, Mary (1861). Women of the South Distinguished in Literature ... Derby & Jackson. p. 499. Retrieved 12 December 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ Kallio, Pasi. "Southern historiography in modern history Figural and philosophical aspects of historical discourse in Virginia and South Carolina, 1800–1844". Department of World Cultures University of Helsinki Finland: 181.
  3. ^ Allibone, Samuel Austin (1871). A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors, Living and Deceased, from the Earliest Accounts to the Latter Half of the Nineteenth Century: Containing Over Forty-six Thousand Articles (authors), with Forty Indexes of Subject. J. B. Lippincott & Company. p. 2852. Retrieved 13 December 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ The "Old Northwest" Genealogical Quarterly. "Old Northwest" Genealogical Society. 1901. p. 40. Retrieved 13 December 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ a b "Jane Tayloe Lomax Female 2 February 1821 – 26 May 1847". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Life and Love". Herald of The Times. 1 February 1844. p. 3. Retrieved 13 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ a b Minor, B. B., ed. (January 1844). "Contributors to the Southern Literary Messenger". Southern and Western Literary Messenger and Review. Vol. 10. T.W. White. p. 64. Retrieved 13 December 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ^ Griswold, Rufus Wilmot (1874). The Female Poets of America. J. Miller. p. 260. Retrieved 13 December 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ^ Gordon, Armistead Churchill (1923). Virginian Writers of Fugitive Verse. J. T. White & Company. p. 210. Retrieved 13 December 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. ^ "Sleep". New Castle Herald. 9 July 1909. p. 4. Retrieved 13 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. ^ Griswold, Rufus Wilmot. "The Female Poets of America". p. 262.
  12. ^ "JOHN REUBEN THOMPSON, 'The Late Edgar A. Poe', Southern Literary Messenger, November 1849", Edgar Allen Poe, Routledge, pp. 340–346, 2013-01-11, ISBN 978-0-203-19547-5, retrieved 2024-07-03{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  13. ^ Duyckinck, Evert Augustus (1866). Cyclopaedia of American literature, by E. A. and G. L. Duyckinck. p. 678. Retrieved 13 December 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. ^ "FamilySearch.org". ancestors.familysearch.org. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  15. ^ Lomax, Edward Lloyd (1913). Genealogy of the Virginia Family of Lomax. Rand, McNally & Company. p. 40. Retrieved 13 December 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  16. ^ "Jane T. Worthington". hymnary.org. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
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