Mary (Mollie) Elliott SEAWELL

• Name	Mary (Mollie) Elliott SEAWELL
  Gender	Female
  _UID	98CE7D3A77C344AD932249CFAB159885F2F3
  Notes	Well known American authoress. From a 1901 article www.oldandsold.com/articles27n/women-authors-7.shtml Miss Seawell's literary life is a curious example of the results of environment. Born in a quaint and long-established Virginian community Gloucester County. She was brought up in a distinct atmosphere of books and of good literature. Her father was a lawyer of note, and in the great rambling house. "The Shelter" was a fine old-fashioned library. It included a collection of the English classics and many translations of eighteenth century books of French philosophy, which Thomas Jefferson when minister to France, had selected for her great-grandfather, Judge Tyler, one of the first Federal judges appointed under the present system, and for three terms governor of his State. He was a great reader and his love for books was transmitted to his descendants. An uncle of Molly Elliot Seawell had been in the United States Navy before the Civil War. After the commencement of hostilities he had resigned to follow the Confederate arms, and had served with distinction throughout the four years of open hostilities. From him she heard in childhood true and glowing accounts of what is known as the romantic period of the American Navy, the period when ships still carried a great spread of canvas, when cruises meant long absences of years from home, and a naval officer was called upon to meet tremendous emergencies now provided for by the cable and the telegraph. It was not the technical knowledge of vessels and the navy alone that made Miss Seawell's stories so fascinating. With that they combined a delicate and romantic touch that was unusual, for, with the every-day story of the sea, there is often a certain roughness that destroys the pleasure of a sensitive reader. For this reason one prominent American author has few admirers among the gentler sex. A list of some of her more important novels includes : The Berkeleys and Their Neighbors," Throckmorton," " Children of Destiny," " Maid Marian," The History of Lady Betty Stair," and " The Loves of Arabella."
  Person ID	I7968	Master File
  Last Modified	28 Mar 2010

  
  

  Father	John Tyler SEAWELL,   b. Dec 1808, Williamsburg, CA
  Mother	Elizabeth Frances JACKSON
  Family ID	F5265	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart