Louise Clappe
Louise Clappe | |
---|---|
Born | Louise Amelia Knapp Clappe July 28, 1819 New Jersey, United States |
Died | 1906 (aged 86–87) New Jersey, United States |
Occupation | Writer |
Language | English |
Notable works | "Shirley Letters" |
Louise Clappe (
Early life
Louise Amelia Knapp Smith was born July 28, 1819, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Moses and Louis (Lee) Smith.[2] Her father Moses Smith, graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts in the year of 1811, and he once had the responsibility of being in charge of a local academy. Both Moses and his wife came from Amherst, Massachusetts. There is some speculation that her parents might be cousins, for both Moses' mother and wife shared the same maiden name (Lee). Both of Clappe's parents died before she turned 20, with her father dying in 1832 and her mother in 1837. Clappe was one of seven children, with three brothers and three other sisters.
In 1838, she attended a female
Marriage
Born in June 1824 in Chesterfield, Massachusetts, Fayette Clappe was five years younger than Louise. Fayette's family also had a different spelling of Clappe, and instead spelled it as Clapp. He started his college education at Princeton, but finished up at Brown University, graduating in 1848. He briefly continued his education, studying medicine at Castleton in Vermont.[3] Similar to Louise's mother, Fayette's mother also bore the maiden name Lee. The exact date of their wedding is unknown; however, some believe it occurred in either 1848 or 1849. Louise and Fayette never had any children together. Her marriage with Clapp started to falter around 1852. While the two separated around that time and Fayette headed back East, their marriage did not officially end until some years later.[2]
Going West
Louise and Fayette had always wanted to go West, Louise first mentioning her desire to do so in one of her letters to Everett. While Fayette was studying medicine in Vermont, the couple found the excuse to go to
The Shirley Letters
The Shirley Letters, for which Louise was well known, were written between September 1851 and November 1852. She authored a total of 23 letters, all addressed to her sister Molly.
Other Writings and Life in San Francisco
While Louise was staying in San Francisco, she made the acquaintance of Ferdinand C. Ewer, who printed her Shirley Letters in his new periodical, The Pioneer in 1854–1855. Not only did Louise submit her letters, but she also wrote two other articles for the Pioneer. The two articles "Superstition" and "Equality of the Sexes" once again did not show off her writing gifts. In both articles, she still identifies herself as Mrs. Louisa Clapp, even though she and Fayette had split at this point.
Louise began teaching in San Francisco in 1854. In 1856, she officially filed for divorce from Fayette.
While living in San Francisco, she was well liked and became well known for her teaching and writing. She taught for two different all-girls schools, Denman Grammar School and Broadway Grammar school. In 1857, she most likely made US$900 for the year. Between 1868 and 1869, she switched the spelling of her last name to Clappe. Throughout the next decade, she went back and forth between the two different spellings, ending with the different from her original (Clappe).
While in San Francisco, she adopted and raised a niece, Genevieve Stebbins. In 1878, she retired from teaching. The Denman School raised a farewell gift of US$2,000. Louise lived out the remains of her life in New York City for the next 28 years. She resumed her writing in 1881 when a periodical at Hellmuth Ladies' College at London, Ontario published a series of her articles under her Shirley name. She died in New Jersey at an elderly home from chronic diarrhea and senility in 1906. Her headstone reads that she was the wife of Dr. Fayette Clappe.[2]
Legacy
Clappe's Shirley Letters were made into a 2017 opera, Girls of the Golden West.[9]
References
- ^ "American Passages: A Literary Survey". Annenberg Learner. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Wilson-Paul, Rodman (May 1963). "In Search of "Dame Shirley"". Pacific Historical Review.
- ^ Wilson Paul, Rodman (May 1964). "In Search of "Dame Shirley"". Pacific Historical Review.
- ^ a b Shirley, Dame (1970). The Shirley Letters. Peregrine Press.
- ^ a b Smith-Barazini, Marlene (Winter 1999–2000). "Out of The Shadows Louise Clapper's Life and Early California Writings". California History.
- ^ Shirley, Dame (1970). The Shirley Letters. Peregrine Press. p. 4.
- ^ Shirley, Dame (1970). The Shirley Letters. Peregrine Press. p. 42.
- ^ Shirley, Dame (1970). The Shirley Letters. Pure shine Publishing. p. 44.
- ^ "John Adams's Girls of the Golden West Fails to Find the Mother Lode". San Francisco Classical Voice. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
Further reading
- Harris, Gloria G.; Hannah S. Cohen (2012). "Chapter 2. Settlers – Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe: Documented Life in Gold-Mining Camps". Women Trailblazers of California: Pioneers to the Present. Charleston, SC: The History Press. pp. 26–43 [28–30]. ]
External links
- Works by Dame Shirley at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Dame Shirley at Internet Archive
- Works by Louise Clappe at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)