Helen Adelia Manville

Helen Adelia Manville (pen name Nellie A. Mann; August 3, 1839 – 1912) was an American poet and litterateur.[1] Under the nom de plume of "Nellie A. Mann", she contributed largely for leading periodicals east and west, and obtained a national reputation as a writer of acceptable verse. At the zenith of her fame, she decided to renounce the pen name and assume her own. Acting upon that resolution, she had only succeeded in making the latter name familiar, virtually winning laurels for two cognomens, when ill-health and many cares necessitated a suspension of literary work. A collection of her poems was published in 1875, under the title of Heart Echoes, which contained a small proportion of her voluminous verse.[2]

Helen Adelia Manville
"A woman of the century"
BornHelen Adelia Wood
August 3, 1839
New Berlin, New York, U.S.
Died1912
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Resting placeLa Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S.
Pen nameNellie A. Mann
Occupationpoet, litterateur
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Notable worksHeart Echoes
SpouseMarvin Madison Monroe Manville
ChildrenMarion Manville Pope
RelativesAlice Cary, Phoebe Cary, Stephen A. Douglas

Early years

Helen Adelia Wood was born in New Berlin, New York, August 3, 1839. Her father was Col. Artemus Wood.[3] She inherited literary talent from her mother, several members of whose family won local celebrity, and who were connected with the Carys, from whom Alice and Phebe were descended, and also the house of Douglas, whose distinguished representative was Stephen.[4]

Accompanying her father as Helen Wood, she removed to the West at an early day, and there she obtained her education.[5]

Career

For many years, Manville's pen name was "Nellie A. Mann", under which she contributed to leading periodicals. Renouncing her pen name, she assumed her own, and in 1875, published a collection of her poems entitled, Heart Echoes,[6] which contained a small portion of her verse, for she had been a voluminous writer.[5][4]

Style and themes

The chief characteristics of her poetry are natural melody, smoothness of versification and exalted sentiment, the expression of a mind filled with refined and uplifting thoughts.[5] Her spirituality was pronounced, and an abiding faith in a supreme wisdom, whose dictations proceed from infinite love, carried many a message of comfort to sorrowing hearts, and inspired strangers to become her grateful friends. This quality of sympathy and understanding of others' trials and sorrows is peculiar to her verse and to the earnest sincere womanliness of the woman herself. [2]

Personal life

After she married Marvin Madison Monroe Manville (1829-1904),[7] she lived in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She had one child, the poet, Marion Manville Pope.[3][4] Manville died in 1912 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and was burled in La Crosse.[7]

Selected works
  • Heart Echoes, 1875

References
  1. American Publishers' Association 1914, p. 634.
  2. Moulton 1892, p. 258.
  3. Duzee 1902, p. 93.
  4. Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 492.
  5. White 1897, p. 523.
  6. Adams 1904, p. 246.
  7. Marquis 1928, p. 569.

Attribution
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Adams, Oscar Fay (1904). A Dictionary of American Authors (Public domain ed.). Houghton, Mifflin. p. 246.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: American Publishers' Association (1914). Herringshaw's American Blue Book Of Biography (Public domain ed.). American Publishers' Association.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Duzee, Edward P. Van (1902). Catalogue of Poetry in the English Language: In the Grosvenor Library, Buffalo, N.Y. (Public domain ed.). London, England: Grosvenor Library.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Moulton, Charles Wells (1892). The Magazine of Poetry and Literary Review. 4 (Public domain ed.). C.W. Moulton.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: White, J.T. (1897). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Permanent series (Public domain ed.). J.T. White.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton. p. 492.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Bibliography
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