Julia Magruder
Encyclopedia
Julia Magruder, was an American novelist. Most of her novels are love stories in which the heroine must face obstacles in pursuit of her goal to find true love. Several of her novels were serialized in the Ladies' Home Journal
. A week before her death she received the award from the Académie Française
for which she had been nominated a year earlier.
, in 1854. This being about the time of the outbreak of the American Civil War
, it affected the subsequent development of her desire to improve the view the North had of the South in the latter half of the century. She was the youngest of the three daughters of Allan Bowie Magruder, a prominent Virginia lawyer, and his wife, Sarah née Gilliam.
Magruder's infancy was spent at her birthplace. When she was three years of age the Magruder family removed to Washington, where Mr. Magruder practised law for several years, and where his daughters received their earliest education. Later Mr. Magruder's family vacillated between Washington and their home in Virginia, in both of which places the education of the three girls was given by their parents and governesses. It was at this time that she developed an admiration for and devotion to George Eliot
.
As a child Miss Magruder gave no evidence of her talent for writing but when she was sixteen she published her first story, "My Three Chances," in a Southern newspaper, and, encouraged by her success, wrote sketches, stories for children (her particular delight), and tales of fiction, as well as short magazine stories in rapid succession. Her first important work, Across the Chasm (1885), was published anonymously in Ladies' Home Journal, and brought its author her first taste of the trials, as well as the glories of her craft and profession. The story portrayed the mutual experiences and prejudices of a Southern girl who marries a Northern man, and is full of critical measurement of North and South.
A close friend was Amélie Rives Troubetzkoy
and she frequently stayed at her home, Castle Hill
, where she did some of her writing.
The following description of her physical attributes appeared in Ladies Home Journal,
. She is buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Charlottesville next to her parents. About a year before her death, the French government nominated her to the French Academie for the "Order of the Palms," a decoration which is conferred on those distinguished in the literary world, and which has been awarded only very seldom to Americans. After a great delay, caused by a change of cabinet in the French administration, the decoration reached Magruder a week before her death.
Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...
. A week before her death she received the award from the Académie Française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
for which she had been nominated a year earlier.
Life and works
Julia Magruder was born at Charlottesville, VirginiaCharlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
, in 1854. This being about the time of the outbreak of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, it affected the subsequent development of her desire to improve the view the North had of the South in the latter half of the century. She was the youngest of the three daughters of Allan Bowie Magruder, a prominent Virginia lawyer, and his wife, Sarah née Gilliam.
Magruder's infancy was spent at her birthplace. When she was three years of age the Magruder family removed to Washington, where Mr. Magruder practised law for several years, and where his daughters received their earliest education. Later Mr. Magruder's family vacillated between Washington and their home in Virginia, in both of which places the education of the three girls was given by their parents and governesses. It was at this time that she developed an admiration for and devotion to George Eliot
George Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
.
As a child Miss Magruder gave no evidence of her talent for writing but when she was sixteen she published her first story, "My Three Chances," in a Southern newspaper, and, encouraged by her success, wrote sketches, stories for children (her particular delight), and tales of fiction, as well as short magazine stories in rapid succession. Her first important work, Across the Chasm (1885), was published anonymously in Ladies' Home Journal, and brought its author her first taste of the trials, as well as the glories of her craft and profession. The story portrayed the mutual experiences and prejudices of a Southern girl who marries a Northern man, and is full of critical measurement of North and South.
A close friend was Amélie Rives Troubetzkoy
Amélie Rives Troubetzkoy
Amélie Louise Rives Troubetzkoy was an American novelist and poet. Rives wrote at least twenty-four volumes of fiction, numerous uncollected poems, and Herod and Marianne , a verse drama. In 1888, she published novel The Quick or the Dead?, her most famous and popular work that sold 300,000 copies...
and she frequently stayed at her home, Castle Hill
Castle Hill (Virginia)
Castle Hill , is an historic, plantation located at the foot of the Southwest Mountains in Albemarle County, Virginia, near Monticello and the city of Charlottesville, recognized by the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. Castle Hill was the beloved home of Dr...
, where she did some of her writing.
The following description of her physical attributes appeared in Ladies Home Journal,
"Miss Magruder is quite above medium height, and of slight but beautifully proportioned figure. Her head is small and well-shaped, and her hair, which she wears low, is light brown in color. Her complexion is fair, and her eyes gray and very expressive. She dresses in the simplest taste, wearing usually, although she is not in mourning, black, white or gray."
Honored by French on her deathbed
In 1907, Julia Magruder died of kidney failure in Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. She is buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Charlottesville next to her parents. About a year before her death, the French government nominated her to the French Academie for the "Order of the Palms," a decoration which is conferred on those distinguished in the literary world, and which has been awarded only very seldom to Americans. After a great delay, caused by a change of cabinet in the French administration, the decoration reached Magruder a week before her death.
Short stories and magazine articles
- Miss Ayr of Virginia & other stories (1896) Herbert S. Stone http://books.google.com/books?id=qvcdAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s
- "Sister Mary of Meekness" (Nov. 1896) The Penny Magazine (short story)