Abraham Lincoln meets Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
The question posed in the title to this email is, we admit, rather absurd. Abraham Lincoln, himself a man who should know who is responsible for the Civil War, places responsibility for the war on Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In fact, when he met Harriet Beecher Stowe for the first time in 1862, he greeted her by saying “Is this the little woman who made this great war?”
No doubt Lincoln is correct-Uncle Tom’s Cabin is generally regarded as the most influential book in the history of this country and while its publication in 1852 was not the direct cause of the war nearly a decade later, it did profoundly changed societal attitudes to the institution of slavery. The book was, however, not the sole literary work of this era which described the appalling and dehumanizing conditions under which Black Americans lived in the South.
In 1854 a woman writing as Mary Langdon published Ida May, a work of fiction about a young white girl who was kidnapped in the North. Ida May’s was skin artificially darkened and she was sold into slavery. Langdon described the girl’s life as a Black child in the South in such melodramatic and heart-rending detail that the book became a second Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It sold 60,000 copies in a year, an astounding number in a country of only 23 million, many of whom were illiterate. Abolitionist Frederick Douglas’ paper promoted the book and, in a review, wrote it was “bound to electrify the reading public and stir the spirits of all who have heads to think and hearts to feel.” Mary Langdon was known to be a pseudonym and many newspapers claimed Mary Langdon was none other than Harriet Beecher Stowe. There was so much speculation that Mrs. Stowe’s publisher went on record to deny her authorship.
The Time Picayune of Louisiana had another nominee:
In fact, the author was a Calais woman, Mary Hayden Green Pike. Born in Eastport in 1824 she had moved with her family to Calais in the late 1820’s and in 1846 married a prominent Calais native, Frederick Pike. The Pike family were firm abolitionists. Her husband, Frederick, was the Mayor of Calais when she wrote Ida May. Frederick would later become a prominent member of the House of Representative in Washington. Frederick’s brother was James Sheppard Pike who without question is Calais’ most famous native son. He was to become Abraham Lincoln’s Ambassador to the Hague during the Civil War.
When Mary Green’s father Elijah Green moved the family to Calais in the late 1820’s he purchased what was to become known as the Green house. While Mary was born Eastport she grew up in this home on Main Street, a home that remains today one of the nicer homes in Calais. The position of the family on slavery was strong and unequivocal-the Greens were staunch abolitionists. Until 1820 Maine was part of Massachusetts which had abolished slavery but sentiment on the institution of slavery in the St Croix Valley was divided. In the 1820 census one of Calais’ most prominent residents, Theodore Jellison is listed as having a slave. In 1838 Mary was just fourteen when an incident occurred which must have had a profound personal impact on her understanding of the fierce battle then being waged over the issue of slavery. The Green family had joined the 1st Baptist Church in Milltown where the first shot was fired in the St. Croix Valley in the battle over the hearts and minds of the residents of the St. Croix Valley on the issue of slavery.
From a history of the 1st Baptist Church:
But the fairest day may be marred by a Tempest, so Zion is ever liable to commotion and change. The anti-slavery agitation, slowly gaining in strength and power, at last reached Calais, and here as everywhere created disturbance and trouble. In the summer of 1838, a Mr. Codding sent through the instrumentality of the staunch abolitionist, General Samuel Fessenden of Portland, came to Calais to lecture on the sin and wrong of Negro slavery. Of course, lectures of this kind could not injure the business or morals of the town; But there were politicians who feared that Codding might damage their party and prevent themselves or friends being elected to office; And hence they set their faces against him; and some of these men were supporters of the Baptist Society. Accordingly, when Mr. Codding asked permission to deliver a course of lectures in the Baptist meeting house, the honorable T.J. Fuller and others strenuously opposed granting his request. Others were in favor of it, and a sharp discussion arose; and it was predicted if not threatened, that if Codding attempted to lecture in the village, a riot would ensue, and serious damage be done. Reverend Mr. Huckins unhappily sided with the pro slavery clique. Deacon Kelly, however, who controlled over half the house and felt a strong interest in the downtrodden colored race, decided to open the building for the lectures, even at the risk of its being torn down or burned by a mob. Mr. Codding accordingly delivered his pungent course of lectures from the Baptist pulpit to large audiences, and without any disturbance; Though when he repeated them the next week in the town hall, he was liberally pelted with rotten eggs. The result of this episode, so honorable to the fearless Deacon was a large increase of abolitionism in Calais, and the resignation of the reverend Mr. Huckins. It is probable that he acted conscientiously in the affair, but in the then existing state of feeling, his longer stay was not deemed politic; in September 1838 the church accepted his resignation and gave him a letter of recommendation to any society that might desire his services. He left and went to Texas!
There can be little doubt the teenage Mary Hayden Green Pike was much influenced by this event, especially the courage shown by Deacon Kelley and other Baptists, including her father.
The Pike family were also members of the 1st Baptist Church and eight years later in 1846 she married Frederick Pike. Shortly after her marriage she visited relatives in the South and there encountered slavery directly, an experience unusual for most northerners of the day. What she saw must have only strengthened her already strong abolitionist views.
After her marriage she settled into Frederick Pike’s house on Main Street in Calais. The house was known in later years as “The Keystone.” While they had no children, they did adopt a 10-year-old girl, Mary Stearns, the daughter of a relative. Frederick and Mary called the little girl May. In 1851 the serialized version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published to great acclaim in the North and disdain in the South. Seeing the influence the book had on attitudes toward slavery no doubt inspired Mary to put pen to paper and write Ida May. A preface to the book states in part:
This story, which embodies the ideas and impressions received by the writer, during a residence in the South, is given to the public, in the belief that it will be recognized and accepted as a true picture of that phase of social life which it represents.
The book was an immediate sensation, selling 50,000 copies in just a few months and was compared favorably to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Some critics found it even more powerful than Stowe’s book, others were less impressed.
The Boston Transcript November 21st, 1854
In a literary point of view Ida May will take high rank. It may lack in dramatic power compared with many scenes in Uncle Tom’s cabin, but there is more truth, more reality and a greater delicacy of expression in the dialogue, and the development of the plot quite as startling as in missus Stowe’s famous story. The volume will be extensively read by ladies at the South and its sale at the north will extend to hundreds of thousands. The author is as yet unknown, but it has been hinted that she is a lady of Maine, while others affirm that she is a resident of Cambridge. The fact that the authorship has been so extensively attributed by good critics to missus Stowe, is alone an assurance of its great merit as a work of fiction. Many have asserted that it is a better work than Uncle Tom, but this will not be conceded by the warm friends of missus Stowe. That it is calculated to do more good, as it will be read by a new and additional class of readers, cannot be denied. If the eyes of chivalry of the South are ever to be opened to the enormity of the system of slavery, it will be produced by works written in the spirit and tone of Ida May.
The Herald Times of Newport Rhode Island November 30, 1854:
NEW PUBLICATIONS, Ida May. A story of Things actual and possible. By Mary Langdon. Boston © Phillips, Sampson & Co., 1854.
This long-promised and much-talked of book is out. The real name of the author is not known; she, however, is a woman of very decided ability, and has written a work which will have a most extensive sale, and numberless admirers.
It has not as many faults as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” is more natural and truthful, and, as a literary work, is far superior to the last-named book. In the commencement, pictures are rather highly wrought and somewhat unnatural; however, this is not material, for it is mainly in describing the character and sayings of Ida, when a child of three or four years of age. The author professes to have derived her knowledge of Slavery from observation by a residence at the South, where the scenes are principally laid. As a general thing the characters are well drawn and finely sustained; Aunt Chloe, is a perfect old hag, who has keenly felt the honors and sufferings of Slavery herself, and instead of being the more kind, in consequence, to little Ida, when she is stole. and is placed for a time in Chloe’s custody, she manifests a fiendish malignity, and takes an increased pleasure in torturing the innocent little thing.
Mrs. May’s career is very brief, but the description of her character is very natural. The characters of Mr. Winn and Ida May are admirably sustained throughout. We might go on at more length, in regard to the plot, the different characters, etc. but this is unnecessary. The book is full of interest and contains a great many beautiful things.
We commend it to the attention of our readers as well worthy of their careful perusal. — The publishers have done ample justice to the writer, in the excellent manner in which it is issued. For sale by C. E. Hammett, Jr.
The Buffalo Commercial Traveler disagreed:
Considered as an argument against slavery, Mrs. Stowe’s book has greatly the advantage. Not only are her thrusts dealt with a dexterity and vigor characteristic of a Beecher, but the intrinsic force of the arguments is aided by the character of the persons who employ them. When Mrs. Shelby, an educated, pious, and sensible woman, of mature age and intellect, or St Clarke, a man of high social position, wit, intellect, vivacity, and charming colloquial powers. talks against slavery, their opinions impose themselves on the mind with a power which does not accompany the inflated declamations of a girl fresh from a boarding school and a boy fresh from college, who in Ida May, assume to instruct their superiors.
In perhaps the unkindest cut of all Mary Green Pike’s hometown newspaper, the Eastport Sentinel, was unimpressed by Ida May although when its critique was published December 3, 1854, the paper had no idea the author was one of Eastport’s own.
We must say that we by no means concur in the rapturous applause bestowed upon the book. As the published name of the authoress is fictitious it was early asserted by some of the critics that “ Mary Langdon” could be none other than missus Stowe; but Ida May is no more like Uncle Tom’s Cabin then the sun is to a pumpkin; though the unlikeness, of course, is not a disparagement to the former- Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a work of genius, of passion, of dramatic force; while Ida May is a calm, lucid tale of southern life and manners, intertwined with a love story. We do not say it is without interest: it is interesting, somewhat instructive and its style pure and elevating – but that is all.
In 1855 Ida May became one of the most popular names for newborns. The battle over the respective merits of “Ida May” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” raged for a brief period and then faded from the pages of the newspapers. The question of authorship of Ida May remained officially a mystery but by early 1855 the Eastport Sentinel and other local papers had agreed that Mary Pike was the author although she refused to confirm her authorship. Her adopted daughter Mary Stearns unintentionally let the cat out of the bag. At a gathering of friends at the Pike residence one afternoon the discussion turned to the author of Ida May. Mary Stearns, the Pikes’ little adopted daughter who they called May and who called Mary and Fred aunt and uncle listened to the conversation for a time and exclaimed “Oh, that’s the little girl Aunt Mary used to tell Uncle Fred about last winter!”
The Civil War was on the not distant horizon, and all waited with trepidation for the clash which was inevitable given the growing political and moral power of the ascendant abolitionist movement. There is no question Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Ida May played a role in this ascendancy. The subsequent victory of the North and the abolition of slavery was unfortunately bittersweet for Mary as her beloved brother Thomas Henry Green died at the battle of Cedar Mountain in Virginia in 1862. His commander, General Henry Prince, was captured by the Confederates during the battle and later wrote an after-action report:
Capt. Thomas H. Green, aide-de-camp and acting assistant adjutant-general and chief of staff, whose courage and bearing were of the highest stamp, was detached by me near the close of the day and was undoubtedly killed while in the execution of his duty, though I am obliged to report him missing.
Thorncroft, corner Main and South Streets Calais
The Pikes used some of the proceeds from Ida May to build Thorncroft, an elegant home on a four-acre lot at the corner of South and Main streets. Probably built in the 1860’s Thorncroft was one of Calais’ finest homes and remained a private residence until the 1940’s when it became the Two Acre Inn, adjacent to the Two Acre Restaurant and Cabins. Thorncroft burned in February 1948 and is now the site of the Calais Motor Inn.
From 1875 to 1885 the Pikes lived at Thorncroft, usually spending their winters in Florida or in the South. The property is described in the 1943 master’s thesis of Rachel Reed Griffin, B. A., University of Rochester, 1943 on Mary Pike’s life:
The Pike estate was one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, in Calais. Five acres of lawn, grove, and hedge, with graperies, orchards, and gardens surrounded the large square brown house. Fine elm trees almost hid the house from view, while hothouses and flower beds were on every side. The entrance to the grounds, lined with tall trees, was a gateway in imitation of that of a French chateau. Spacious grounds conveyed the feeling of ease and retirement which the Pikes enjoyed. Frederick was particularly proud of the graperies and Mary used to paint clusters of grapes for him. Mrs. Pike, now in her early fifties, was described as an unusual woman, unusual to look at, fine in strength of features, and lively in expression. Although she was of a serious nature, she had a keen sense of humor. She fully appreciated a joke, many of which her sister provided. She was nevertheless, somewhat of a dreamer.
Published August 1858
Following the success of Ida May Mary wrote two more books, Agnes and Caste. Neither achieved the success of Ida May. Still, she was acknowledged to be one of most important female writers of her generation. In 1857 the first edition of the Atlantic Monthly named Mary Pike as one of four prominent female writers in the country. Ida May, however, was soon forgotten and in 1901 writer John Dana Miller, when compiling a list of “popular works that have been forgotten” put Ida May at the top of the list.
But the most remarkably circulated work in American literary history is Ida May by Mrs. Mary H Pike, of which 60,000 copies were sold in 18 months. As this one was in 1854, it is doubtful, when we reflect that our population was much less than half what it is today, if the record of any subsequent book very much surpasses it.
Following Frederick’s retirement, the couple traveled extensively in Asia and Europe. Mary turned her creative talents to landscape painting. Frederick Pike died in 1886 leaving Mary a substantial fortune and while she retained Thorncroft throughout her life, after Frederick’s death she lived primarily with their adopted daughter Mrs. Morgan Taylor in Plainfield, New Jersey and later with her sister in Baltimore and after her sister’s death with her niece. Mary Pike died January 15, 1908. Her funeral at the Second Baptist Church in Calais was attended by hundreds of local citizens from both sides of the border.
The Calais Advertiser concluded its obituary for Mary Hayden Green Pike as follows:
A great and good woman has passed from among us, leaving to relatives a lasting memory of a wide love; to friends, the effects of a strong and enduring friendship; to the world the incomputable results of a large philanthropy; and to the church an influence that will live throughout the endless ages.
The Pike cemetery lot is marked by the tallest monument in the Calais cemetery. The broken column to the left is the marker for Thomas Green whose death in the Civil War was such a tragic loss to his sister Mary. The broken column signifies a life cut short.
