Mary Stebbins Savage

Mary Stebbins Savage (née Stebbins; nickname, Minnie; pen name, Marion Lisle; 1850-1915) was an American writer of poetry and prose.[1] For many years, she was poet laureate of Wisconsin's "Home Comings" event. In addition, Savage was associated with the temperance and woman's suffrage movements in her state.

Early life

Mary Therese Stebbins[2] was born in the town of Porter, Wisconsin, March 25, 1850. Her father was Harrison Stebbins, a well-to-do farmer and an influential man in Rock County, serving in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Her mother's maiden name was Mary Bassett. Both parents were of New England ancestry and both had a taste for literature.[1] Mary had two siblings, a brother, Shapley Stebbins, who took over the farm, and a sister, Flora Gilley.[3]

Mary's childhood and early adulthood were passed in a country homestead.[1] The Stebbins home was built of stone and was almost palatial in type. On the third floor was a ballroom where on many occasions, the New England settlers gathered from the countryside in early Wisconsin days. Her Steinway piano was one of the first brought to the state. There were hills and groves on this farm and one entered the grounds through a long avenue with overhanging trees.[4]

Imperfect health and consequent leisure, good books and pictures, the piano and standard periodicals influenced her. Mary "was a prominent figure in Cooksville and Stebbinsville literary circles, sharing her Steinway piano and poetic accomplishments." She also acted in local theater productions.[3]

Career

Savage wrote scores of poems, perhaps hundreds, as well as prose. Her contributions covered a long period,[4] and appeared in the Woman's Journal, the Woman's Tribune, the Christian Register, Unity, the Chicago Inter Ocean, the Weekly Wisconsin and other journals.[1] Her poem "Whip-poor-will" (1885), originally published by Unity, commanded the appreciation of John White Chadwick, and was later picked up by a London exchange. "The Path Through the Sagebrush" has perhaps the most complete expression, finished and without flaw, of anything she has done. Her productions also included hymn poems, such as "The Implied Faith", written during the last year of her life. It was adapted to modern hymnology to be sung to any long meter tunes.[4]

For many years, she was poet laureate of Wisconsin's "Home Comings", where every June, she would read her poetry to those assembled at Palmyra, Wisconsin.[4]

Savage was long identified with temperance work in Wisconsin. Both in her writings and in practical personal efforts, she was also associated with the woman's suffrage movement.[1][5]

Personal life

After marrying Edwin Parker Savage in 1876, she moved to a farm in nearby Cooksville, Wisconsin.[1] The couple had four children, three sons and a daughter, a son dying in infancy. Their son, John L. Savage, who became a renowned civil engineer, was born in the family home, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places.[6] No later than 1902,[7] the family moved from the farm to Madison, Wisconsin that the children might have a university education. Lastly, widowed, she followed the daughter and sons to Boise, Idaho.[4]

In religion, she was active in Unitarian Church work.[1]

Mary Stebbins Savage died in Boise, Idaho on December 17, 1915 and was buried in that city's Morris Hill Cemetery,[8] two days later.[9]

Selected works

Poems

  • 1885, "Whip-poor-will"
  • 1886, "City and Country Again"[10]
  • 1886, "Love Hath the Victory[10]
  • 1886, "On Him I Believe"[10]
  • 1886, "The Fount of Youth"[10]
  • 1886, "The Prohibitionist"[10]
  • 1915, "The Flag of Great Dreams"[11]
  • 1914, "Forest Fires"[12]
  • 1884, "The Harvest Hand"[13]
  • 1917, "This Little Church we Love"[4]
  • 1917, "The Patriot"[14]
  • (undated), "The Path Through the Sagebrush"[4]
  • (undated), "The Implied Faith"[4]

Prose

  • "The Mission of a Hearth-Rug", 1883[15]
  • "One Saturday Night", 1879[16]
  • "Pearl Haskell", 1888[17]
  • "Robbie and the Peace Flag", 1915[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "SAVAGE, Mrs. Minnie Stebblns". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. Charles Wells Moulton. p. 634. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "Reclamation Era". United States Bureau of Reclamation. 36 (5). Water and Power Resources Service, U.S. Department of the Interior: 91. May 1950. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  3. ^ a b Porter, Lillian Russell (1964). Choice Seed in the Wilderness. Rockland, Maine: Seth Low Press. p. 162.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lake-Burch, Harriet (31 May 1917). "A Human Hermit Thrush". Unity. LXXIX (14). A.C. Clark: 212–18. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Stanton, Elizabeth Cady; Anthony, Susan Brownell; Gage, Matilda Joslyn; Harper, Ida Husted (1902). History of Woman Suffrage: 1883-1900. Fowler & Wells. p. 987.
  6. ^ Savage House National Register Nomination. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior. 8 February 1980. p. 17.
  7. ^ Atwood, David (1902). Madison Past and Present, 1852-1902. Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ^ "Idaho, Death Certificates, 1911-1937", Entry for Mary Stebbins Savage, 17 Dec 1915, via FamilySearch
  9. ^ "Mary Stebbins Savage". The Idaho Statesman. 19 December 1915. p. 11. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Table of Contents". Unity and the University. XVII (17). Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Company: 50, 91, 141, 146, 294. 1886. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. ^ "'The Flag of Great Dreams', by Mary Stebbins Savage in the Boston Transcript". The Buffalo Commercial. 19 August 1915. p. 4. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. ^ "'Forest Fires', by Mary Stebbins Savage. Boise, Idaho". The Oregonian. 1914-09-15. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-05-15. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ^ "'The Harvest Hand', by Minnie Stebbins Savage". Oconomowoc Free Press. 1884-08-30. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-05-15. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. ^ "The Patriot". The Painter and Decorator. 31 (7): 341. July 1917. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  15. ^ "'The Mission of a Hearth-Rug', by Minnie Stebbins Savage (from the Weekly Wisconsin)". The Merrill Star-Advocate. 21 November 1883. p. 1. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  16. ^ "'One Saturday Night', by Minnie Stebbins Savage". Edwardsburg Argus. 4 December 1879. p. 1. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  17. ^ "'Pearl Haskell', by Minnie Stebbins Savage (from the Milwaukee Wisconsin)". The Merrill Star-Advocate. 14 April 1888. p. 6. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  18. ^ "'Robbie and the Peace Flag', by Mary Stebbins Savage (in the Christian Register)". The Springfield Daily Republican. 25 April 1915. p. 34. Retrieved 15 May 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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