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Part of the American
History & Genealogy Project |
Constance Cary Harrison 1843 ~ 1920
Constance Cary Harrison
Was before her marriage Constance Cary,
of Virginia, and on her father's side she is descended from
Colonel Miles Carey of Devonshire, England, who emigrated to
America and settled in Virginia about the middle of the
seventeenth century, and during the rule of Sir William Berkeley
was one of the king's council. Her father, Archibald Cary, of
Gary's Brook, Virginia, was the son of Virginia Randolph, who
was the ward and pupil of Thomas Jefferson and sister of his
son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph. Her mother was the youngest
daughter of Thomas Fairfax, Baron of Cameron, who resided upon a
large plantation in Fairfax, Virginia. It is said Mrs. Harrison
inherits her literary taste from her grandmother on her father's
side, Mrs. Wilson Jefferson Gary, who was herself a writer, and
whose father's writings exerted quite an influence over Thomas
Jefferson.
Mrs. Harrison's first story was written
when she was but seventeen years of age. The Civil War brought
an end to her literary aspirations and the loss of her home
necessitated her mother and herself living abroad for some
years.
After her return to this country she
married Burton Harrison, a prominent member of the New York Bar.
Charles A. Dana was a great friend of Mrs. Harrison and gave her
the agreeable task of editing "Monticello Letters," and
from this she gleaned the matter which was the basis of her
story, "The Old Dominion." Some of the stories that she
has written are: "Helen of Troy," "The
Old-Fashioned Fairy Book," "Short Comedies
for American Players," a translation; "The Anglomaniacs,"
"Flower-de-Hundred." "Sweet Bells Out of Tune,"
"A Bachelor Maid," "An Errant Wooing," "A
Princess of the Hills," "A Daughter of the South."
Mrs. Harrison resides is New York, and is still busy with her
pen.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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