Sarah Orne Jewett Text Project

In Annie Fields (2002), Rita Gollin recounts Annie Fields's reactions to Sarah Orne Jewett's final weeks. On February 4, 1909, Fields wrote: "My dear S. O. J. was stricken down early Sunday morning a small blood vessel giving way in the brain." Gollin continues, "A month later, Sarah was 'still in a low state though reviving a little from time to time.' Though she could speak a bit and even joke with the nurses, she was virtually helpless. Then on 21 April, 'she was carried to her South Berwick home from her Charles Street home. We did not speak again together after that morning. She needed all her steadiness and so did I. She understood and wrote me afterward that she loved it so.' The 'it' was their silent farewell. 'I could not speak for crying,' Sarah wrote from South Berwick the next morning...." For the last two months of her life, Jewett wrote regular notes in barely readable handwriting. "And she copied into her diary what may have been the last of them: 'Goodbye darling with my heart's love your Pinny" (309).

The following is a selection of representative obituaries from the many that appeared upon her death. Readers should remain aware that there are many factual errors in these notices; those in the New York Times have been noted, while some, though not all, are corrected within the texts. Notices not transcribed here are listed at the end of the document.

     South Berwick, Me., June 24. -- In the room where she was born, and where she did much of her literary work, Miss Sarah Orne Jewett died tonight, after an illness of several months from paralysis. She had been at the Jewett homestead since last March, when physicians in Boston told her that her case was hopeless. Her illness, however, did not assume a critical form until Monday and she became confined to her room. Previous to that her sister, Miss May [Mary] R. Jewett, and a corps of nurses moved her in a wheeled chair about the house.
     Miss Jewett was stricken at the home of her friend, Mrs. James T. Fields, 148 Charles street, Boston. Although practically helpless her mind remained clear. After being brought here in a special car and installed in the house of her childhood the famous author seemed to improve for a few days. She recalled incidents in the lives of her father and mother and was also reminiscent of her childhood.
     Miss Jewett was born in South Berwick, Me., Sept. 3, 1849, in one of the most beautiful houses in New England.

South Berwick, Maine. June 23. -- An illness lasting many months ended tonight in the death of Miss Sarah O. Jewett, authoress, regarded as one of the foremost writers of America. Since last March Miss Jewett had been at her old home here. She was a sufferer from apoplexy and paralysis.

Miss Jewett wrote "The King of Folly Island," "The Tory Lover" and numerous other books.

Sarah Orne Jewett

Boston Evening Transcript June 25, 1909, p. 5, 8.

Miss Sarah Orne Jewett, the author, died last night at South Berwick, Me., in the very room where she was born on Sept. 3, 1849. She had been ill for several months with paralysis, but her condition had not assumed an alarming form until the first of the week. She was stricken at the home of her friend, Mrs. James T. Fields, at the latter's Boston home in Charles street, and in March she was taken to South Berwick in a private car. Once home she seemed to improve, but a change came last Monday.

Miss Jewett was the daughter of Dr. Theodore H. and Caroline F. (Perry) Jewett. She was educated at Berwick Academy and early gave evidence of that ability in the literary line which for the rest of her life engaged her constant attention. Her father, besides being a physician, was professor in the medical department of Bowdoin College. The daughter was in the habit of accompanying him on his round of calls, and listening to the conversation in the households that he visited. He was a learned man and the friendly chats were on a wide range of subjects; and from these chats Miss Jewett gathered material which she used to good advantage in her literary work afterwards. Her first contribution to literature was "Deephaven" which was published in the Atlantic Monthly before Miss Jewett was twenty years old.

From that time Miss Jewett was accustomed to issue a volume about once a year, among which are "Play Days," published in 1878; "Old Friends and New," in 1879; "Country By-Ways," in 1881; "The Mate of the Daylight and Friends Ashore," in 1883; and successively "A Country Doctor," "A Marsh Island," "A White Heron and Other Stories," "The Story of the Normans" (Story of Nations, series), "The Kind of Folly Island and Other People," "Betty Leicester -- A Story for Girls," "Strangers and Wayfarers," "A Native of Winby and Other Tales," "The Life of Nancy," "The Country of the Pointed Firs," "Betty Leicester's English Christmas," "The Queen's Twin[s]," and "The Tory Lover." Miss Jewett had also contributed largely to magazines. She was an extensive traveller throughout the United States, Europe and the West Indies. She was a member of the Mayflower Club of Boston and the Lyceum Club of London, Eng.

In 1901 Miss Jewett received the degree of doctor of letters from Bowdoin College and she was the only woman to whom that institution ever conferred the honor of a degree. Her sister, Miss Mary R. Jewett, and her nephew, Dr. Theodore Jewett Eastman of 330 Dartmouth street, Boston, are her only surviving relatives. The house where Miss Jewett was born has been in the possession of the family since 1740. It is a fine old colonial mansion and has welcomed many of the literary celebrities of America and Europe.

Miss Jewett always worked in a methodical manner. Her correspondence was attended to in the morning, and in the afternoon she gave her time to her writing, sometimes penning between 8000 and 10,000 words at a sitting. Some of her magazine stories were written at one sitting, but in her greater works she wrote from 2000 to 4000 words a day, for four or five days, but she claimed that her writing was fitful.

Even before she had ceased to be a frequent contributor to the magazines, Miss Sarah Orne Jewett seemed somehow to belong not so much among her contemporaries as to an elder and superior literary style and epoch -- indeed, her name was often linked with that of Hawthorne and without straining comparison. She has died in what might have been her prime; but there has long been associated with her name and her work "the tender grace of a day that is dead." The French proverb which says that "Style is the man himself" was again illustrated in Miss Jewett's case; she was a lady in birth and rearing -- her father a college-bred man, following the mission of the country physician, her home an old mansion with associations of the family itself dating back to both the great revolutions of the eighteenth century on either side of the Atlantic.

One of the leading English critics writing the other day of some recent American fiction remarked that "the American novelist of the newer order seems to write, as the American young woman talks, at the top of her voice." He went on to say that "the literary ideals of Hawthorne are evidently obsolete; even those of Mr. Henry James and those of Mr. W. D. Howells are contemned or forgotten." In their place are come at the demand for "snap" and "go" and the "epigrammatic" staccato style of a "tense" struggle aiming (as this critic points out, in vain), "to galvanize inert matter to a semblance of vigor and gayety," by employing "freakishness, irreverence, slang and grievous maltreatment of language." Sarah Orne Jewett could never compete with the "best sellers" of the day on any such terms as the sacrifice of her personal dignity or her genuineness of feeling, in short, her literary conscience and self-respect as an artist in supplying to magazine editors the sort of by-product necessary to their business.

On the other hand, she was long ago recognized in the best English literary criticism as ranking only second to Hawthorne as the literary interpreter of the spirit of New England. The genuineness of a notable "appreciation" of Miss Jewett in the London Academy of a few years since is attested by the mingling of bits of criticism with its laudations, as for instance: "We feel that a certain faint charm is struggling unavailingly with an artistic method too monotonous" -- which is surely the remark of an expert and competent, as well as candid, critic. But the same writer goes on to speak of the "peculiar spirituality which her work exhales -- a spirituality inseparable from her unerring perception of her country people's native outlook and instinctive attitude to life" and the exquisite sense of humor interpenetrating this spiritual gravity." This Academy critic of half a dozen years ago appears to have sensed in advance the drawing on of the phases deplored by the critic first cited, the magazines' semi-journalistic and standard manufactured article of fiction, from all competition with which Miss Jewett quietly withdrew: "Almost anybody can produce an arbitrary, concocted picture of life in which every line is a little false, and every tone is exaggerated. Such pictures of life are often as plausibly interesting as the scenes of a spirited panorama. They serve their purpose. But in relation to the rare art which synthesizes for us the living delicacy of nature they are what most modern popular fiction is to the poetic realism of "The Country of the Pointed Firs."

There is more than the keen grief of the personal bereavement, therefore, in the untimely taking-off of this finished and distinguished artist in letters. Those who delighted in her noble and spirited presence, her rich low voice, the quick glance of intelligence passed to a kindred understanding over some irresistible appeal to the sense of humor, or call upon common sympathies, can hardly reconcile her sudden departure with the eternal fitness of things. But there is a larger public loss -- the disappearance of an example of style, in the highest sense of the word, the loss of an ennobling and refining influence, which those who are still at work in American literary production and those who are coming on may well make it a pious task not to allow to be lost altogether for the honor and future of the American literary guild. Miss Jewett's best outward and visible monument will ever be those "marsh islands" of the old English New England, between Ipswich and Newburyport, crowned with oaks and other great trees -- the region that she loved. It is one of the most picturesque in New England, viewed at any hour, but its highest charm is when twilight softens its outlines, and lends the atmosphere of a Sarah Orne Jewett story.

South Berwick, Me. June 24 -- Sarah Orne Jewett died at her summer home here at 6:40 tonight.

While living in Boston early in the present year Miss Jewett had an attack of apoplexy which caused paralysis of one side of her body and, although her mind remained clear, she became nearly helpless physically. In March, she was brought here in a special car.

Monday her illness assumed a critical form and she was confined to her room. Since that time she had failed steadily and her friends knew that the end was not far off. It is believed that another attack of the brain hemorrhage from which she first suffered was the immediate cause of death.

Her sister, Miss Mary R. Jewett, and her nephew, Dr Theodore Jewett Eastman of 330 Darmouth st. Boston, are her only surviving relatives.

modern hands: In fact, the Jewett family regularly modernized the original South Berwick house, including additions, plumbing and electricity.

atheneum: According to "Leaves $3,000,000" in the Boston Daily Globe (30 March 1907, p. 11), Mrs. Cabot's bequest to Jewett was $2000 and the Atheneum share.

AUTHOR
-----
Of Delightful Stories,
-----
Miss Sarah Orne Jewett Succumbs to Long Illness.

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Was a leader Among Women Writers of America

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She Was Made a Doctor of Letters by Bowdoin University Eight Years Ago.

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Cincinnati Enquirer 25 June 1909.

South Berwick, Maine, June 24. -- An illness lasting many months ended to-night in the death of Miss Sarah Orne Jewett, regarded as one of the foremost women writers of America. Since last March Miss Jewett had been at her old home here, where for many years she was accustomed to pass her summers, and it was there that her death occurred last evening. She was a sufferer from apoplexy and paralysis.

    It was while living in Boston, early in the year, at the residence of her friend, Mrs. James T. Fields, widow of the famous Boston publisher, that Miss Jewett was stricken with the disease which proved fatal. In March she was brought to her home here. She was able to be moved about in a wheel chair and to receive friends and she spent much time in reading and studying.

    Miss Jewett was of sturdy New England stock. She was born in South Berwick, Maine, September 3, 1849, and after an academic education traveled extensively in the country, Canada and Europe.

    Her first story, "Deephaven," was published when she was 28 years of age. It was soon followed by other volumes, which established her rank among the leading women of letters in America.

    "Play Days," "Old Friends and New," "Country By-ways," "A Country Doctor," "A Marsh Island," "A Story of the Normans," "The King of Folly Island," "The Life of Nancy," "The Queen's Twin" and "A Tory Lover" are among her chief works.

    She loved in a delightful summer home at South Berwick, but had a residence in Boston, which was regularly the meeting place of a wide circle of friends interested in literature and general culture.

In 1901 Bowdoin College conferred upon her the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters.

SARAH ORNE JEWETT.

From the New York Tribune 25 June 1909, p. 7

South Berwick, Me., June 24. -- Sarah Orne Jewett died at her summer home at 6:40 o'clock to-night.

Miss Jewett had been ill for many months. Since last March she had been at her old home here, where for many years she had been accustomed to pass her summers. She had been suffering from apoplexy and paralysis, and the former was the direct cause of her death.

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    Sarah Orne Jewett was known for forty years as a writer of brilliant short stories of New England country live. She was a pioneer in the field. It was she who made story lovers feel at home in the stiff New England parlors and the prim village streets trodden by the descendants of the Puritans.

    Indeed, this clew not merely to her quality as a writer but her character as a woman is best expressed in her own explanation of how she came to write: "When I was perhaps fifteen," she said, "the first city borders began to make their appearance near Berwick, and the way they misconstrued the country people and made game of their peculiarities fired me with indignation. I determined to teach the world that country people were not the awkward, ignorant set those persons seemed to think. I wanted the world to know their grand, simple lives; and, so far as I had a mission, when I first began to write, I think that was it."*

    Miss Jewett was a woman of charming personality. Although her early education was obtained entirely in her little country home town, it was under the best auspices, for her people were well descended and educated. To this early education and her own natural gifts were added the broadening influence of travel and association. Her intimacy with Mrs. James T. Fields at an early age opened to her the doors of the most cultured society in Boston and in Europe, and therefore she was enabled to look upon the people of whom she wrote from a dual point of view.

    The author's birthplace and home is a beautiful Colonial house, built over one hundred and fifty years ago, in the old town of South Berwick, Me. She was born in 1849. Her father, Dr. Theodore H. Jewett, was a highly educated physician and a professor in the medical department of Bowdoin College. In "A Country Doctor" is found a glimpse of their happy companionship. Indeed, it was under her wise father's supervision that she obtained most of her education. Much of her time was spent browsing in his excellent library.

    Miss Jewett's first story was accepted by "The Atlantic Monthly," purely on its merits, when she was twenty years old. "Deephaven" was her first success. Since then she has published a long list of books. A large part of her time she spent at her old home in Maine, though part of each year was passed with Mrs. Fields in Boston. She travelled extensively in this country and abroad.

    In personal appearance Miss Jewett was tall and dignified, with a well bred grace and courtesy of manner. She had a bright, piquant face and a low musical voice. In conversation she was bright and interesting, selecting her words with quick discrimination. She possessed a keen wit....

Note

This quotation first appeared in an interview in the Boston Sunday Herald 14 July 1901. It echoes ideas she expressed in her preface to the 1893 edition of Deephaven.

Funeral of Miss Jewett Tomorrow

Note
This newspaper notice is available courtesy of the University of New England Maine Women Writers Collection. Its source is unknown; assistance identifying the source is welcome.

SARAH ORNE JEWETT,

NOTED WRITER, DEAD

New York Times, 25 June 1909, p. 9.

Admired for Her Stories of New England Rural Life

-- Praised by Lowell.

DEATH FOLLOWED PARALYSIS

Sixty Years Old, Most of Her Life Had
Been Spent Between Her Native
Maine and Boston

SOUTH BERWICK, Me., June 24. -- An illness lasting many months ended to-night in the death of Miss Sarah Orne Jewett, Litt. D., author of many books and regarded as one of the foremost women writers of America. Since last March Miss Jewett had been at her old home here, where for many years she had been accustomed to pass her Summers, and it was in the old home that her death occurred at 6:40 this evening.

It was while living in Boston early in the present year, at the residence of her friend, Mrs. James T. Fields, widow of a famous Boston publisher, and herself an author of various books, that Miss Jewett had an attack of apoplexy which caused paralysis on one side of her body, and, although her mind remained clear, she became nearly helpless physically.

It is believed that another attack of the brain hemorrhage from which she first suffered was the immediate cause of death.

The house where Miss Jewett was born, on Sept. 3, 1849, has been in the possession of the Jewett family since 1740.* Miss Jewett was the daughter of Dr. Theodore H. and Caroline F. (Perry) Jewett.

Miss Jewett was best known to the literary world through her stories of New England country life. These were published both in book form and in the magazines.

Her father was a country physician.

Delicate health in childhood compelled Miss Jewett to spend most of her time in the open air. She therefore accompanied her father every day on his rounds among his patients. During these trips she stored up material which later found its way into print. Afterward, gaining somewhat in strength, Miss Jewett attended the academy in her native village.

Her career as an author began when she was quite young. While she was at the Berwick Academy, she was only seventeen then, several short stories under her name appeared in "Our Young Folks," and the Riverside Magazine.* She ventured to send a story to the Atlantic Monthly when she was nineteen years of age, and since then hardly a year has passed without a volume from her.

Although nearly all of her life was spent between the house in which she was born in Maine and at the home of Mrs. James T. Fields, these places were not the only ones with which Miss Jewett was acquainted. She traveled throughout this country and made several trips abroad.

Among Miss Jewett's principal writings were "Deephaven," in 1877; "Old Friends and New," published in 1880; "Country Byways," which was published in the following year; "A Country Doctor," in 1884; a series of stories of the nations, which was published in 1887; "Tales of New England," in 1888, and "The Country of the Pointed Firs," published in 1897. Other stories were "A Marsh Island," "The Story of the Normans," her last book being "The Tory Lover," published in 1901. Miss Jewett was a contributor besides, to many magazines. In 1901 she received the degree of Doctor of Letters from Bowdoin College.

Editor's Notes

The Jewett House

Stories vary from the observable facts about when the Jewett family came into possession of what is now known as the Jewett House in South Berwick.

Though this is difficult to determine with exactness, it appears that the ownership of the land on which the house and its outbuildings stood became unclear when heirs of John Haggens died intestate between 1822 and 1827. The estates were settled by 1830, and it seems that Nancy Haggens became the main owner of the Jewett house and lands.
Paula Blanchard states that Theodore F. Jewett (Sarah's grandfather) moved into the Jewett house with his second wife, Olive Walker, soon after their marriage in 1821. Though Blanchard states that T. F. Jewett bought the house at that time, in fact the purchase was not completed until 1839, and SPNEA research suggests that Theodore Furber Jewett rented the property from John Haggens's estate at first. The house did not change hands legally (by deed) until 1839. On May 27, 1839, Thomas Jewett (Sarah's uncle) purchased from Nancy Haggens and the estate of John Haggens several parcels of property (York Deeds 164:267). On the same day, Thomas sold the "mansion house" and lot to his brother, Theodore (York Deeds 164:269).

Jewett's literary beginnings

Jewett's first two published works appeared in The Flag of the Union and Our Young Folks, when she was 18. Her third publication, "Mr. Bruce," a short story, appeared in Atlantic Monthly when she was 19.

Jewett's works -- corrections

Old Friends and New - 1879

Country By-Ways - 1881

Tales of New England - 1890

The Country of the Pointed Firs - 1896

There was no "series of stories of the nations," but in 1887, Jewett published The Story of the Normans, a volume in a series of "stories of the nations" school texts.

Death of Sarah Orne Jewett
at the Old Berwick Homestead
-- Maine Loses One of Her Most Gifted Authors.

Lewiston Journal, Illustrated Magazine Section
June 26-30, 1909, p. 12.

Sarah One Jewett, considered by some the most gifted of our Maine authors and by all one of the foremost women writers of America, is dead.

The end came Thursday evening at the old South Berwick homestead, thus fulfilling a wish expressed by Miss Jewett some time ago.

"I was born here and I hope to die here, leaving the lilac bushes still green and all the chairs in their places," she said.

It was while living in Boston, early in the present year, at the residence of her friend, Mrs. James T. Fields, widow of a Boston publisher, and herself an author of various books, that Miss Jewett was stricken with the disease which proved fatal. She had an attack of apoplexy, which caused paralysis of one side of her body, and altho her mind remained clear she became nearly helpless physically. Miss Jewett remained at Mrs. Fields' home, 148 Charles street, Boston, until March, when she was brought to her ancestral residence in a special car.

Under the care of her sister, Miss Mary R. Jewett and a corps of nurses, the authoress was able to be moved about the house in a wheel chair and to receive her friends, while she continued to devote much of her time to reading and study. It was not until last Monday that her illness assumed a critical form and she became confined to her room.

Dr. Theodore Jewett, father of Sarah Orne Jewett, was a professor in the medical department at Bowdoin College, president of the Maine Medical Society, and a writer on professional topics. As a child, the authoress used to drive over the country roads with him when he visited his patients and she then go an insight into the lives of the rural New England characters which she alter depicted with such fidelity.

When she was a little girl, too, she was very imaginative and would tell herself fairy stories by the hour. At first she wrote stories in rhyme. Over all her work her father exercised a guiding watchfulness and it is due to the practical trend of his direction that she developed accuracy in observation and a sense of the value of details which mark her stories.

In those days Berwick was a port of trade, and in her childhood Miss Jewett heard tales of the sea and foreign ports which thrilled her and packed her brain with such ideas of the world that she could never regard mundane things as commonplace.

Educated mostly at home and at Berwick Academy, Miss Jewett traveled extensively thru this country and Europe while a girl. From her den leading off the upper hall she has been writing since she was a child. Here at 14 she wrote "Lucy Garron's Lovers," and later "Deephaven," "A Country Doctor," "A Marsh Island" and "The Country of the Pointed Firs." She was a fruitful writer, turning out from 8000n to 10,000 words on her busiest days. When she was 19, she had a story accepted purely on its merits by the Atlantic Monthly[.] It has often been said that she first called attention to the simple dignity of the country folk of her section who had formerly been habitually burlesqued.

Of all her books she cared most for "A Country Doctor" for a personal reason. it is really a portrait of her father. "Deephaven" was her first published book. It came in in 1877. This was followed by "Play Days," "Old Friends and New," "Country By-Ways," "A Country Doctor," "A Marsh Island," "The Story of the Normans" and many others, her latest book being "The Tory Lover," published in 1901. Miss Jewett was a contributor besides to many magazines.

In 1901 Miss Jewett received the degree of doctor of letters from Bowdoin College, and she was the only woman on whom that institution ever conferred the honor of a degree. That fact that James Russell Lowell said of her in writing to some London publishers just before his death: "Nothing more pleasingly characteristic of rural life in New England has been written than that from the pen of Miss Sarah Orne Jewett," would of itself show that Bowdoin made no mistake in dubbing her a doctor of letters.

Sarah Orne Jewett Dead
Was One of the Foremost Women Writers of America

Montreal Gazette 25 June 1909. p. 1.

South Berwick, Me., June 24. -- An illness lasting many months ended early tonight in the death of Miss Sarah Orne Jewett, Litt.D., author of many books and regarded as one of the foremost women writers of America. She was a sufferer from apoplexy and paralysis. In Boston early in the present year, Miss Jewett had an attack of apoplexy which caused a paralysis of one side of her body, and although her mind remained clear, she became nearly helpless physically. In March she was brought to her ancestral residence here in a special car and progressed so well that she was able to be moved about the house in a wheel chair and to receive her friends. She continued also to devote much of her time to reading and studying. It was not until last Monday that her illness assumed a critical form and Miss Jewett was confined to her room. Since that time she has been failing steadily and her friends knew that the end was not far off. It is believed that another attack of brain hemorrhage [hemhorrage] from which she first suffered, was the immediate cause of death. Miss Jewett was born September 3, 1849, the daughter of Dr. Theodore H. and Caroline F. (Perry) Jewett. Among her literary works are "Play Days," "Old Friends and New," "Country By-Ways," "A Country Doctor, "A Marsh island," and "The Story of the Normans." Her last book was "The Tory Lover [Liver]."

Funeral of Miss Jewett Tomorrow

South Berwick, Me., June 25 -- The funeral of Sarah Orne Jewett, the author, whose death occurred last evening at her summer home here, will take place, Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock at the Congregational Church. The service will be conducted by the Rev. George Lewis, D. D., who has been pastor of the church for thirty-five years. The bearers will be Charles C. Hobbs, William Thompson, two of the oldest members of the church, William A. H. Goodwin and John B. Whitehead.

Note

This newspaper notice is available courtesy of the University of New England Maine Women Writers Collection. Its source is unknown.
About half of this text appears in the New York Tribune for 26 June 1909, p. 7.

SIMPLE FUNERAL FOR SARAH ORNE JEWETT.

Louisville Courier-Journal, 28 June 1909, p. 2

South Berwick, Me., June 25 -- The funeral to-day of Miss Sarah Orne Jewett, the author, was marked by that extreme dignity and simplicity which characterized her life and her writings.

The services were conducted by the Rev. Dr. George Lewis, for thirty-five years Miss Jewett's pastor at the Congregational church. The Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Psalms and De Wolfe Howe's poem, "The Travelers," a favorite of Miss Jewett, were read.

RESTS BESIDE HER PARENTS
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Simple Services for Miss Jewett.
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People of South Berwick, Me, Show Their Esteem.
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Casket Banked With Rare Floral Tributes.

Boston Daily Globe, 28 June 1909, p. 13

    South Berwick, Me. June 27 -- The funeral of Miss Sarah Orne Jewett, the author, held in her ancestral home today, was marked by that extreme dignity and simplicity which had characterized her life and her writings. The Body lay in the casket in the front parlor and the people of the town, invited from the pulpits of each church of the village, came to pay their last respects, as in previous years they had come to mark the passing of her parents and of her grandparents in the same old mansion.

    The services were conducted by the Rev. Dr. George Lewis, for 35 years Miss Jewett's pastor at the Congregational church. The 23d and 24th Psalms were read and and De Wolfe Howe's poem, "The Travelers,"* one of her favorites. Interment was in the Portland-st. cemetery beside the tombs of Miss Jewett's parents and grandparents.

     Banked about the casket were glorious floral tributes from friends in many parts of New England. Among those at the services were many from distant cities and towns, Thomas Nelson Page, the author, and others of note gathering to pay their final tribute. The bearers were Charles C. Hobbs, William Thompson, William A. H. Goodwin and John B. Whitehead.

Notes

"The Travelers": The texts read at Jewett's funeral are from Psalms in the Bible, and from Harmonies: A Book of Verse (1909) by American editor and author and Jewett friend, Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe (1864-1960).

The Travellers

They made them ready and we saw them go
Out of our very lives;
Yet this world holds them all,
And so it must befall
That we shall know
How this one fares, how that one thrives;
And one day -- who knows when? --
They shall be with us here again.

Another traveller left us late
Whose life was as the soul of ours;
A stranger guest went with him to the gate,
And closed it breathing back a breath of flowers.
And what the eyes we loved now look upon,
What industries the hands employ,
In what new speech the tongue hath joy,
We may not know -- until one day,
And then another, as our toil is done,
The same still guest shall visit us,
And one by one
Shall take us by the hand and say,
"Come with me to the country marvellous,
Where he has dwelt so long beyond your sight.
'T were idle waiting for his own return
That ne'er shall be; face the perpetual light,
And with him learn
Whate'er the heavens unfold of knowledge infinite."
Each after each then shall we rise,
And follow through the stranger's secret gate,
And we shall ask and hear, beyond surmise,
What glorious life is his, since desolate
We stood about the bed
Where our blind eyes looked down on him as dead.

SARAH ORNE JEWETT.

EMBODIED RESERVED NEW ENGLAND SPIRIT.

Her Habits of Writing -- No one to Fill the Niche Left Vacant.

(Correspondence of the Courant)

Caroline Ticknor

Hartford Courant, 3 July 1909, p. 11.

Boston, Mass., June 30.

    A fortnight since, Boston mourned the departure of one who had been for many years, not only a writer and public benefactor, but also a well-known figure, familiar to thousands of citizens in this community. Not to know Edward Everett Hale, at least by sight, argued oneself, if not "unknown," certainly unobserving of something of recluse. He was a veritable high-priest of the people, and they would have exclaimed in response to an interrogation concerning him: "That is our Dr. Hale."

    Proud as her fellow citizens were of the excellence of Miss Jewett's literary achievements, they would never have presumed to claim her personally as their own. If the distinguished preacher was high-priest of the people, Sarah Orne Jewett was a priestess of the inner shrine. She was quite, conservative, exclusive, shunning all notoriety and screening persistently from the public gaze her own private concerns. She truly embodied that reserved New England spirit which she so vividly depicted; her pen was graceful and exquisite, seeming to belong more nearly to the generation which claimed Nathaniel Hawthorne for its own, than to that recent school which has so clearly demonstrated the fact that some of the worst written books may figure as "best sellers."

    Indeed as a literary interpreter of New England, Miss Jewett was long ago recognized in the best English criticism as ranking only second to Hawthorne. At the magic of her touch the narrow, sordid commonplace New England was transformed into a fair country, in which there are green pastures, delectable mountains and beings whose souls are not pitifully cramped or distorted and whos bodies are not lean, lank and improperly nourished. Miss Jewett has been described as a water-colorist; her sketches resting for their value not upon dramatic qualities, or strong color, but upon their pure tone and singleness of effort, and her exquisite technique has been pronounced equal to that of Guy de Maupassant, while her stories are permeated with a delightful humor, in which the Frenchman was lacking.

    Miss Jewett breathed her last in her home at South Berwick, Maine, in the very room in which she was born, a circumstance paralleled among our New England writers by [ James Russell ] Lowell only, whose entire life was identified with the beautiful estate of "Elmwood" in Cambridge. The Jewett homestead, where the writer in question first drew breath, September 3, 1849, is one of the most beautiful of the old New England homes. It was erected early in the eighteenth century and stands close to the street amid luxuriant shrubbery and great elms that lend to it a rich background of green. In this fine old colonial mansion which as welcomed so many distinguished literary guests, there are many interesting rooms, each filled with antique mahogany and carved high-backed old chairs. Moving among them during her last visit to the house, Miss Jewett said: "I was born here and I hope I shall die here, and -- leave all the chairs in their places."

    Miss Jewett, who had long been in delicate health, was stricken with paralysis some months ago, at the Boston home of her devoted friend, Mrs. James T. Fields, and was removed in March, to the homestead in South Berwick. Although practically helpless, her mind remained clear and her illness did not assume a critical form until a few days before her death; prior to this her sister, Miss Mary R. Jewett, and a corps of nurses moved her in a wheeled chair about the house.

    Miss Jewett was but 20 years old when her story "Deephaven"* appeared in the "Atlantic Monthly," from which time she has been a constant though not voluminous contributor to the literature of the day, publishing in all some twenty books.

    The [Tthe] material of "Deephaven" was gathered by the writer during those early days when she accompanied her father, Dr. Theodore H. Jewett in his drives about the country; the doctor was a learned and delightful man, who occupied the chair of medicine at Bowdoin College in addition to his regular duties as a physician. Father and daughter spent many happy hours in the discussion of all imaginable topics as they jogged along the country roads, and these discussions bore valued fruit in the later years of the doctor's appreciative companion and listener.

    Miss Jewett always worked in a methodical manner; her correspondence was promptly attended to in the morning, and in the afternoon she gave her time to composition. It is said that she sometimes penned from 5,000 to 10,000 words at a sitting, though as a rule she averaged from 2,000 to 4,000 words a day, working, however, fitfully as her mood dictated. In 1901 she received the degree of doctor of letters from Bowdoin College, being the only woman ever honored by the institution with a degree. And well may "The Country of the Pointed Firs" have bestowed this mark of appreciation upon one who was able to set forth with a graceful pen the poetic as well as the realistic side of her picture.

    Miss Jewett was known widely by her work which had gained for her the highest praise both here and in the old world, and in that world of letters, where she had won so enviable a place, one looks in vain for a successor among the younger writers, who may fill creditably the niche left vacant.

    As for herself, she craved but to be allowed to remain peacefully aloof from the great crowded highways; she shunned instinctively the beckoning fingers of clubs and organizations, preferring the seclusion of the dear "inner shrine" where dwelt her closest friends and intimate companions.

    The strong bond of affection which existed for many years between Miss Jewett and Mrs. James T. Fields will long be memorable among literary friendships, and the two names will continue to be coupled, as they have been in connection with the best literary traditions of Boston.

    Large is the public loss when there vanishes from the community one who has in her work and life embodied the highest ideals of literature and living. But how keen is the individual sorrow of the many friends who ever took delight in a presence both spirited and noble, a rich low voice, a glance of quick intelligence and a delicious sense of humor mingled with a wealth of human sympathy.

Caroline Ticknor.

Note

"Deephaven": Jewett's first "Deephaven" story, "The Shore House," appeared in Atlantic in September 1873, as Jewett was turning 24. One might also be skeptical of the assertion that much of the story material that became Jewett's first novel, Deephaven (1877), came from her childhood talks with her father, important as those were to her education and development.

from "Boston Gossip of Latest Books"
New York Times, 3 July 1909.

Book Review, p. BR421.

The lamented death of Miss Sarah Orne Jewett takes away from earth a soul as sweet, a heart as gentle as ever guided a pen. She drew her own portrait in her gentlewomen, young and old, and should her biography be written she can best be described in her own phrases. So far as human vision could discern, she attained her own idea in grace, courtesy, and charity. When the Atlantic was giving those dinners to which ladies were admitted, it was amusing to hear men, after being sufficiently voluble in praise of others, hesitate when they came to her name, and to see how many of them were satisfied with crying, " But Miss Jewett!" with an ecstatic expression. No woman dissented. She charmed all. Her epitaph should be "How good! how kind! and she is gone!" She had not been quite well since the accident of which there was a rumor some years ago, but illness and pain were borne with dignified sweetness which left no unlovely memory in any mind, and will never be forgotten by those to whom glimpses of it were granted.

Sarah Orne Jewett.
The Outlook 92 (3 July 1909) 542-3.

Those who recall Sarah Orne Jewett on the threshold of her career can never forget the sweet serenity of her face, the beauty of her brow, the gentle truthfulness of her eye, the atmosphere of candor in which she lived, the harmony of keen observation, quiet sympathy, and poise of judgment which moved with her. The resemblance between her work and that of Jane Austen's has often been noted. Pressed too far, that resemblance dissolves into thin air; but superficially the two women had many things in common. Both were free from the blight of an over-developed literary consciousness; both met life and studied it, not so much on its highways as in its byways; both looked not only for the eccentricities and inconsistencies of character, but for its fundamental goodness, its saving sweetness, its normal expression of normal ambitions; and both found what they looked for. Born in a colonial house, of a cultivated New England parentage, the daughter of a country physician, and growing up among books in the quiet of a New England town, Miss Jewett expressed the spirit of the Pilgrims rather than that of the Puritans. Her vision of righteousness was merged in a larger view of life than fell to the lot of the Puritan, and was tempered by a sweetness and breadth of sympathy which made her the recorder, not only of the judgments expressed in character and fate, but of those qualities which redeem the hardness of life and modify its cruel fortunes. She loved her people:

"When I was perhaps fifteen," she said, "the first city borders began to make their appearance near Berwick, and the way they misconstrued the country people and made game of their peculiarities fired me with indignation. I determined to teach the world that country people were not the awkward, ignorant set those persons seemed to think. I wanted the world to know their grand, simple lives; and, so far as I had a mission, when I first began to write, I think that was it."

A villager to the end of her life in her sense of the significance of local things, of the interest of local characters, of the happy intimacy which comes from unfolding out of the soil in which one's roots were planted, Miss Jewett was also a woman of the modern world. She had broadening and stimulating associations. She knew the Old World as well as the New; she had access to the ancient culture as well as sympathy with the modern intelligence and the modern spirit. She knew Boston, and Boston loved her; but there were doors across the Atlantic held open by hands equally friendly. Living for many years with Mrs. James T. Fields, in a house furnished, as Mr. James said in "The Bostonians," "with associations," the intimate friend of an American woman the fine quality of whose mind and the charm of whose talent are known to all readers of "Under the Olive," Miss Jewett's lines were cast in pleasant places; and until her illness, which was probably the result of a carriage accident, her career was one of quiet growth and singular prosperity. Her first story found its way into the Atlantic Monthly when she was only twenty years old. Her early novel, "Deephaven," was eagerly read by a public keen enough to appreciate its literary charm, its quick and faithful observation of life, and its delightful humor. Several long and many short stories represent Miss Jewett's literary work. In one of them, "A Country Doctor," she recalls her happy companionship with her father and the pleasant ways of rural life in a New England hamlet and about the New England countryside. All her stories were biographic in a sense that they reflected, not the story of the happenings of her individual life, but the happenings of that wider community life into which, through sympathy and insight, she entered so simply that she came to the very heart of it almost without consciousness of the fidelity of her record.

It was her happy fortune to describe the gentle side of New England life, and to leave behind her a social history of quite inestimable value in which the future generations will live again with the quiet women, sweet-tempered and resolute, the quiet men, hard-working, shrewd, and kindly, as well as the humorous and eccentric figures, who peopled the New England of a generation ago. She opened the door to colonial homes in which breathed the refinement of an earlier New England society; she conveyed the charm of the high breeding of that older society, its love of books, its simplicity and dignity. She had the key also to the farm-houses and the little houses by the sea; and into whatsoever home she went, it was never as an intruder, but always as an affectionate and sympathetic student of the men and women she loved. "A Marsh Island," "The Country of the Pointed Firs," "A Native of Winby, and Other Tales," "The Queen's Twin," and many another tale, long and short, not only constitute her contribution to American literature, but are happy disclosure of her spirit. She was never infected by curiosity concerning morbid things; the passion for psychology which has brought confusion and weariness into art, and distorted and wasted many a talent, never touched her. She went her quiet way, as Jane Austin went hers; and when many a "big, bow-wow" book, to recall Scott's phrase, has been forgotten, her pure English, her fresh and faithful transcriptions from life, and her delightful humor will be remembered.

WOMANKIND: SARAH ORNE JEWETT

The Jewish Exponent 19 November 1909, p. 5.

Edited by Judith Solis Cohen

SARAH ORNE JEWETT

Gained Insight Into Human Nature
From Being a Doctor's Daughter

    With the passing of Sarah Orne Jewett some time ago, there went a sterling American writer who portrayed affectionately and to the life "the dry, shrewed, quick witted New England type." She was born "down East" in Maine, the daughter of a country doctor. Making the rounds with her father amid the New England folk, she learned to know, to respect and to love them, and no one has done greater honor than she to homespun virtues, sharp humor and the real kindliness beneath the sometimes bleak exterior of the country folk of Maine and of New England generally. She was a true artist, seeking not to produce effects, but to reproduce character and life as she saw it. What she has written will live, then, doubtless for generations after much of the present-day writing that seeks merely after effecct and does not go below the surface of things has been forgotten.

    Physicians can scarcely help but feel that she owed much to intimate relations with her father than enabled her to get so near the heart of truth in life. Indeed, she as much as says so herself. "You doctors ought to be our historians," says a character in her novel, 'A Country Doctor,' for you alone see the old country folk familiarly and can talk to them without restraint." Doubtless there is no more than one reminiscent, if not biographic touch in this appreciative sketch of the country physician who joined the knowledge of personality and of human nature to his skill in diseases, which last grew to be "a wonder second-sight." Such, for instance, is this: "The doctor told Nan many curious things as they drove about together; certain traits of certain families, and how the Dyers were of strong constitution, and lived to a great age in spite of severe illnesses and accidents and all manner of unfavorable conditions; while the Dunnells, who looked a great deal stronger, were sensitive, and deficient in vitality, so that an apparently slight attack of disease quickly proved fatal. And so Nan knew that one thing to be considered was the family, and another the individual variation, and she began to recognize the people who might be treated fearlessly, because they were safe to form a league with against any ailment, being responsive to medicines, and straightforward in their departure from or return to a state of health; others being treacherous and hard to control, full of surprises, and baffling a doctor with their feints and follies of symptoms; while all the time Death himself was making ready for a last, fatal siege; these all being the representatives of types which might be found elswhere."*

    The great body of country physicians in America may well be proud of Miss Jewett and her work because it shows their attitude toward humanity in so sympathetic a light.

Note

elswhere: This word is so spelled, and the author has altered it from the original, which reads "everywhere." The quotation also alters a few punctuation marks from the original.

Other Obituaries and Notices

Baltimore Sun -- 25 June 1909, p. 11.

Detroit Free Press -- 25 June 1909, p. 2.

Hartford (CT) Courant -- 25 June 1909, p. 1.

Indianapolis Star -- 25 June 1909, p. 1

Toledo Blade -- 1 July 1909, p. 5.

Toronto Globe and Mail -- 25 June 1909, p. 2.

Edited by Terry Heller, with assistance from Linda Heller. Coe College

Biography

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