George Douglass Sherley (June 27, 1857– December 28, 1917) was an author, journalist, and poet. Sherley was born and lived in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, USA. He was born into a wealthy family with interests in railroad companies and inherited the family's estate. He graduated from
Centre College
Centre College, formally Centre College of Kentucky, is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, United States. Chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819, the col ...
and then studied law at the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
. He worked as a journalist for the ''
Louisville Courier-Journal
The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...
'' beginning in the 1870s despite his millionaire status. He wrote poetry and short stories which he published using his own wealth during the 1880s.
[Van Allen, p. 352][Kleber, p. 182]
His works received little attention until he partnered with the popular poet
James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...
in 1893 to tour the United States. Riley helped Sherley gain acceptance in the western literary community and, as part of Riley's show, he performed with other major talents including
Samuel Clemens
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fa ...
.
After Riley and Sherley stopped touring in 1895, Sherley returned to live in both Louisville and
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
, where he continued writing poetry and short stories, and three novels. His best selling books were ''Love Perpetuated'', ''A Few Short Sketches'' and ''The Inner Sisterhood'', published by J.P. Morton & Company. He had success writing short stories to serve as introductions to sheet music and other authors' works.
Martinsville, Indiana
Martinsville is a city in Washington Township, Morgan County, Indiana, United States. The population was 14,980 at the 2020 United States census. The city is the county seat of Morgan County.
History
Martinsville was founded in 1822. It is said ...
, and is buried in the Cave Hill Cemetery
Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buri ...
in Louisville.[
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References
Further reading
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External links
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1857 births
1917 deaths
Writers from Louisville, Kentucky
Centre College alumni
Poets from Kentucky
Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery
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