Ethel Hillyer Harris was a writer of

Southern United States literature Southern United States literature consists of American literature written about the Southern United States or by writers from the region. Literature written about the American South first began during the Colonial history of the United States, ...

Biography

Ethel Hillyer was born and reared in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

. A daughter of Dr. Eben Hillyer and a granddaughter of Judge

Junius Hillyer Junius Hillyer (April 23, 1807 – June 21, 1886) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician who served two terms in the United States Congress. Early years and education Junius Hillyer was born in Wilkes County, Georgia, on April 23, 180 ...

, she comes from one of the best known families in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Her grandfather served five years in Congress and was the friend of such men as Stephens, Toombs, Hill and Cobb. She was a niece of Judge

George Hillyer George Hillyer (March 17, 1835October 2, 1927) was an American politician, serving as the 29th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, as well as a state representative and senator. He was also an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Ci ...

, of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, a prominent member of the Georgia bar. On her grandmother's side she was a lineal descendant of

Lyman Hall Lyman Hall (April 12, 1724 – October 19, 1790) was an American Founding Father, physician, clergyman, and statesman who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia. Hall County is named after him. He ...

and

George Walton George Walton ( – February 2, 1804) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence while representing Georgia in the Continental Congress. Walton also served briefly as the second chief ex ...

, two of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and consequently, she was a member of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

. She was educated in Shorter College (now

Shorter University Shorter University is a private Baptist university in Rome, Georgia. It was founded in 1873 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees through six colleges and schools. In addition Shorter operates the Robert H. Ledbetter College of Busines ...

), and while still a student, was regarded as a bright and original writer. She graduated after taking the full course, including music, Latin and French. She married T. W. Hamilton Harris, a lawyer, of

Cartersville, Georgia Cartersville is a city in and the county seat of Bartow County, Georgia, Bartow County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States; it is located within the northwest edge of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...

. They had two children, a son, and a daughter. Harris contributed to some of the leading papers of the country, and many of her ''

negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

'' dialect and pathetic sketches were praised by eminent critics Harris was also a member of the

United Daughters of the Confederacy The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, a ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Ethel Hillyer Year of birth missing Year of death missing 19th-century American writers 19th-century American women writers Daughters of the American Revolution people Members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century People from Rome, Georgia Writers from Georgia (U.S. state) Writers of American Southern literature Shorter University alumni