Janice Holt Giles (March 28, 1905 – June 1, 1979) was an American writer who lived near Knifley in

Adair County, Kentucky Adair County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,903. Its county seat and only municipality is Columbia. The county was founded in 1801 and named for John Adair, then Speaker of t ...

Personal life

She was born Janice Meredith Holt on March 28, 1905, in Altus, Arkansas to John Albert Holt and Lucy Elizabeth (née McGraw); both her parents were teachers. She had two younger siblings, Mary Catherine Holt Sullivan (July 9, 1907 - January 8, 1995) and John Albert Holt Jr. (January 11, 1910 - February 23, 1974). Janice Holt worked for a number of years with a number of church-affiliated clerical jobs, first in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and then in Kentucky, having moved to Frankfort in 1939 subsequent to her divorce that year from her first husband Otto Moore, whom she had wed in 1927. In 1941 Janice Holt obtained a position as secretary at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary 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 ...

. In 1945 Janice Holt married Henry Giles, who was eleven years her junior. After first becoming acquainted on a 40-hour bus trip in 1943, the couple had subsequently courted via letters to and from Europe, where Henry Giles was serving in the military, and were married the same day Henry returned to the United States. The couple lived in Louisville until 1949, when they took up residence in Adair County within two miles of the area where Henry's ancestors had settled in 1803. They subsequently constructed a house, which took four years to complete, from the logs of four pioneer cabins. They lived there until Janice died of congestive heart failure in 1979. Henry died in 1986 and was buried next to Janice in the Caldwell Chapel Separate Baptist Church cemetery in Knifley.

Writing

Giles began her writing career with an entry to a fiction contest in 1949 while still working at the Presbyterian Seminary in Louisville. Between 1950 and 1975 Giles wrote twenty-four books which were published. Noted primarily for her historical novels set in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

- beginning with her debut novel ''The Enduring Hills'' - or on the Western frontier, she also wrote contemporary fiction set in the Kentucky hills, as well as autobiographical and nonfiction works, some of them co-authored with Henry. Her works include the Piney Woods trilogy, consisting of ''The Enduring Hills'' (1950), ''Miss Willie'' (1951), and ''Tara's Healing'' (1952), and the Kentucky trilogy, consisting of ''The Kentuckians'' (1953), ''Hannah Fowler'' (1956), and ''The Believers'' (1957). The Janice Holt Giles and Henry Giles Society was established in 1996 to preserve the Giles' literary legacy and to restore their log home. Giles' historical fiction works form a study of early American pioneer life in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

among other states. Her accounts are accurate geographically and historically, and are tied together by the fictitious Cooper, Fowler, and Cartwright families. Real historical figures from Giles' novels include Ben Logan,

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

James Harrod James Harrod () was a pioneer, soldier, and hunter who helped explore and settle the area west of the Allegheny Mountains. Little is known about Harrod's early life, including the exact date of his birth. He was possibly underage when he served i ...

, William Whitley,

James Wilkinson James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 – December 28, 1825) was an American army officer and politician who was associated with multiple scandals and controversies during his life, including the Burr conspiracy. He served in the Continental Army du ...

, Gen.

Matthew Arbuckle Brig. Gen. (Bvt) Matthew Arbuckle, Jr (1778–1851) was a career soldier in the U.S. Army closely identified with the Indian Territory for the last thirty years of his life. Biography Early life He was born 28 December 1778 in Greenbrier Coun ...

, and

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two indi ...

. She also provides a realistic historical perspective of the relationships among Native Americans, White settlers, and African Americans. One can gain a solid understanding of the early process of national (United States) expansion by reading the listed volumes in the following order.

Books

(approximate period covered; primary geographical settings) * ''The Kentuckians'' (1775–1778; VA, KY, TN) * ''Hannah Fowler'' (1778–1781; KY, TN, OH) * ''The Land Beyond the Mountains'' (1781–1792; KY, PA, IN) * ''The Believers'' (1795–1805; KY) * ''Johnny Osage'' (1821; OK, AR) * ''The Voyage to Santa Fe'' (1823; OK, TX, NM) * ''Savanna'' (1829–1834; OK, AR) * ''The Great Adventure'' (1834; CO, NM,) * ''Run Me a River'' (September 1861; KY, IN) * ''Six Horse Hitch'' (1859–1869; NE, CO). * ''The Damned Engineers'' (1944; Europe)

References

Western Kentucky University Libraries manuscript collection
*Dianne Watkins Stuart, ''Janice Holt Giles: A Writer's Life'' (1998), {{DEFAULTSORT:Giles, Janice Holt 1905 births 1979 deaths Novelists from Kentucky Writers from Louisville, Kentucky American historical novelists People from Adair County, Kentucky 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers American women historical novelists