Mary Ann Mann Cornelius (, Mann;

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, Mrs. Mary A. Cornelius; September 25, 1829 – April 18, 1918) was an American writer and social reformer.Not to be confused with the writer, Mary Ann Hooker Cornelius (1796-1880) A temperance activist, she served as president of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

(W.C.T.U.) of

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 ...

. She lived several years in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

, where she established a free reading room and

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for the young. In Tacoma and also in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, Cornelius served as a director of the humane society. She was the author of various novels and

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

stories, including ''Little Wolf''; ''Uncle Nathan's Farm''; ''The White Flame''; and ''Why? or A Kansas Girl's Query''. She favored

woman's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffrage was in effect during ...

Early life and education

Mary Ann Mann was born in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area, and is vari ...

, on September 25, 1829. Her parents were Lewis Whiting Mann (1802-1889) and Elvira (Bagley) Mann (1810-1867). Both of her parents were of Pilgrims ancestry and

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

origin. Cornelius' siblings were Anna (b. 1827), Sarah (b. 1832), Preston (b. 1834), Louie (b. 1838), Evelina (b. 1842), and Lewis (b. 1852). She was educated at the Pontiac Academy. Her first school composition, written when she was nine years of age, was a hit in the rural community where she lived and was printed in the local newspaper.

Career

Her husband encouraged her to write short articles for the press on religious and philanthropic subjects, even with the responsibilities of motherhood and her position as a pastor's wife upon her. But when she brought to his notice a story she had written of 39 long chapters, he protested against it. Although a semi-invalid for many years, she was involved in Christian and philanthropic enterprises. Cornelius' first public efforts were in aid of her husband's occupation as a clergyman. So many desperate women in the church confided to her their troubles with drinking husbands and sons that Cornelius became interested in the temperance cause, joining the W.C.T.U. In 1885, she was elected president of the state W.C.T.U. She led the first canvass by petitions for closing the

saloons Saloon may refer to: Buildings and businesses * One of the bars in a traditional British pub * An alternative name for a bar (establishment) * Western saloon, a historical style of American bar * The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francis ...

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

under the three-mile law. The canvass was a bitter one and even threats were made to kill Cornelius if she continued the work. When the papers were ready for presentation to the judge of the court, an attempt was made to steal the petition, but Cornelius set herself to the task of making friends with the perpetrators for the cause of temperance even making the leader a life-long friend. She assisted her husband when he was engaged in editorial work. About the time of his death, in 1886, she edited a journal in the interest of the temperance society. Her poems, numerous prose articles, and voluminous newspaper correspondence testified to her writing career. Perhaps the best known of her writings were ''Little Wolf'', which has had a wide sale, and the poem, "Sweet Marie". By 1893, Cornelius removed from

that she might have the benefit of woman's suffrage in her temperance work. While there, she learned of the Keeley Treatment and having investigated its results, she was assisted by some of the leading women of the city to organize a Woman's Keeley Rescue League. Its object was to assist indigent inebriates to stop drinking. Still later, Cornelius removed to Tacoma, Washington, carrying the temperance message by means of the Keeley Treatment. Realizing that prevention was better than cure, she established a free reading room for boys, which became a favorite place for many of the men and women in the neighborhood. It contained books of every description, from the novel to the work of science, history and romance, humor and pathos. The shelves along the walls were loaded with books and more books were placed on tables; there were books everywhere. Some of them were new and some were soiled, worn, torn, mutilated, damaged, and dog-eared to such an extent that it did not seem possible that they could be read without falling to pieces. Many of the books had been discarded by the public library as too worn for further service, and patched up and repaired by Cornelius for her reading room. In addition to the books, there were papers, magazines, and games. Cornelius' unique reading room provided entertainment and instruction for scores of boys and young men who were eager for advancement, but whose lives provided few advantages. It was a veritable club, where members could find recreation and improvement, and gain wisdom and courage for the responsibilities of life. Cornelius wrote four books: the first, ''Little Wolf'', in the interest of temperance; the second, ''Uncle Nathan's Farm'', to promote tolerance; the third, ''The White Flame'', to emphasize God's love for the world. The fourth was dedicated to the young people who frequented the reading room.

Personal life and death

In 1850, she married Rev. Samuel Cornelius Jr., D.D. (1825-1886), of

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

. He was at one time pastor of the First Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. They had one child, a son, William S. Cornelius (1853-1894). Cornelius suffered a severe injury from a fall in October 1911, which confined her to her room for many weeks. During that time, she wrote the poem, "The Watchword". Mary A. Cornelius died on April 18, 1918, in Chicago. Burial was at Oakland cemetery in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Selected works

Books as Mary A. Cornelius

* ''The White Flame'', 190
(text)
* ''Why? Or, A Kansas Girl's Query'', 190
(text)

Books as Mrs. M. A. Cornelius

* ''Little Wolf: A Tale of the Western Frontier'', 187
(text)
* ''Uncle Nathan's Farm: A Novel'', 1898

Poems

* "Sweet Marie" * "The Watchword", 1911

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius, Mary A. 1829 births 1918 deaths 20th-century American writers 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American women writers Presidents of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union 19th-century American novelists American women novelists American occult writers Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century American suffragists American animal welfare workers Temperance activists from Arkansas American social reformers