Sarah Lowe Twiggs (
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 ...
, S. L. Twiggs; March 29, 1839 – February 7, 1920) was an American poet. She was employed by the
Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...
and the
Treasury Department.
Biography
Sarah Lowe Twiggs was born in
Barnwell County, South Carolina
Barnwell County is a county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,589. It is located in the Central Savannah River Area. Its county seat is Barnwell.
History
The Barnwell District was created in ...
, March 29, 1839. Her parents were Major George Lowe and Harriet Eliza (Duncan) Twiggs.
[ ] She lived from earliest infancy to womanhood in one of the southern homesteads that lie along the Savannah river border, near
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...
. Her great-grandfather, Gen.
John Twiggs
General John Twiggs (June 5, 1750 – March 29, 1816) served as a leader in the Georgia Militia during the American Revolutionary War. Twiggs County, Georgia was named after him.
Biography
Twiggs was born in Maryland in 1750, and his family ...
, was a leader in the
Georgia Militia
The Georgia Militia existed from 1733 to 1879. It was originally planned by General James Oglethorpe before the founding of the Province of Georgia, the Crown colony that would become the U.S. state of Georgia. One reason for the founding of the c ...
during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
. Her ancestors were Swedish
Norsemen
The Norsemen (or Northmen) were a cultural group in the Early Middle Ages, originating among speakers of Old Norse in Scandinavia. During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a Viking expansion, large-scale expansion in all direc ...
. The first of the name came to the US in company with Gen.
James Oglethorpe
Lieutenant-General James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British Army officer, Tory politician and colonial administrator best known for founding the Province of Georgia in British North America. As a social refo ...
, bearing a large grant of land from
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
. Gen.
David E. Twiggs, of
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
notability, was her great-uncle, and she was a sister of Judge
H. D. D. Twiggs, the Georgia barrister. Her father was a successful southern
punter, who cared more for blooded horses and well-trained
pointers
Pointer may refer to:
People with the name
* Pointer (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Pointer Williams (born 1974), American former basketball player
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Pointer'' (journal), the ...
than for literary pursuits. Her literary tastes were inherited from her mother. She was the only daughter in a family of five children.
[ ]
Twiggs received her education at Greensboro Female College (now
Greensboro College
Greensboro College is a private college in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was founded in 1838 by Rev. Peter Doub. The college enrolls students from 32 states, the District of Columbia, and 29 co ...
) in
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...
.
From a life of
southern ease and affluence, her situation deteriorated with the
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.
On March 23, 1870, she married Joseph Erwin (1837–1911). The couple had three children, Lillian (1870), Eliza (1872–1880), and Harold (1874–1926).
The marriage failed,
and in 1885, with the two surviving children, Twigg was living in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
There, she succeeded in achieving a comfortable independence.
In 1889, she received an appointment to the Pensions Office,
Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...
, a transfer from the
Treasury Department.
She resigned from the Pensions Office in 1904.
One of her poems, "Nostri Mortui," and several idylls, which appeared in southern journals, elicited flattering mention.
Always active locally in literary pursuits, she was the author of, "In the True Wonder Land", an epic poem; as well as a play and numerous short poems.
''Her Christmas Eve'' (1913) is described in ''The Assembly Herald'' as a "delightful Christmas story".
[ ] Of ''The supreme adventure'' (1919), W. C. Rodman with ''The New-Church Review'' wrote,— "In spite of its somewhat pedantic vocabulary, its too often inverted and sometimes stilted style, its unaccountably frequent substitution of the overworked apostrophe for the useful letter ''e'', and its irritating derangement of lines,–triumphantly in spite of these "The Supreme Adventure" is an extraordinary performance. Of all its two hundred and thirty-nine pages, not one is prosy; the reader's interest is captured at once, and held to the end. The work is pure poetry, conceived in sincerity, and executed with fidelity and unquestionable skill."
[ ]
Twiggs was opposed to
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, 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 suffra ...
. In religion, she was a member of
The New Church (Swedenborgian)
The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) can refer to any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed under the influence of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). The Swedenborgian tradition is considered to ...
.
Twiggs died in Augusta, Georgia, February 7, 1920, and was buried in that city's
Summerville Cemetery.
Selected works
* ''Her Christmas Eve'', 1913
* ''The supreme adventure'', 191
(Text)
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twiggs, Sarah Lowe
1839 births
1920 deaths
People from Barnwell County, South Carolina
Greensboro College alumni
American Swedenborgians
20th-century American poets
20th-century American women writers
American women poets
Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century