| 7/8/2006 9:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Hoosier schoolmaster, author spent much time here
Phil Cole
Special to the Courier
His stories of the rural Midwestern United States revolutionized the style of fiction novels.
His brilliant exegesis on the frontiers of an earlier United States were as insightful as they were timely.
He wrote with keen perception of a pastoral America in the mid- to late 1800s.
Born in Vevay
Above all, his genuine love of his old hometown brought a fresh, new spirit to American literature.
A 100-year-old former school that bears his name is the only official recognition to be found today in “The City Beneath the Hills.”
Edward Eggleston was born in Vevay on Dec. 10, 1837. He lived in Madison, Maryland, Virginia and Lake George, N.Y., for much of his adult life.
He was married twice. After the death of his first wife, Lizzie Snider Middleton, a Minnesotan, he married a Madison woman, Frances Goode, his second cousin once removed, in 1892. Well-educated, she assisted him with his books for the rest of his life.
Mary Goode Wallis a great-niece
Mary Goode Wallis, widow of Courier publisher Don R. Wallis, informed that her grandmother’s sister (Frances Goode) married Eggleston. Thus, Mrs. Wallis is a great-niece of the famed author.
Of his love for his hometown, Eggleston wrote to a former teacher, Julia Dumont, “If beneath my handling of Vevay there did not lie the evidence of my wholehearted love for the whole town, I failed to do my duty. My whole life has been an interpretation of my childhood.”
At one time there were spirited arguments over whether he wrote about people from Vevay or Jefferson County’s Ryker’s Ridge.
His stories chronicled the rural Midwest as he found it. The Hoosier dialect, used freely, his conviction and abiding love for two small towns where he spent much of his life stimulated a fresh approach to American literature.
He understood the rugged, solitary life of the 19th century Hoosier, the better for having been a native son of the 19th state.
Never heard of him? Or have just an ephemeral recognition of who and what he was? Then fasten your seat belts for a “Whirling Dervish” jaunt into yesterday to meet Edward Eggleston, author of “The Hoosier Schoolmaster” and at least nine major novels after the midpoint of his life. He also served as president of the American Historical Association, founded The Christian Endeavor Society in America, pastored churches in such diverse locales as Brooklyn, N.Y., and Minnesota. He edited prominent American magazines and later walked the streets of Old Madison daily and wrote his last two complete books for what was to be a nine-volume American history in the sunny study of his sister’s home at Broadway and West Third Street.
Spent boyhood in Vevay
His “History of the United States” literary epic, eagerly awaited, was to be the first of that syllabus. It was aborted when he suffered the last of a series of strokes of apoplexy while finishing the second tome of his history-making dissertation.
Lest anyone thinks that RW goes too far in claiming Madison’s influence on Eggleston, let’s stipulate that the author was born and spent his early years in Vevay. Schoolteacher Margaret Dumont played a prominent role in his education.
His family was highly regarded for its contributions toward the historic reputation of that charming town of 3,500 people 18 miles east of Old Madison on the Ohio.
His father, a successful Vevay lawyer, represented Switzerland County and the surrounding countryside in the Indiana legislature. At one time he ran as the Whig candidate for Congress, but was unsuccessful.
Parents die in their 30s
Eggleston’s father died at age 34 in 1846. His mother later married Wesley Methodist Church minister William Terrell. She died 11 years after Edward Eggleston’s father died. She was 38.
Young Edward’s first school, a district center, was “kept” by a Mr. Benefiel. It was a “loud” school. Children learned lessons out loud. Their belligerent headmaster used a beech wood switch that he laid on when dissatisfied with their behavior or grasp of the lessons being taught.
Though physically frail, his curiosity knew no limits. He was eternally inquisitive. He and brother George read and spoke five languages.
His most admired teacher was Mrs. Dumont, to whom he gave credit for his much of his education.
Dedicated to Eradicate Slavery
His health would not allow him to attend a college, but after spending a few months in Virginia he was ironclad in his condemnation of what he called “the evils of slavery” and spoke against it in the crusade to end it.
Eggleston really had three careers.
The shortest, in 1855, was teaching primary school in Madison, then the most important town in Southern Indiana. That paid $200 a year.
His next, 1856-57, was entering the Southern Indiana Methodist clergy as a Southern Indiana Circuit Rider, mature beyond his years.
Challenging Words
Before earlier accepting a pastorate in Brooklyn, N.Y., he required it to become nondenominational. His first public remarks about his Brooklyn call were challenging. “If Christ were to come, in the overalls of working man, repudiating our social pride and our pride of orthodoxy, do you think we should know him? ”
At age 14 he wrote his first essay for a contest held by The Madison Courier, and won. He hailed that day, calling it “The greatest literary success I have ever attained.” Actually, his best work was when he used the rural Ohio Valley as a set piece.
He transferred to Minnesota for a year before illness forced him to leave the ministry. Now, he began his third career, working for a Chicago newspaper until he was named Associate Editor of “The Little Corporal” magazine.
There followed stints as editor of “The National Sunday School Teacher,” “The Independent New York” and “Hearth and Home”; literary editor of the New York Post and later the New York Commercial Advertiser, and editorial editor for the New York World.
Money Trouble Leads to First Novel
The fact that “Hearth and Home” was in financial trouble led to his 1871 writing of “The Hoosier Schoolmaster,” intended to be a series in that publication. It soon outstripped its original scope to become a famous American novel.
In the book’s preface, Eggleston wrote, “It has been in my mind since I was a Hoosier boy to do something toward describing life in the back country districts of the Western States.”
Criticized roundly at first, the book developed a huge coterie of supporters after renowned author/critic Meredith Nicholson wrote, “This criticism (of Eggleston’s ‘Hoosier Schoolmaster’) comes largely from a new generation that does not view these tales in the light of history. It is, therefore, hardly competent to pass on their veracity. Dr. Eggleston is certainly qualified to speak; his own experience and the social evolution of the people of Indiana contribute to the creation of his competency.
“When we add to these considerations his instinctive interest in the beginnings and tendencies of American life, rejection is impossible.”
Translated in Three Languages
“Schoolmaster” became a work in great demand.. One of the first examples of local American realistic fiction, it was so popular that it was translated into three languages.
Eggleston soon left his editor’s post to become a fulltime writer at his home in Lake George, N.Y., writing “The Ohio River Country” (1872), “The Mystery of Metropolisville” (1873), “The Circuit Rider” (1874) and “Roxy” (1878) before leaving his home to visit and reside with his family in Madison, where he wrote “The Hoosier Schoolboy” (1883), “The Book of Queer Stories” (1884), “The Graysons” (1888), “The Faith Doctor” (1891) and “Duffels” (1894).
Most of his stories deal with the modus vivandi and dialect peculiar to the Central Midwest and the early settlers of the Northwest Territory.
Apoplexy Attack
Eggleston suffered with another attack of apoplexy just after completing the first two of his nine-volume “History of the United States.” He returned to his home in Lake George, N.Y., where he died Sept. 4, 1902, a giant in the development of American letters.
His memory was honored in 1906 when Edward Eggleston Elementary School at Third and East streets was dedicated in his honor. He is rightfully claimed by birth and early life a native of Vevay, but he was also a citizen of Madison, which declared him as a resident of “The Valley City,” a claim that did not in any manner disparage his formative years in Vevay.
Teacher Writes about Daily Walks
It was in “The City ’Neath the Hills” that he took daily walks as described by lifetime Eggleston teacher and Madison native Miss Etta Hoffstadt:
“Edward Eggleston was a great lover of the out of doors and was a familiar sight on the streets of Madison when he lived here.
“He took his daily walks in all kinds of weather, striding along erect, his carriage and fine head of shocky white hair making him an outstanding figure. He was never too busy to stop and talk to the school children along his way. He endeared himself to those fortunate enough to know him.”
Should the Indiana State Historical Society find it possible to memorialize Eggleston’s presence in Madison —like Vevay’s existing, locally made tablet — it will be a suitable monument where visitors will learn of this giant of 19th century literature that will be fitting and proper — and overdue.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, July 08, 2006
Article comment by:
Donna Evans
I have long been a reader of Mr. Cole's articles and dissertations about Madison and its many interesting figures. Kudos to him and to The Courier for publishing his human interest stories which have helped to make the wonderful little town of Madison come to life for me.
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