Mary Virginia Terhune
Author
1830 – 1922
Who was Mary Virginia Terhune?
Mary Virginia Terhune, also known by her penname Marion Harland, was an American author. She began her career writing articles at the age of 14, using various pennames until 1853, when she settled on Marion Harland. Her first novel Alone was published in 1854 and would go on to sell over 100,000 copies. For fifteen years she was a prolific writer of best-selling women's fiction novels, as well as writing numerous serial works, short stories, and essays for magazines. After marrying Presbyterian minister Edward Payson Terhune in 1856, Terhune had six children, though three died as infants. In the 1870s, shortly after the birth of her last son Albert Payson, she broke from her novel writing and published Common Sense in the Household: A Manual of Practical Housewifery, a cookbook and domestic guide for housewives.
Though Terhune continued writing novels, she began to concentrate primarily on non-fiction, publishing additional cookbooks and domestic works, as well as biographies, travel guides, and histories. She also spoke as a public lecturer and was the first woman elected to the Virginia Historical Society. In 1873, the Terhunes relocated to Europe for two years while Mary recovered from tuberculosis. After their return, they continued living in the northeastern United States, moving as her husband's job demanded.
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- Born
- Dec 21, 1830
Virginia - Also known as
- Mary Virginia Hawes
- Marion Harland
- Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune
- Spouses
- Edward Payson Terhune
(1856 - 1907)
- Edward Payson Terhune
- Children
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Lived in
- Newark
- Died
- Jun 3, 1922
New York City
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Mary Virginia Terhune." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/mary_virginia_terhune>.
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