SIMMS, WILLIAM GILMORE (18061870)

This article appears in Volume V25, Page 124 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: SHA-SIV

SIMMS, WILLIAM GILMORE (18061870) , American poet, novelist and historian, was born at Charleston, S.C., on the 17th of April i8o6 of Scoto-Irish descent. His mother died during his infancy, and his father having failed in business and joined Coffee's Indian fighters, young Simms was brought up by his grandmother. He was clerk in a drug

store

STORE (from O. Fr. estor or estoire,
Late
- LATE
Lat. staurum or instaurum, stock, provisions, supply, from the
late
- LATE
use of instaurare, to provide, properly to construct, renew, restore)

for some years, and afterwards studied law, the bar of Charleston admitting him to practice in 1827, but he soon abandoned his profession for literature. At the age of eight he wrote verses, and in his 19th year he produced a Monody on Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (Charleston, 1825). Two years later, in 1827, Lyrical and Other Poems and Early Lays appeared; and in 1828 he began journalism, editing and partly owning the City Gazette. The enterprise failed, and the editor devoted his attention entirely to letters, and in rapid succession published The Vision of Cartes, Cain, and other Poems (1829), The Tricolor, or Three Days of Blood in Paris (183o), and his strongest poem, Atalantis, a story of the sea (1832). Atalantis established his fame as an author, and Martin Faber, the Story of a Criminal, was warmly received. During the American, Civil War Simms espoused the side of the Secessionists in a weekly newspaper, and suffered damage at the hands of the Federal troops when they entered Charleston. He served in the state

House

of Representatives in 18441846, and the university of Alabama conferred on him the degree of LL.D. He died at Charleston on the 1th of June 1870.
In addition to the works mentioned above, Simms published the following poetry:Southern Passages and Pictures, lyrical, sentimental and descriptive poems (New

York

, 1839) ; Donna Florida, a tale (Charleston, 1843); Grouped Thoughts and Scattered Fancies, sonnets (Richmond, 1845) ; Areytos, or Songs of the South (1846) ; Lays of the Palmetto: a Tribute to the South Carolina Regiment in the War with

Mexico

(Charleston, 1848) ; The Eye and the Wing, poems, (New

York

YORK
YORK (HOUSE OF)
YORK, EDMUND OF
LANGLEY
- LANGLEY, SAMUEL PIERPONT (1834-1906)
, DUKE OF (1341-1402)
YORK, EDWARD
YORK, FREDERICK
AUGUSTUS
- AUGUSTUS (a name 1 derived from Lat. augeo, increase, i.e. venerable, majestic, Gr. Ee0avr6s)
, DUKE OF (1763-1827)
YORK, RICHARD, DUKE

, 1848) ; The City of the Silent (185o). To dramatic literature he contributed Norman Maurice, or the Man of the People Richmond, 1851); and Michael Bonham, or the Fall of the Alamo Richmond, 1852). His romances of the American RevolutionThen Partisan (1835); Mellichampe (1836); Katherine Walton, or the Rebel of Dorchester (1851); and othersdescribe social life at Charleston, and the action covers the whole period, with portraits of the political and military leaders of the time. Of border tales the

list

includes Guy Rivers, a Tale of Georgia (1834) ; Richard Hurdis (1838) ; Border Beagles (184o) ; Beauchampe (1842) ; Helen Halsey (1845); The Golden Christmas (1852); and Charlemont (1856). The historical romances are The Yemassee (1835), dealing largely with Indian character and nature; Pelayo (1838); Count Julien (1845); The Damsel of Darien (1845); The Lily and the Totem; Vasconselos (1857), which he wrote under the assumed name of " Frank Cooper "; and The Cassique of Kiawah (186o). Other novels are Carl Werner (1838);

Confession

CONFESSION (Lat. confessio, from confiteor, acknowledge, confess)

of the Blind Heart (1842); The Wigwam and the Cabin, a collection of short tales (18451846); Castle Dismal (1845); and Marie de Berniere (1853). Simms's other writings comprise a History of S. Carolina (Charleston, 1840) ; South Carolina in the Revolution (Charleston, 1853); A Geography of South Carolina (1843); lives of Francis Marion (New York, 1844); Capt. John Smith (1846); The Chevalier

Bayard

(1848) and Nathanael Green (1849) ; The Ghost of my Husband (1866) ; and War Poetry of the Southan edited volume(1867). Simms was also a frequent contributor to the magazines and literary papers, six of which he founded and conducted. In the discussion on slavery he upheld the views of the pro-slavery party. He edited the seven dramas doubt-fully ascribed to Shakespeare, with notes and an introduction to
each play. Simms' works in 10 vols. were published at New York in L882; his Poems (2 vols., New York) in 1853.
See his biography (Boston, 1892), by Professor William P. Trent. A bibliographical

List

of the Separate Writings of W. G. Simms of South Carolina (New York, 1906) was compiled by O. Wegelin.

End of Article: SIMMS, WILLIAM GILMORE (18061870)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/SHA_SIV/SIMMS_WILLIAM_GILMORE_18061870.html">
SIMMS, WILLIAM GILMORE (18061870)
</a>

(Previous)
SIMMONS, EDWARD EMERSON (1852 )

(Next)
SIMNEL, LAMBERT

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email