Martha Haines Butt

Martha Haines Butt (after marriage, Bennett; November 22, 1833 – February 9, 1871) was an American proslavery author primarily known by her maiden name. She was a contributor to various periodicals and magazines, in both the North and South.[1] At the age of 19, she published Antifanaticism: A Tale of the South, an 1853 plantation fiction novel.[2] Though she had written anti-woman's rights editorials in the 1850s, by 1870, she supported women's suffrage.

Martha Haines Butt Bennett
BornMartha Haines Butt
November 22, 1833
Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
DiedFebruary 9, 1871 (aged 37)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation
  • author
  • suffragist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
  • Patapsco Female Institute
  • Harrisburg Female College
Genre
  • short stories
  • essays
  • sketches
Notable worksAntifanaticism: A Tale of the South
Spouse
Nathan Ives Bennett
(m. 1865)

Biography

Martha Haines Butt was born in Norfolk, Virginia, November 22, 1833.[3] She was an only child.[4] Her father, Francis Butt, was of English ancestry; her mother, Mary Ann Morriss Butt, a milliner, was of French ancestry.[3]

During the period of 1847–50, Butt was educated at Patapsco Female Institute in Ellicott's Mills,[3] near Baltimore, and received her diploma there. She was presented with a gold medal and the degree of A. M. (Artium Magister) by Harrisburg Female College.[4]

Butt's first appearance in print was at the age of fourteen, although she had written for several years before that time.[4] Her 1853 novel, Antifanaticism: A Tale of the South, was a proslavery response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery book, Uncle Tom's Cabin.[5][6] Butt's volume of Leisure Moments was a collection of her short stories, essays, and sketches. Pastimes with Little Friends was published in 1866.[1][4] Butt was an occasional contributor to the periodical press of the country, and a frequent writer to the Ladies' Home Journal.[7]

On July 6, 1865, in Norfolk, she married Nathan Ives Bennett, of Bridgeport, Connecticut. They lived in Bridgeport before removing to New York City.[4][3] After marriage, she continued to be primarily known by her maiden name.

In 1870, Butt served as vice president of the Virginia State Woman Suffrage Association.[3]

Death and legacy

Martha Haines Butt died of pneumonia at the Grand Central Hotel, New York City, February 9, 1871.[3][7]

Butt's arm and hand were copied as a model by the artist William Randolph Barbee, of Virginia, for the statue of the Fisher Girl.[4]

Selected works

Antifanaticism (1853)

References

  1. Davidson 1869, pp. 42.
  2. Larson 2008, p. 75.
  3. "Butt, Martha Haines (1833–1871)". www.encyclopediavirginia.org. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  4. Tardy 1870, p. 806.
  5. Wallace-Sanders 2008, p. 24.
  6. "Collective Biographies of Women". cbw.iath.virginia.edu. The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  7. "Personal". The Buffalo Commercial. 11 February 1871. p. 2. Retrieved 11 January 2021 via Newspapers.com. open access

Attribution

Bibliography

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