That last quote could well apply to these times, where division, violence, and prejudice are sown through various media by those who, when brought to task, claim that they were only joking. Very little is documented online about Jane C. Campbell (and even this entry is full of errors), although she contributed a number of stories and poems to Graham's Magazine and other periodicals.* The most solid reference I could find online is by J. C. Derby in Fifty Years Among Authors, Books, and Publishers (New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., 1884), p. 723:

MRS. JANE CRAWFORD CAMPBELL, the authoress of "The Money-Maker and other Stories," which volume was published by my firm thirty years ago, was introduced to me by the late H. T. Tuckerman. She was the sister of Thomas Crawford, the eminent sculptor, who was the father of the now famous novelist F. Marion Crawford. It will thus be seen that the author of "Mr. Isaacs" and the "Roman Singer," inherits his fine literary gifts from both his father and his mother's family, as he is also the nephew of Julia Ward Howe, the poetess, whose "Battle Hymn of the Republic," has immortalized her name.

Published in 1854, The Money-Maker, and Other Tales was reprinted in 1856 as American Evening Entertainments, and in 1859 as Evenings at Home; the novella Catharine Clayton was previously published in book form in 1846. I came across this volume by accident, while I was searching online for a digital version of The Moneyman, by Thomas B. Costain (itself a nearly-forgotten treasure worthy of transcription, though not in the public domain in the United States). I must confess that I was slightly disappointed: given the title, I expected a more sardonic style, but it turned out to be rather strait-laced and moralistic. Nonetheless, I decided that it was worth my time and effort.

The text came primarily from this scan, backed up by this scan. I also used this scan of the 1859 edition for reference, as well as what original magazine publications I could find (see below). I corrected any obvious typographical errors, while retaining the spelling where common for the time. Also, I removed the "Chapter I" headings from "The Seamstress," "The First Step," and "Ease-Loving Philanthropy," as they are evidently errors introduced by the publisher.

So here it is: the master HTML version, the home-brew Kindle version, and the actual Amazon publication.

As Mr. Acheson paraphrases: "What warm thanks ascend from the well-filled board to Him who hath laden the barns with plenty, and made the presses to burst out with new wine..."

December 13, 2021

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*I was able to trace all the stories in this volume, except the final two, to three magazines which are available as online scans: Graham's American Monthly Magazine, The Columbian Magazine, and Sartain's Union Magazine of Literature and Art.

• "The Money-Maker" - Graham's, Vol. 38, No. 6 (Jun 1851) p. 414
• "Christine" (as "Uncle Walter's Story") - Columbian, Vol 9, No. 6 (Jun 1848) p. 245
• Catharine Clayton - Graham's, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Jul 1846) p. 21
• "Paul Talbot" (as "The Unfinished Picture") - Graham's, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Mar 1849) p. 182
• "Robert Dunning" (as "One of the 'Upper Ten Thousand,' and One of the People") - Graham's, Vol. 30 No. 1 (Jan 1847) p. 21
• "Blanche Acheson" - Graham's, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Oct 1844) p. 145
• "The Farmer's Daughter" (as "Lizzy Greene") - Sartain's, Vol. 1, No. 5 (Nov 1847) p. 200
• "The Seamstress" - Sartain's, Vol. 2, No. 5 (May 1848) p. 205
• "The First Step" (as "Steps to Ruin -- No. III") - Sartain's, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Feb 1848) p. 89

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Finding the Year of Death

Once again, I butted heads with Amazon over their resistance to accept, as public domain, a work by an author whose date of death is unknown, even though the book in question was published in 1854. Fortunately, the fact that she was sister to Thomas Crawford provided the lead I needed to track it down with some confidence.

Although Thomas Crawford, American Sculptor, by Robert Gale, refers to Crawford's sister as "Jenny," the book identifies her husband as William Campbell (p. 47), and gives his home in December 1856 as 180 Grand Street in New York City (pp. 167-168). Trow's New York City Directory for the Year Ending May 1, 1857 confirms this with an entry on p. 132: "Campbell William S. printer, h 180 Grand" thus providing his middle initial.

Historic vital records for Saybrook, CT, state that William S. Campbell married "Jane CRAWFORD of New York City, Aug 30, 1842, by Rev H Stanley."

The Margaret Chanler family papers include 13 letters from Jane C. Campbell, in Greenwich, CT, to Louisa Ward Crawford Terry (Thomas Crawford's widow, who remarried), dated from 30 December 1879 to 1 February 1881.

The New York Evening Post, 14 Feb 1881, has the following death notice: "CAMPBELL - At Greenwich, Conn., February 12, Jane Crawford, widow of William S. Campbell. Funeral at Christ Church, Greenwich, on Tuesday, at half-past 10 A.M. Burial in Trinity Cemetery."

Finally, here are the grave sites for Jane Crawford and William S. Campbell.

ffred's nearly-forgotten treasures