Sara Payson (Willis) Parton (1811 - 1872)

Born 9 Jul 1811 in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Charles Harrington Eldredge — married 28 Mar 1837 (to 6 Oct 1846) in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Wife of Samuel Putnam Farrington — married 30 Dec 1848 (to 7 Sep 1853) in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Wife of James Parton — married 5 Jan 1856 (to 10 Oct 1872) in United States

Descendants

Died 10 Oct 1872 at age 61 in Manhattan, New York, United States

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Biography

• American novelist, children's writer, humorist, and newspaper columnist, known by the pen name "Fanny Fern".
  

  Sara (Willis) Parton is Notable.
• Fern's popularity has been attributed to her conversational style and sense of what mattered to her mostly middle-class female readers.
• Was the first woman to have a regular column in an American newspaper.
• Was the highest-paid columnist in the United States.
• Is credited with coining the phrase, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach".

Life Events

Sara Payson Willis was born July 9, 1811, in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine, United States, the daughter of newspaper owner Nathaniel Willis and his wife Hannah Parker. At the time of her birth, she had four older siblings.^[1]

Portrait of Fanny Fern (before 1872)

Sara married firstly Charles Harrington Eldredge March 28, 1837, in Boston, Massachusetts.^[2]
Sara and Charles were to have three children, all daughters. Sadly, the eldest did not to live to adulthood, dying at age 7 of what was termed "brain fever", and only a short while before Charles also died, of typhoid fever. Her second child was also not to have a long life, dying of scarlet fever aged just 21 years, not long after giving birth to Sara's first grandchild (who was later adopted by Sara).

Mary Stace (1838–1845)

Grace Harrington (1841–1862 (Thomson))

Ellen Willis (1844–1922 (Parton))

Charles having died in 1846, leaving Sara and the children near destitute, she – after having tried to make a living by her writing– was eventually persuaded by her father to take another husband. As a result, Sara married secondly merchant Samuel P. Farrington 30 December 1848, in Boston.^[3] The marriage was not to last, however, due mostly to Samuel's intense jealousy, with Sara leaving him in 1851, and the marriage finally ending in divorce in September 1853.

The Blue Stocking. (An illustration from "Fern Leaves".)

Although she had penned articles for her father's Christian newspapers earlier in her life, it was now, after her divorce, that she put serious work into writing. Her first attempts to be published by her brother were turned down by him as being of little interest outside Boston, however he was proven wrong when her work was taken up by publishers in New York and elsewhere. Her first book, Fern Leaves, published in 1853, was a best seller.

On January 5, 1856 Sara married thirdly biographer James Parton, who had previously been employed by her brother, Nathaniel — and had been fired by him for publishing Sara's work after refusing orders to cease doing so. The wedding was noted in the newspapers of the day.^{[4] [5]}
After Sara's daughter Grace died of scarlet fever in 1862, and her husband (Mortimer Neal “Doesticks” Thomson) died in 1875, Sara and James informally adopted Grace's daughter: Grace Ethel "Ethel" Thompson, who later took the last name Parton (and was also an author of note).

Sara Payson Parton née Willis, also Eldredge, and Farrington, passed away October 10, 1872, in Manhattan, New York, United States, and was buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[6]
Obituaries ran in newspapers across the globe, even in so far-flung a place as The Dundee Courier And Argus, in Forfarshire, Scotland.^[7]

In her Will, wherein she named her husband, James Parton, and Robert Bonner, editor and her "esteemed and faithful friend", as Executors, Sara aka Fanny, left her estate divided equally between her daughter Ellen, and her granddaughter Grace Ethel Thomson. There were provisions made for the case that either, or both, should predecease her, or that either should predecease the other, or that Grace Ethel should die before reaching her majority. In the case of both named heirs predeceasing Sara, she bequeathed her estate to those of her brothers and sisters who survived her.^[8]

The Little Brown House. (An illustration from "Fern Leaves".)

Crazy Tim. (An illustration from "Little Ferns For Fanny's Little Friends".)

✦ Other images by Fred. M. Coffin, published in Fern Leaves, and Little Ferns For Fanny's Little Friends, can be seen on Fanny Fern's Fern Leaves.

Research Notes

Before her death, Sara's daughter, Ellen Eldredge, lived with Sara, her husband James Parton, and her orphaned granddaughter, Grace Ethel Thomson. After her death the two girls moved to Newburyport, where James would come to visit. Finally, James left New York, moved to Newburyport, and he and Ellen Eldredge were married, becoming parents to her niece/his granddaughter-by-marriage. Eventually Grace Ethel (known as Ethel) changed her last name to Parton, which was the name under which she wrote. Ellen and James were to have two children (Mabel, and Hugo), so Ethel grew up with foster/adoptive siblings, something she had not known before.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth Certificate — Maine Birth Records, 1715-1922, Maine State Archives; Cultural Building, 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0084; Pre 1892 Delayed Returns; Roll Number: 104. Name: Sarah P Willis; Gender: Female; Birth Date: 9 Jul 1811; Birth Place: Portland, Cumberland, Maine, USA; Father: Nathaniel Willis; Mother: Hannah Willis
2. ↑ First Marriage — Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook). Name: Sarah P Willis; Event Type: Marriage; Marriage Date: 28 Mar 1837; Marriage Place: Boston, Massachusetts; Spouse Name: Charles H Eldredge
3. ↑ Second Marriage — Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook). Name: Sarah P Eldredge; Event Type: Marriage; Marriage Date: 30 Dec 1848; Marriage Place: Boston, Massachusetts; Spouse Name: Samuel P Farrington
4. ↑ Third Marriage; Newspaper Announcement — Newspapers and Periodicals. American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. Name: Mrs Sarah Payson Eldredge; Event: Marriage; Marriage Date: 5 Jan 1856; Marriage Place: New York; Spouse: James Parton; Newspaper: New York Evening Post; Publication Date: 11 Jan 1856; Publication Place: New York, USA; Call Number: 485767
5. ↑ Third Marriage; Newspaper Announcement — Publication Date: 9/ Jan/ 1856; Publication Place: Baltimore, Maryland, USA; URL: newspapers.com. Name: Mrs. Fanny Fern; Gender: Female; Marriage Date: May 1856; Spouse: James Parton
6. ↑ Burial — Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 16 April 2021), memorial page for Fanny Fern (9 Jul 1811–10 Oct 1872), Find A Grave: Memorial #37440541, citing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave.
7. ↑ Obituary— "British Newspaper Archives, Obituaries," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q26M-RZKR : 26 October 2019), Mrs Sarah Payson or Fanny Fern Willis Parton, 24 Oct 1872; citing Obituary, Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, page , Records extracted by FindMyPast and images digitized by FamilySearch. The British Library, London; FHL microfilm 102,001,196.
8. ↑ Will and Probate — New York County, District and Probate Courts. Record of Wills, 1665-1916; Index to Wills, 1662-1923 (New York County); Author: New York. Surrogate's Court (New York County); Probate Place: New York, New York. Name: Sara P Parton; Probate Date: 21 Oct 1872; Probate Place: New York, New York, USA; Inferred Death Year: Abt 1872; Inferred Death Place: New York, USA; Item Description: Wills, Vol 0212-0213, 1872-1873

• Obituary — The Fort Scott Weekly Tribune; Publication Date: 23 Jun 1892; Publication Place: Fort Scott, Kansas, United States of America

See also:

• Wikipedia : Fanny Fern
• Wikidata: Item Q3066458, en:Wikipedia