Mary
Bayard
Clark
Although little known to
the present generation,
she was one of the great¬
est creative writers
North Carolina ever has
produced.
By HARRY Z. TUCKER
ALTHOUGH other North Caro¬
lina women have written,
isomc of them well, very few
have as yet approached Mary Bay¬
ard Clark either in versatility or
quality of work accomplished. At
sixteen she wrote her first poem,
"Nemo Semper Felix Est," which
was rarely equalled by more ma¬
ture persons. "Tenella," one of
her best poems, still remains the
queen among Carolina bards.
“And oft in love a friendship
ends
Though lovers rarely change to
friends.”
She was born in Raleigh on May
13, 1827, daughter of Thomas Pol-
lok Devereux, a distinguished law¬
yer and wealthy planter, who
owned 1,500 slaves. Her mother
was Katherine Ann Johnson, of
Connecticut, who was descended
from five colonial governors, Jon¬
athan Edwards of theologic fame,
and Samuel Johnson, first presi¬
dent of Columbia University. Her
grandfather was John Devereux,
of New Bern, an Irish gentleman
of White Church, in the County of
Wexford. Ireland.
A Burden of Ancestry’
Mary Bayard Devereux laugh¬
ingly used to tell her friends that
it was almost a burden to have so
many illustrious ancestors and re¬
lations. On her father's side she
was descended from Colonel Thom¬
as Pollok, who came to North
Carolina in 1683, and was the lead¬
ing colonist for a number of years.
He received a grant of land on the
Chowan River from King Charles
II, Bal Gra, portions of which re¬
mained in possession of his de¬
scendants until 1865.
Above her desk, in poignant bits
of preachments, Mary Bayard
penned the resolves of Jonathan
Edwards — the creed by which the
eloquent preacher of early colonial
days planned to live. Strict they
were, for he was firm with him¬
self, but among them was one
which the writer always took to
heart:
“Resolved, never to do any¬
thing which I should despise
or think meanly of in another.”
Mary Bayard was thoroughly'
educated. She took at home, under
an English governess, the same
courses pursued by her brother in
his studies at Princeton. An ex¬
cellent linguist, she not only wrote
and spoke, but made translations
for papers and books from the Ger¬
man, Spanish, French, and English
languages.
On one occasion the Honorable
Miss Murray, lady-in-waiting to
Queen Victoria, visited this coun¬
try. She paid loud acclaim to the
merits of the Raleigh girl, and de¬
clared that she was the only woman
she had met in America who, with¬
out being a blue-stocking, was
thoroughly educated.
Mary Bayard, considered one of
the most brilliant conversational¬
ists of the time, was married in
1848 to Captain William J. Clark,
who was a distinguished soldier of
the Mexican War, and afterwards
an officer in the War of Secession.
The ceremony was performed by
her uncle, Bishop Leonidas Polk,
at his home near New Orleans.
A Tireless Worker
Threatened with consumption,
Mary Bayard Clark traveled ex¬
tensively, staying some time in
Cuba and the West Indies, where
she was the cynosure of all eyes at
afternoon parties. But her crea¬
tive work never lagged; she con¬
tinued to write her poetry, com¬
pose her prose. She made many
warm, personal friends wherever
she went, counting among the
number General and Mrs. Robert
E. Lee, also General Albert Sid¬
ney Johnson.
From New Bern, she wrote in
1868: "I am busy editing my paper,
The Literary Pasti»7je; correspond¬
ing with others; contributing to
two magazines; translating a
French novel; added to which I am
composing the libretto for an
opera, and writing Sunday-school
hymns at five dollars apiece."
A woman of seeming indefatiga¬
ble constitution, she supported her¬
self and those she loved with the
pen. The war had destroyed her
family’s affluence, and she was
compelled to take over the added
duty of editor of Southern Field
and Fireside. In addition she re¬
viewed books for Harper, Scrib¬
ner, and Appleton.
During her last years, she was
wont to go for an afternoon canter
on her beautiful horse, which had
come from one of her father’s nu¬
merous Roanoke River plantations.
Although her health was far from
good, she continued her literary
work, often writing while propped
in bed. It was by the placid
Neuse, flowing fondly by the town,
that she loved to ride and think.
Her life was full of sentiment
and historic suggestion, and the
havoc left by the Civil War must
have borne heavily on one who had
been reared in ease and luxury.
She frequently recalled the old
days in Raleigh, which bore the
added charm of dignified surround¬
ings. When unusually low in spir¬
it, she often brought a ray of sun¬
shine by saying: "It is on moun¬
tain tops that the charm of life
lies, but, alas, we are so seldom
there!"
In retrospection, she would re¬
call the many famous visitors to
her beautiful Raleigh home, the
ease and luxurious surroundings,
the visits of her relatives and
friends. She often told of the visit
( Continued on page 18)
THE STATE. January 17. 1P48
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