43:. She was the daughter of Lewis Berry. She lived a fairly sheltered life, and was very close to her family. She was often ill, but managed to find the ridiculous in everyday life. On January 6, 1847, at the age of 35, she married Rev. Benjamin Williams Whitcher, and in the Spring of that year moved with her new husband to
63:
Whitcher's keen observations of those around her were an unending source of materials for her sketches. Those she wrote about soon saw themselves in her prose, and this caused friction with her husband's parishioners. This may have caused him to lose his position in the church.
86:, made her a celebrity. The characters she developed helped her satirize gentility, including issues such as fashion, social status, courtship, and hypocrisy. In 1855,
141:
90:, was gathered from her writings and published in book form, featuring her chief character, the comic fool The Widow Bedott.
48:
51:
in April 1847. She had to put herself more into the public eye as a minister's wife. She died
January 4, 1852, in
111:
Frances Miriam
Whicher's Widow Bedott story, 'The Widow Trades With A Peddler' is read in Mister Ron's Basement
97:
fashioned a coarsely amusing play from it. Consult the memoir by M. L. W. Whitcher in
Frances M. Whitcher's
136:
78:
40:
131:
126:
52:
36:
20:
8:
110:
94:
44:
120:
24:
23:. Whitcher may have been the first significant woman
118:
19:(1811–1852) was an American humorist, born in
82:during the 1840s. Her humorous creation,
119:
35:Frances was born November 1, 1811, in
13:
14:
153:
104:
142:People from Whitestown, New York
47:, where he became the Rector of
27:humorist in the United States.
17:Frances Miriam "Berry" Whitcher
30:
1:
72:She contributed poems to the
67:
7:
58:
10:
158:
88:The Widow Bedott Papers
41:Oneida County, New York
53:Whitestown, New York
21:Whitestown, New York
79:Godey's Lady's Book
137:American humorists
101:(New York, 1867).
149:
84:The Widow Bedott
74:Saturday Gazette
45:Elmira, New York
157:
156:
152:
151:
150:
148:
147:
146:
117:
116:
107:
99:Widow Spriggins
70:
61:
33:
12:
11:
5:
155:
145:
144:
139:
134:
129:
115:
114:
106:
105:External links
103:
95:David R. Locke
69:
66:
60:
57:
49:Trinity Church
32:
29:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
154:
143:
140:
138:
135:
133:
130:
128:
125:
124:
122:
112:
109:
108:
102:
100:
96:
91:
89:
85:
81:
80:
75:
65:
56:
54:
50:
46:
42:
38:
28:
26:
22:
18:
98:
93:Afterwards,
92:
87:
83:
77:
73:
71:
62:
34:
16:
15:
132:1852 deaths
127:1811 births
31:Family life
121:Categories
68:Characters
37:Whitestown
59:Material
113:Podcast
25:prose
76:and
123::
55:.
39:,
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.