Botetourt 250th Anniversary Celebration Facts weekly edition

Botetourt’s 250^th Anniversary Celebration Facts:

This week we explore Mary Johnston a Buchanan born novelist and feminist from the early 20^th Century.

American novelist and feminist Mary Johnston was born here in Buchanan, VA on Nov. 21, 1870. Her father John William Johnston was a Civil War Veteran and a commander in the Botetourt Artillery that fought for the southern cause at Vicksburg, MS. Her book “The Long Roll” details the American Civil War and was published in 1911.

Mary Johnston was one of the first American women novelists to reach one million copies in book sales in the early 20^th century. Her novel, “To have and to Hold” was a best seller in 1900 establishing her as a noteworthy American writer. Her feminist views were contained first in the novel “Hagar” in 1913 and established her in the Women’s Suffrage movement.

When she was age 16 the Mary Johnston’s family moved to Alabama, followed by New York, Alabama again and then to Richmond.

“To Have and to Hold,” was made into two silent movies and all told she published 23 novels, some short stories, two long poems and a play. She died in Warm Springs VA in 1936.

The home of Mary Johnston stood on Lowe Street in Buchanan. It was torn down mid  20^th century to put up a car lot and many of us to this day park on that lot during the Buchanan Carnival. We walk on the spot where Mary grew up.

–Information from Fireside Books owner, the late Paul Simpkins who was a wealth of information concerning Mary Johnston. Facts came from a story I did with him in the mid 2011 and Wikipedia.

–Cathy Benson, The Botetourt Bee