T. S. Arthur
T. S. Arthur (1809-1885) was an influential editor, fiction writer, and advocate for temperance, born near Newburgh, New York. Despite facing challenges with his eyesight that prevented him from pursuing watchmaking, he became a journalist in Baltimore, where he became deeply involved in the temperance movement. Arthur's writing, characterized by its moral clarity and accessibility, resonated with a wide audience during the 19th century, making him more popular than contemporaries like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe. His notable works include "Ten Nights in a Bar-Room," which played a significant role in promoting temperance, and "Six Nights with the Washingtonians," among others that addressed social issues such as mesmerism, divorce, and feminism.
In addition to his fiction, Arthur was a prominent editor, founding several magazines, including Arthur's Ladies' Magazine and Arthur's Home Magazine, which gained acclaim for their content and family-focused themes. He produced over 150 works and sold more than a million copies during his lifetime, reflecting his significant impact on American literature and social issues of his time. Arthur's legacy, while less recognized today, contributes to the understanding of literary and social movements of the 19th century.
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T. S. Arthur
- Born: June 6, 1809
- Birthplace: Near Newburgh, Orange County, New York
- Died: March 6, 1885
- Place of death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Biography
Editor, fiction writer, and temperance crusader T. S. Arthur was born on a farm near Newburgh, New York, son of William Arthur and Anna Shay. Largely self-educated, he became a journalist in Baltimore after poor eyesight prevented his pursuing the trade of watchmaking for which he had apprenticed. A visit to the first temperance society in Maryland spurred a lifelong interest in the temperance movement and other progressive causes, and became the inspiration for his most famous fiction.
Although few in the twenty-first century would recognize the name of T. S. Arthur, his fiction was far more popular in his time than that of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, or other writers who represent the nineteenth century in current American literary anthologies. His first significant fictional publication, “A Domestic Tale,” was published by Godey’s Lady’s Book in 1837. His fiction was didactic in intention, easy for a mass audience to identify with, and unambiguous in its moral sentiments. He published stories in the leading domestic magazines of the time.
One of his early important books was Six Nights with the Washingtonians, and Other Temperance Tales. His most famous novel was Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, and What I Saw There. This work and the play made from it helped to substantiate and justify the temperance movement. In the 1850’s, its sales were second only to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. A sequel to Ten Nights, Three Years in a Man-Trap, was published some fifteen years later. According to at least one estimate, this was his best book. Besides temperance, Arthur’s novels treated other contemporary social issues: mesmerism (Agnes: Or, The Possessed), divorce (The Hand but Not the Heart: Or, The Life Trials of Jessie Loring), and feminism (Woman to the Rescue: A Story of the New Crusade).
Arthur was not only a popular fiction writer, but he also had a distinguished career as an editor. He edited the Baltimore- based Athenaeum and Young Men’s Paper until 1841. Among his circle of literary acquaintances was Edgar Allan Poe. After moving to Philadelphia, he founded Arthur’s Ladies’ Magazine in 1846, a combination literary and fashion magazine. In 1851, he founded the weekly Arthur’s Home Gazette, which many thought was the best family magazine of its time. In 1853, it changed names and became the monthly Arthur’s Home Magazine, which he continued editing, despite developing blindness, for the rest of his life. In 1836, he had married Eliza Alden and helped raise five sons and two daughters. One of the most popular writers of the nineteenth century, he published over 150 works of fiction and sold over one million copies.