William Alexander Caruthers
William Alexander Caruthers was a 19th-century physician and novelist from Virginia, known for his contributions to early Southern literature. Born to a prominent family connected to Thomas Jefferson, he earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1823. However, his medical practice faced significant challenges, leading him to pivot toward writing after relocating to New York. Caruthers is recognized for his novel "The Cavaliers of Virginia," which delves into Nathaniel Bacon's rebellion and is considered one of the first works of Virginian folklore. His writing style, influenced by British authors like Sir Walter Scott, positioned him as an early romance novelist, and he is sometimes referred to as the father of Southern romance.
Despite being overshadowed by contemporaries, Caruthers's works often explored complex themes, such as the portrayal of slaves and strong female characters, marking him as a progressive voice for his time. Notably, his book "The Kentuckian in New York" depicted the adventures of Southern characters in an urban setting, contributing to the romantic narrative of Southern identity in the antebellum era. A member of the Georgia Historical Society, Caruthers spent his later years in Savannah, where he passed away in 1846. His legacy reflects the intricate cultural and political landscapes of his time.
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William Alexander Caruthers
Writer
- Born: December 23, 1802
- Birthplace: Lexington, Virginia
- Died: August 29, 1846
- Place of death: Georgia
Biography
William Alexander Caruthers, a nineteenth century physician and novelist, was born in Virginia as the son of one of Thomas Jefferson’s representative landholders. Caruthers earned a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1823, but his subsequent medical practice failed miserably and went bankrupt. He married Louisa Catherine Gibson, a woman with considerable inheritance and slaves, that same year, but after settling in Lexington, they quickly ran up debts and Caruthers was forced to find a new means of income. He moved to New York and began writing there.
Caruthers’s first book, The Cavaliers of Virginia: Or, the Recluse of Jamestown, was devoted to the topic of Nathaniel Bacon’s rebellion in 1676. This well-received work was one of the first writings of early Virginian folklore. Although Caruthers was overshadowed by contemporaries like John Pendleton Kennedy, William Gilmore Simms, and John Cooke, some consider him to be the father of Southern romance. Caruthers was also considered to be one of America’s earliest romance novelists. Even though he caricatures blacks and stereotypes them often in his writing, Caruthers was a revolutionary progressive because he sometimes described slaves in more complex ways and by highlighting the strengths and resolve of his female characters, a rarity in Southern antebellum writers. Politically, Caruthers played both sides because he argued for reconciliation between the North and South, but also helped establish the cavalier theme in the South, a theme that proved to be an integral part of Southern identity during the Civil War.
His work The Kentuckian in New York was a romantic view of the adventures of two South Carolinians and a Kentuckian who traveled to New York City. As well as being one of the nation’s first romances, this book was among the first to place a country protagonist in an urban setting. Although his writing touches on current American political issues of the time such as Indian removal, westward expansion, and sectional tensions, Caruthers’s writing carries with it influence derived mainly from British authors he studied, such as Sir Walter Scott. A prominent member in the Georgia Historical Society, Caruthers eventually settled in Savannah where he lived until his death in 1846.