I recently encountered mention of a book I’d never heard of written by an obscure Midwestern author named Harris. “Contrasting it with the work of others who have wrought in the Iowa vineyard, one comes to the conclusion that ‘The Road to Ridgeby’s’ lies nearest the truth, and is, consequently, the best art. I do not laud ‘Ridgeby’s’ above ‘Main Travelled Roads’ simply because it’s a pleasanter road. It’s simply and unmistakably the truer, the more natural, nearer to the real life of the Iowa plains.” (The Mirror, St. Louis)
Hmmm… bold claim. Hamlin Garland’s “Main Travelled Roads,” published in 1891, a decade before “Ridgeby,” is the gold standard by which all toiling in the Iowa vineyard between 1890 and World War I are measured. Despite familiarity with this vineyard, I was unaware of Frank Burlingame Harris. Obviously, I needed to read Harris’s book, which arrived via mail a week later. (Also available free online.)
Frank Burlingame Harris was born in upstate New York 150 years ago; boyhood years were spent in Omaha, Nebraska. Editor of his school’s newspaper, Harris came to the attention of literary critic, eventually chief editorial writer, Elia Peattie at the Omaha World-Herald, who quickly hired him. (In 1896, Mrs. Peattie moved to Chicago, where she became friends with many authors… including Hamlin Garland.)
More background, from the foreword of “Ridgeby”: “(Harris’s) first assignments were handled with so fair a display of resourcefulness, energy, and literary skill, that at age eighteen, he was sent to Lincoln as a legislative correspondent. He was connected with the World-Herald until 1893, when he came to Chicago. At the University of Chicago, he took a special course in English and American literature under Professor Wilkinson* (and) establish(ed) a magazine, ‘The Calumet’. Although Harris discontinued publication after a few months, this venture brought him the acquaintance and friendship of several western writers.”
I searched in vain for the names of these western writers, strongly suspecting Garland was among them. Harris, like Garland, wrote at least one poem in dialect; Garland included seven dialect poems in “Prairie Songs,” published in 1893. Harris’s “In Iowy” appeared in the Midland Monthly, 1896: “In Iowy th’ grass grows greener / ‘N any place I know, / An’ a sweeter scent comes driftin’ up / Fr’m where the vi’lets blow. / Th’ wheat-fields sing a softer song / Thun where I’m livin’ now, / An’ bigger blossoms deck with white / Th’ bending apple-bough.” The poem concludes, “An’ all th’ time th’ wind it seems / Keeps callin’ out t’ me / T’ come an’ hear it sigh agin / Out there in Iowy.”
So, what about “The Road to Ridgeby’s,” young Harris’s only novel? Published four years after his premature death from an unnamed disease (cancer? tuberculosis?) “Ridgeby” generated glowing reviews. Three examples:
--“A simple but powerful story of farm life in the great West, which cannot fail to make a lasting impression on every reader. A book to make the reader better by strengthening belief in the truth of self-sacrifice and the survival of sturdy American character.”
--“One cannot read this book without being caught by its charm, its earnestness, its truthfulness. Unquestionably one of the best novels of the year, an addition to American literature that will live.”
--“In its home-spun characters, in its users of dialect, its toil-worn, sod-marked folk, the novel is unique. I have never read a rural novel that delighted me more in the spots where delight lurks, and indeed they are frequent.”
Returning to the foreword, by author Forrest Crissey: “Long after his days of extreme weakness began, (Harris) continued revisions, declaring it was his only contribution to a world he was soon to leave. He was twenty-four years old when he put aside the story here offered, saying: ‘I can't think any more!’”
Sadly, we’ll never know what might have been had Harris lived another five or six decades. Read today, however, “Ridgeby” and its talented author captured much about rural Iowa life 125 years ago, a major contribution to history AND literature.
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* -- “Professor Wilkinson” is likely related to Harris advocate Elia Wilkinson Peattie. Connections are often helpful.
*****
I’m pleased to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. My colleagues:
Thanks for introducing Frank Harris's writing. Amazon delivered my copy of The Road to Ridgeby's yesterday. The book's opening scene hooked me, so I'm looking forward to reading the rest.