The American Revolution in Upstate New YorkHarold Frederic (1856-1898) is one of many talented but undeservedly forgotten regional realists in American literature. His novel In the Valley, published in 1890, is one of several historical novels he set in his home state of New York. The “Valley” of the title is the Mohawk Valley west of Albany. Frederic’s hometown of Utica, New York lies in the Mohawk Valley, but the town was not named Utica until after the War, so that place name does not appear in the book. The novel opens during the French and Indian Wars and proceeds through the American Revolution.
Douw Mauverensen is the son of Dutch immigrants. When his father dies at a young age, his mother allows him to be taken in as ward by Mr. Stewart, a wealthy English gentleman of a neighboring estate. Though Dutch is Douw’s first language, through Mr. Stewart he learns the English language and the manners of an English gentlemen. The English aristocrats with whom he associates, however, never let him forget that he is just a lowly Dutchman and not one of their own. Animosity escalates when the Revolutionary War breaks out. Like most of the Dutch and German settlers, Douw takes the side of the colonists. The English aristocrats, however, are staunch Tories who attempt to take the Mohawk Valley by force in the name of King George III.
The first several chapters of In the Valley might give one the impression that it was written for a young audience. This is because Douw is eight years old when the novel opens, but the story grows up with its hero. The Revolutionary War doesn’t start until about midway through the book, at which point the narrative relies more and more on historical research. Real events and personages of the Revolutionary era are discussed, and the characters include actual figures from New York State history. The most prominent of these is Philip Schuyler, a Continental Congressman and general who nowadays is probably best remembered as the father-in-law of Alexander Hamilton. The plot climaxes with the Battle of Oriskany, which Frederic depicts with horrific details that call to mind Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage.
There is much in this book about racism, not just against Blacks and Indians, but white-on-white racism based on European ethnicity. Classism is also explored, resulting in contrast and conflicts between English and Dutch, rich and poor, landholders and peasant farmers, conservatives and liberals, Tories and patriots. Racist comments uttered in the novel are realistic to the time period and the narrator, therefore it is hard to tell exactly what Frederic’s views are on race, except that when it comes to the Revolution he is decidedly anti-English. With the exception of Mr. Stewart, the English characters, though wealthy aristocrats, are depicted as ruffians, drunkards, philanderers, and sadists.
The historical and military aspects of In the Valley are clearly realistic, but the relationships between the characters are rendered in a more romantic and artificial style that calls to mind Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels of the Napoleonic War, such as The Great Shadow. James Fenimore Cooper is another obvious comparison and likely influence for this work, particularly his Revolutionary War novel Wyandotté, also set in New York, which is a much better novel than this. Later in his career, Frederic would adopt a more strictly naturalistic style, as in his novel The Damnation of Theron Ware, an unsung masterpiece of American realism. Those having first read Theron Ware can’t help but find In the Valley disappointing by comparison. This is still a fine novel of the Revolution, but most readers will prefer Cooper’s writings on the era.
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An unsung masterpiece of American realism
The name Harold Frederic is unlikely to ring a bell with many readers these days, even those who are well-versed in the history of American literature. His obscurity, however, is undeserved. I had previously read one very good short story of his entitled “Brother Sebastian’s Friendship.” This led me to his novel The Damnation of Theron Ware, an 1896 bestseller that is largely forgotten today. To my surprise, this lesser-known novel from the turn of the last century turned out to be an excellent read. As an enthusiast of naturalist literature from this time period, I consider this book to be an unsung masterpiece of Victorian-era American literary realism.
Theron Ware is a young minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in upstate New York. As the novel opens, the church’s annual Nedahma Conference is being held to determine the placement of ministers in its churches throughout the district. Theron and his wife Alice are hoping to move to a larger, more cosmopolitan town, but instead they are posted to the conservative backwater of Octavius. Almost immediately after accepting his post, Theron must contend with the puritanical and parsimonious views of the church trustees and elders. By chance, Theron meets some new friends from outside the Methodist Church: Father Forbes, an Irish Catholic priest; Dr. Ledsmar, a skeptical scientist; and Celia Madden, a young Irish woman who serves as the Catholic church organist. As Theron gets to know these new acquaintances, he soon overcomes his prejudices against the Irish and Catholics and begins to envy Forbes and Ledsmar for their progressive intellectualism and enlightened views on theology. Even Celia intimidates Theron with her modern sophistication. The daughter of a wealthy family, she is an early feminist set on living an independent, liberated life. As a result of his encounters with these individuals, Theron begins to doubt his strict Methodist faith and becomes infatuated with the beautiful, cultured Celia.
I have no personal interest whatsoever in the workings of the Methodist Church, but this book really made the subject fascinating. The story delves into the politics of running a parish church, the social expectations imposed upon the minister and his wife, and the sometimes distasteful marketing savvy required for fundraising. The book is not antireligious, but Frederic himself doesn’t exhibit a strict attachment to any faith and reports on church doings and questions of belief in an objective, realistic manner. Occasional scenes come across as highly romanticized, but Frederic skillfully negates such departures from realism by forcing the reader to question how much of the romance merely exists within Theron’s fevered mind. Similarly, at times Frederic depicts Celia, the liberated woman who scorns Victorian conventions, as almost a devilish temptress, but then he challenges conservative readers with scenes that portray her as the voice of reason in a puritanical world. Despite its religious subject matter, the novel never succumbs to easy contrasts between good and evil or right and wrong. Frederic can be quite harsh in his renunciation of formulaic plot elements or romantic cliches. The Damnation of Theron Ware is always engaging and never predictable, right up to its very conclusion.
Frederic’s writing is on a par with better-known naturalist contemporaries like Frank Norris, Charles W. Chesnutt, Theodore Dreiser, and Edith Wharton. If this novel is any indication of his abilities, Frederic merits a great deal more name recognition than he currently enjoys. The Damnation of Theron Ware deserves to be widely read by all fans of American realist literature.
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Not bad for six 19th-century unknowns
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| Harold Frederic |
This collection of short stories is the sixth volume in the Stories by American Authors series, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1884. Overall the series has been a bit disappointing, but this is one of the better volumes so far, along with Volume III. The stories represent the kind of literature one would be likely to encounter in the popular literary magazines of the late 19th century. The six authors included here have since faded into obscurity and are likely to be unknown to today’s readers, with the possible exception of Harold Frederic, author of the novel The Damnation of Theron Ware. Frederic’s entry is one of the three strong selections in the book, which are accompanied by three more mediocre offerings.
“The Denver Express” by A. A. Hayes is one of the winners in the collection. Uncharacteristic of the series, it has few literary pretensions. It’s just a good, old-fashioned Western adventure—not of the cowboys and Indians type, but the railroad and cavalry type. Major Sinclair, a railroad employee, is sent to frontier Colorado to manage a station. There he runs afoul of a gang of local ruffians and gamblers. Hayes’s storytelling can be a bit confusing at times, but otherwise it’s good fun.
The best story in the book is “The Heartbreak Cameo” by Lizzie W. Champney. A jewelry expert discovers a beautiful gemstone exquisitely carved into a unique cameo. The origin story of this remarkable stone takes the reader back to a 17th-century Native American village in Illinois, where an ambitious French missionary with a lust for precious stones meets a simple-minded Indian maiden who knows where to find them. This is a great piece of historical fiction that keeps the reader guessing until the very end.
Coming in a close second is Frederic’s tale, “Brother Sebastian’s Friendship.” This story, narrated by a French monk, is set in the 1870s. Brother Sebastian is a solitary and misanthropic sort who has lived an intentionally lonely life but for one meaningful friendship. Here he relates the story of that singular friendship, which culminates in a shocking revelation. Frederic delivers a beautifully crafted tale that’s constantly engaging and suspenseful. This is one case where the surprise ending is truly a surprise.
The other three stories included in this volume are run-of-the-mill fare of the period. In C. H. White’s “The Village Convict,” a young man, after serving prison time for burning down the barn of a man who angered him, returns to his hometown and works to forge a new life in small-town society. “The Misfortunes of Bro’ Thomas Wheatley” by Lina Redwood Fairfax, is a character study of an aged black man who works as an “office-boy and messenger” for a white business firm. Labor riots in Baltimore contribute to the story. Albert Webster’s story “Miss Eunice’s Glove” concerns an unmarried young woman who decides to make a charitable visit to a local prison and ends up getting in deeper than she planned.
Overall, for those who are into 19th-century American literature, this is a pretty good collection of short fiction. The Hayes, Champney, and Frederic stories alone are worth a download. As for the other three selections, you can take ‘em or leave ‘em.
Stories in this collection
The Village Convict by C. H. White
The Denver Express by A. A. Hayes
The Misfortunes of Bro’ Thomas Wheatley by Lina Redwood Fairfax
The Heartbreak Cameo by Lizzie W. Champney
Miss Eunice’s Glove by Albert Webster
Brother Sebastian’s Friendship by Harold Frederic
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