Background
John William De Forest was born on May 31, 1826, in Humphreysville (now Seymour), Connecticut, United States. He was the son of John H. and Dotha (Woodward) DeForest.
(Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty (1867...)
Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty (1867) is an American Civil War novel by veteran John William DeForest.In contrast to much of the Civil War fiction that had gone before it, Miss Ravenel's Conversion portrayed war not in the chivalric, idealized manner of Walter Scott, but as a bloody and inglorious hell.
https://www.amazon.com/Miss-Ravenels-conversion-secession-loyalty/dp/154849397X/?tag=2022091-20
1867
(At all events, she had reason to be thankful that the lon...)
At all events, she had reason to be thankful that the loneliness and quietude of her girlish life had led her to pass much time in her father's library, and to read there more of history than most young ladies know.
https://www.amazon.com/Missionary-Classic-Reprint-William-Forest/dp/1527720349/?tag=2022091-20
1879
(The war of secession was ended lately ended; and Mr. Sila...)
The war of secession was ended lately ended; and Mr. Silas Mather was once more in Charleston. It had been many years since he was in that notorious city so much more notorious even than when he quitted it, when he shook off the dust of his feet against it. Over and over he had said to himself and to others that he would never again go there.
https://www.amazon.com/Bloody-Chasm-Novel-Classic-Reprint/dp/B008L7NGTQ/?tag=2022091-20
1881
John William De Forest was born on May 31, 1826, in Humphreysville (now Seymour), Connecticut, United States. He was the son of John H. and Dotha (Woodward) DeForest.
De Forest's family was wealthy and well-educated, with a legacy of Yale graduates. De Forest opted not to attend Yale. Plagued by health problems, he instead traveled across the globe. With the world as his classroom, De Forest developed an understanding of race, culture, language, and history. An eager student, De Forest was a quick study, absorbing cultural influences and ideologies from every area he visited.
During De Forest’s first trip abroad, he visited an older brother who was serving as a missionary in Syria. Fascinated by the cultures he encountered in his visits throughout the Middle East, De Forest wrote home often, recording his observations for his family. He returned to the United States and began conducting research for his first book. He impressed many with his objective look at Connecticut’s Native American tribes in the History of the Indians of Connecticut from the Earliest Known Period to 1850.
Before the book was published, De Forest was traveling abroad again, this time in Europe. He would spend five years in Europe, traveling all over the continent in search of new experiences and a cure for his recurring ill health. While in Europe, De Forest developed a passion for foreign literature, especially the realistic works of French authors such as Honoré de Balzac and George Sand. This realism would greatly influence De Forest’s literary work. Upon returning to America, De Forest began writing travel books. Oriental Acquaintance: Or, Letters from Syria is based upon his earlier travels in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries.
The American Civil War and its aftermath occupied much of De Forest’s life in the 1860s. He formed a volunteer group that aided the war effort, served as one of its officers, and later served in the Veteran Reserve Corps and Bureau of Freedmen and Refugees. This military experience would influence one of De Forest’s most successful works. Miss Ravenel’s Conversion from Secession to Loyalty was published in 1867.
Following Miss Ravenel’s Conversion, De Forest wrote serial novels in the 1870s. The periodical Hearth and Home published both Della (also known as The Wild Girl) and Annie Howard in serial installments, while Galaxy published De Forest’s Overland, a serial later published in book form. Other serial novels from the decade include Kate Beaumont, The Wetherel Affair, and Irene the Missionary. In the mid-1870s, De Forest turned to politics for literary inspiration, producing the political novels Honest John Vane, Playing the Mischief, and Justine’s Lovers. After the literary community failed to acknowledge much of De Forest’s work, the frustrated author turned his attention to the Bible. He produced translations of the Bible that would later be published with his poetry. He did not abandon fiction writing entirely, as he later wrote the novels The Bloody Chasm (also known as The Oddest of Courtships) and A Lover’s Revolt. He died in 1906.
Two volumes of memoirs about the Civil War were published after De Forest’s death: A Volunteer’s Adventures and A Union Officer in the Reconstruction.
(At all events, she had reason to be thankful that the lon...)
1879(Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty (1867...)
1867(The war of secession was ended lately ended; and Mr. Sila...)
1881John William De Forest’s novels and nonfiction works contain a realism absent in the work of many of his Victorian Era contemporaries. Instead of depicting the romance and sentimentality fashionable in the literature of that time, De Forest depicts a very different view of the world. This view includes poverty, human failings, historical perspectives, and a colorful cast of characters.
Quotes from others about the person
“De Forest had a remarkable eye for detail, ear for dialect, and mind for the discovery of motive and character.” - Paul Hutchinson
On June 5, 1856, John married Harriet Silliman Shepard, but she died on March 29, 1878. They had a son, Louis Shepard.