Laura Carter Holloway

Laura Carter Holloway Langford
Born
Laura Carter

(1843-08-22)August 22, 1843
Nashville, Tennessee, US
DiedJuly 10, 1930(1930-07-10) (aged 86)
Canaan, New York, US
Other namesLaura Carter Holloway Langford
Occupation(s)Journalist, author, lecturer
EmployerBrooklyn Eagle
Notable workThe Ladies of the White House (1870 nonfiction bestseller)
RelativesVaulx Carter (brother)

Laura Carter Holloway Langford (August 22, 1843 – July 10, 1930) was an American journalist, author, and lecturer. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee, one of fourteen children of Samuel Jefferson and Anne Vaulx Carter.[1] She attended school at the highly-regarded Nashville Female Academy (established in 1816),[2] which gave her a solid foundation for her writing career.[3]

Her father was a Unionist during the Civil War, and his Saint Cloud Hotel in Nashville was used as headquarters for Union officers. Perhaps despite this, she went through a "little rebel" phase (as Andrew Johnson once called her).[4] However, in June 1862, she married Junius Brutus Holloway, a Union officer from Kentucky. He was "dismissed" from military service in December of that year.[5]

The marriage fell apart quickly as Lieutenant Holloway often landed in jail for disruptive behavior, and Laura was twice forced to plead with Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson to have her husband released.[6]

Their son, George Henry Thomas Holloway, was born November 21, 1864, in Nashville.

Samuel Carter moved his family to Brooklyn, New York, after the Civil War, and Laura and George went with them. Junius Brutus Holloway wasn't with them in the 1870 census. He was registered to vote in San Francisco in 1872. It it not clear when they divorced.

  1. ^ Keenan, Claudia J. (October 8, 2017). "Langford, Laura Carter Holloway". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  2. ^ Rumbley, Erica Joy (June 22, 2015). "Ornamental music and southern belles at the Nashville Female Academy, 1816-1861". American Music. 33 (2): 219–251. doi:10.5406/americanmusic.33.2.0219. S2CID 192322306.
  3. ^ "File:Nashville Female Academy.jpg - Wikipedia". commons.wikimedia.org. 1880. Retrieved October 10, 2023.[better source needed]
  4. ^ Sasson, Diane (2012). Yearning for the New Age: Laura Holloway-Langford and Late Victorian Spirituality. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-00177-1. JSTOR j.ctt16gzfwm.
  5. ^ Heitman, Francis Bernard (1903). Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army: From Its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  6. ^ Keenan, Claudia J (October 8, 2017). "Laura Carter Holloway Langford".