Rosella Rice

Rosella Rice
Rice circa 1880s
Rice circa 1880s
BornAugust 11, 1827
Perrysville, Ohio, United States
DiedJune 6, 1888 (aged 60)
Resting placePerrysville Union Cemetery
Pen name
  • Aunt Chatty Brooks
  • Pippsisaway "Pipsy" Potts
  • Mrs. Sam Starkey
OccupationShort story writer, author, poet, columnist
LanguageEnglish
Years active1840-1888
Notable worksWritings about her encounters with Johnny Appleseed
ChildrenLillie May Rice Stahl

Rosella Rice (11 August 1827 – 6 June 1888) was an American author, poet, and lecturer born in Perrysville, Ohio. She was known for her direct and energetic comedy writing, her nature poems, and her vivid descriptions of folklore figure John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman.

Rice published hundreds of magazine articles over a 40-year career.[1] Her writings appeared in Cleveland and Columbus newspapers, Godey's Lady's Book, Indiana Farmer, Arthur's Home Magazine, Interior, Watchman, Journal and Messenger, Presbyterian Banner, Household, Housekeeper, Little Corporal, The Children's Hour, Toledo Blade, Western Rural and Woman's Journal.[2][3]

Rice wrote under her own name as well as multiple pseudonyms that reflected different characters. These included Pipsissiway Potts,[4] who provided tutorials and recipes; Aunt Chatty Brooks, who ran a boarding house for young women;[5][6][7][8] and Mrs. Sam Starkey, an elderly gossip with a sense of humor.[3] She wrote columns from these points of view for Arthur's,[9][3] "creating fictional characters who inhabited her magazine's stories, and became 'real' to hundreds of readers".[10]

Rice is perhaps best known for writing prose and poetry about her encounters with John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman, who often visited Perrysville in his later years. Rice later corresponded with Chapman after he moved to Indiana, until his death in 1845.[1] Her accounts of Appleseed were widely published and quoted in nonfiction books and newspapers.[11] Possibly due to Rice's depictions, Appleseed became a hero of American folklore.[12][13]

Rice also wrote extensively to mythologize the nostalgia of American pioneer life[14] and was also a public lecturer.[15]

Anna B. Quillin, Rice's editor at Arthur's, described Rice as "witty, humorous, quick to see the ludicrous, pathetic, sympathetic, helpful and at times sarcastic".[10]

  1. ^ a b "Rosella Rice Program 7/28/2011". sites.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  2. ^ Coggeshall, William Turner (1860). The Poets and Poetry of the West: With Biographical and Critical Notices. Follett, Foster.
  3. ^ a b c "Rosella Rice - more information". 2016-03-22. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
  4. ^ Arthur's Illustrated Home Magazine. T.S. Arthur & Sons. 1875.
  5. ^ Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John (1901). Appleton's Cyclopædia of American Biography. D. Appleton. p. 290.
  6. ^ Barile, Mary Collins (2013-05-28). Hooked Rugs of the Midwest: A Handcrafted History. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61423-948-2.
  7. ^ App. II, 1925? (1 .) ; III, 1928 (9 p.) ; [IV] 1931 (7 p.) : V, 1934 (9 p.). W. Abbatt. 1924.
  8. ^ The Colloquial Who's who: An Attempt to Identify the Many Authors, Writers and Contributors who Have Used Pen-names, Initials, Etc. (1600-1924), Also a List of Sobriquets, Nicknames, Epigrams, Oddities, War Phrases, Etc. W. Abbatt. 1924.
  9. ^ Arthur's Home Magazine. T.S. Arthur and Son. 1875. p. 396.
  10. ^ a b cavin, lee. "Conversation: Perrysville's Rosella Rice: A liberated woman before women's lib". Ashland Times-Gazette. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Means, Howard (2012-04-17). Johnny Appleseed: The Man, the Myth, the American Story. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4391-7826-3.
  13. ^ Wills, Matthew (2016-10-22). "The Real Story Behind "Johnny Appleseed"". JSTOR Daily. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  14. ^ Mershon, Peggy. "History: Rosella Rice wrote about life in the 1800s". Mansfield News Journal. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  15. ^ Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography;. D. Appleton. 1888.