William Gilmore Simms, The Yemassee

Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1835

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Simms’s first colonial romance was published in the spring of 1835 to laudatory reviews in both the North and South. The story begins on the eve of the outbreak of the Yemassee War of 1715, and the characters are a mix of actual historical figures and Simms’s fictional creations. The colonial governor, Lord Charles Craven (posing through most of the book as Gabriel Harrison), sensing unrest among the Indians in coastal South Carolina, is traveling about the countryside, assisted by his faithful slave, Hector, and a farmer, Walter Grayson, attempting to discover the source of the Indians’ discontent. Grayson’s brother Hugh is Craven’s rival for the affections of Bess Matthews, daughter of a Christian missionary among the Indians. Craven, with his two helpers, discovers an…

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409 words

Citation: Meats, Stephen E.. "The Yemassee". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 January 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8249, accessed 25 November 2024.]

William Gilmore Simms, The Yemassee

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