Idora M. Plowman

Idora Elizabeth McClellan Plowman Moore (October 31, 1843 – February 26, 1929) was an American author, "one of the first Alabama writers to recognize the pecuniary aspects of local-color writing." She wrote using the pen-name Betsy Hamilton.

Early life Idora Elizabeth McClellan Plowman was born near Talladega, Alabama, on October 31, 1844. She was the daughter of Gen. William Blount McClellan (1798–1881) and Martha Thompson Roby (1809–1858). Her father traced the lineage of his family to William Wallace, of Scotland. He was a graduate of West Point, and before the Civil War held the office of Brigadier-General, commanding the militia troops of the counties of Talladega, Clay and Randolph in Alabama.

She died on February 26, 1929, in Talladega and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery.

Legacy The Alabama Writers Conclave dedicated a room in the library of the Alabama College at Montevallo to Betsy Hamilton Collection of Alabama Writers.

In 1937 her stepdaughter, Julia Moore Smith, compiled a memorial volume of nineteen of her sketches.