Katherine Sherwood Bonner McDowell

Katherine Sherwood Bonner McDowell (February 26, 1849 – July 22, 1883), known by her pen name Sherwood Bonner, was an American author and feminist activist during the Gilded Age.

Early life Bonner was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on February 26, 1849. Her father, an Irish immigrant, married the daughter of a wealthy plantation family during the antebellum period. However, the Bonner family's home was occupied by Union soldiers during the American Civil War.

According to Bonner's scrapbook, her first story, "Laura Capello: A Leaf from A Traveller’s Note Book", was published in the Boston Ploughman when she was 15 years old.

At age 21, Bonner married Edward McDowell on February 14, 1871. Following their marriage, Bonner relocated with her new husband to Texas, and she gave birth to a daughter, Lilian, on December 10. In September of 1873, Bonner left her daughter in her mother-in-law's care and took a train to Boston, calling upon her acquaintance Nahum Capen to help her enroll in a local school.

Literary career

Capen employed her as his secretary while he worked on the History of Democracy. Under Capen and Longfellow's sponsorship, Bonner began publishing stories in Harper’s Young People, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Youth’s Companion.

Literary styles Bonner was known for her articles that discussed local stories. Many of her stories focused on her "gran'mammy", a character based on the woman who cared for Bonner as a child.

Later life In 1878, Bonner's father and brother were infected with yellow fever. She returned to her hometown and removed her daughter from her family home to a safe environment before returning to nurse her father and brother. However, they eventually died from the infection.

Bonner established residency in Illinois and divorced Edward McDowell in 1881. Also in 1881, Bonner was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and was told she had only a year to live. Bonner hid her illness from all but her closest friends. Bonner was dictating a novel until four days before she died at age 34 in Holly Springs on July 22, 1883.