Bella Zilfa Spencer (March 1, 1840 – August 1, 1867)[1] was an English-born American novelist and early editor of the Saturday Evening Post, She was the first wife of future US Senator George Eliphaz Spencer.
Bella Zilfa Spencer | |
|---|---|
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| Born | March 1, 1840  London |
| Died | August 1, 1867 (aged 27) Tuscaloosa |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse(s) | George E. Spencer |
Bella Zilfa Spencer was born on March 1, 1840 in London.[1] According to an account of her life published in 1867 she was the daughter of an English man, the second son of a Sir Edward St. Alban, and an Italian mother. The family settled in West Virginia, where she was orphaned and raised by a foster family. She married at the age of 15, but by 1860 her husband and two children were dead.[2]
She published numerous short stories in magazines like Godey's Lady's Book and Harper's Magazine and several novels and collections of stories.[1] She was an editor of the Saturday Evening Post in Philadelphia and later purchased a share of the ownership.[3]
In 1862, she married George E. Spencer. George Spencer was a Union Army General during the American Civil War. Following the war, he practiced law in Alabama before becoming a politician there.[4] Bella Spencer died in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on 1 August 1867.[1]
Bibliography edit
- Ora, the Lost Wife (1864)
- Tried and True, A Story of the Rebellion (1866)
- Surface and Depth (1867)
References edit
- ^ a b c d Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John (1888). "Spencer, George Eliphaz". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. pp. 629–30.
- ^ Spencer, Bella Z. (1867). "Self-Defense". Howard Quarterly: 73–75.
- ^ Okker, Patricia (2008-06-01). Our Sister Editors: Sarah J. Hale and the Tradition of Nineteenth-century American Women Editors. University of Georgia Press. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-8203-3249-9.
- ^ "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
External links edit
