May 13, 1827 – March 30, 1886

by Charles K. (Ken) McCotter, Jr., Christ Episcopal Church, New Bern, NC, 2016

Mary Bayard Devereux Clarke was born on May 13, 1827, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Thomas Pollock Devereux and Catherine Anne Johnson Devereux. Her ancestors include revivalist preacher Jonathan Edwards, clergyman and educator Samuel Johnson, and wealthy landowner and colonial governor Thomas Pollock. Although born in to a wealthy North Carolina planter family, Mary Bayard frequently tested the roles of southern planter women. Because of the southern ideal of the lady and respect for her father, she published poetry and prose under a pseudonym rather than her own name.

Before the Civil War, Mary Bayard became a well-known poet and columnist using the pseudonym Tenella. In 1854 she published the first compilation of poems written by North Carolina poets, Wood-Notes; or, Carolina Carols: A Collection of North Carolina Poetry. She also wrote columns about a trip to Cuba in 1855 for the Southern Literary Messenger.

In 1848 Mary Bayard married Mexican War hero, William J. Clarke, a native of New Bern. They were married in Louisiana by Mary’s uncle, Bishop Leonidas Polk, an Episcopal bishop who later became a major general fighting for the Confederacy. After traveling to Cuba in 1855, the Clarkes moved to San Antonio, Texas, where they endured the rigors of frontier life through the excitement of living at an army post, outside adventure, and the relaxed style of western entertaining. Living in Texas during the seccession crisis, Mary Bayard covered the events for the New York Herald. She returned to North Carolina in 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, and wrote to support the Southern cause while her husband fought for the Confederacy. Her patriotic verses for newspapers became household words.

Although writing articles critical of radical reconstruction, Mary Bayard continued her creative writing, and in 1866 published her book of poetry, Mosses from A Rolling Stone; or, Idle Moments of a Busy Woman. She was also publishing in southern and northern papers. She wrote book reviews for Harper, Appleton, and Scribner publications, and composed hymns and novelettes.

To the dismay of Mary Bayard and her family, her husband joined the Republican Party in 1868, creating the difficulties of living as the wife of a scalawag in the Reconstruction South. Despite this tension, Mary Bayard stood by her husband.

After the death of her father in 1869, Mary Bayard used her own name in her work.

Moving to New Bern in 1869, the Clarkes attended Christ Episcopal Church. They briefly taught at the New Bern Academy. Mary Bayard’s journalism turned to social commentary and she became an advocate for the working woman.

The Clarkes had four children. Their granddaughter, Mary Bayard Morgan Wootten, became a famous North Carolina photographer.

A biography of Mary Bayard Clarke can be found in Live Your Own Life: the Family Papers of Mary Bayard Clarke, 1854-1886, edited by Terrell Armistead Crow and Mary Moulton Barden, great granddaughter of Mary Bayard Clarke.