Mary V. Tingley Lawrence
Mary V. Tingley Lawrence | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Mrs. Lawrence, oil on canvas, by John Singer Sargent, 1881 | |
| Born | Mary Viola Tingley ca. 1840 Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | April 24, 1931 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Pen name | Ridinghood |
| Occupation |
|
| Spouse | James Henry Lawrence |
Mary V. Tingley Lawrence (née Tingley; pen name, Ridinghood; ca. 1840 – 1931) was an American writer and customs inspector.[1] Born in Indiana, she moved to California in 1852 where she became widely known by her pen name, "Ridinghood," while working as a correspondent for The Union and other California and Nevada newspapers. Her journalistic work covered social matters and sketches. With Bret Harte, she compiled Outcroppings, a collection of poems by twenty early Californian writers.[2] Lawrence was also a founder and honorary president of the Pacific Coast Women's Press Association and served for 30 years as a Customs Inspector at the Port of San Francisco.
Early life and education
Mary Viola Tingley was born in Indiana, ca. 1840,[3] and came to California in 1852.[4] Her father was Col. George B. Tingley,[1] one of California's pioneer state builders and statesmen.[5] Col. Tingley, a native of Ohio, was a lawyer. He removed to Indiana, and there served in the Legislature with Vice-President-elect Thomas A. Hendricks and Thomas J. Henley. Tingley served as an officer in the Mexican–American War; came across the plains to California in 1849 with Henley; was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate; was defeated for Congress in 1851. He died at San Francisco, 1862.[6]
Louise Clappe was Mary's teacher and friend.[7]
Career
It is as "Ridinghood," her pen name, that Lawrence was best known. Using that pen name, she was a correspondent for The Union, writing a letter each week from San Francisco on social matters. The letters attracted significant attention, and the name "Ridinghood" became a household word among the families in the mining centers of California and Nevada. They also received favorable notice from the New-York Tribune and the Springfield Republican. Lawrence worked in many journalistic fields for The Daily Alta California , San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner , San Francisco Evening Bulletin, and The Argonaut. She also wrote sketches for Overland Monthly , such as "A Summer With a Countess", relating to Theresa Yelverton or Lady Avonmore, "A Mountain Posy," "College Charlemagne", and others. She traveled in the western U.S. as a correspondent for different California journals. Amid all the temptations and inducements to write personals of a spicy or acrid nature, Lawrence took pleasure in thinking that she never wrote a line in her life that hurt someone.[1]
Her name in probably best known in connection with the collection of the poems by early Californian writers known as Outcroppings. Lawrence was also the author of a novel.[1]
She was a Charter Member and the Honorary President of Pacific Coast Women's Press Association;[4] President Emeritus of the Ina Coolbrith Circle; and was a member of Daughters of the American Revolution.[3]
For 30 years, Lawrence served as Customs Inspector of the Port of San Francisco,[4] her responsibility being Inspector for Ladies on the Pacific steamships.[8]
Personal life
She married Hon. Senator James Henry Lawrence (or Laurence),[1] who became a California State Senator.[3] The couple had one daughter, Constance Violet (born 1876).[8]
After an illness of several months,[4] Mary Lawrence died in San Francisco, April 24, 1931, age 91.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e Mighels, Ella Sterling (1893). The story of the files; a review of Californian writers and literature. p. 93. Retrieved 30 January 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ California Historical Society (1926). California Historical Society Quarterly. California Historical Society. p. 411. Retrieved 28 September 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b c d "Mary Viola Tingley Lawrence". The San Francisco Examiner. 26 April 1931. p. 18. Archived from the original on 8 July 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "Viola Tingley Lawrence". Plumas Independent. 30 April 1931. p. 1. Retrieved 30 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hunt, Rockwell Dennis (1932). "Mray Viola Tingley Lawrence". California and Californians. Lewis Publishing Company. p. 318. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
- ^ Davis, Winfield J. (1890). An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California: Containing a History of Sacramento County from the Earliest Period of Its Occupancy to the Present Time, Together with Glimpses of Its Prospective Future ... Portraits of Some of Its Most Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of Many of Its Pioneers and Also Prominent Citizens of Today. Lewis Publishing Company. p. 47. Retrieved 31 January 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "A Beautiful Volume". Oakland Tribune. 6 August 1922. p. 66. Archived from the original on 8 July 2025. Retrieved 30 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b Muir, Minerva A. Carr (1916). History of Walker Family, 1775–1916. Express Printing Company. pp. 40–41. Retrieved 30 January 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.