Sarah Dyer Hobart

American poet

Martin C. Hobart

(m. 1866)

Children3

Sarah Dyer Hobart (née, Dyer; pseudonym, Floyd Bentley; September 20, 1845 – November 1, 1921) was an American author of poetry, prose, and songs. Some of her more notable poems included, "The Record of Company B", "The Legend of St. Freda", and "Hector's Recompense".^[1] Her sonnets are perhaps her best work. She died in 1921.

Early life and education

Sarah Dyer was born in Otsego, Wisconsin Territory,^[2] September 20, 1845,^[3] or 1846.^[1] Her father, Wayne Bidwell Dyer (1813–1899), was the first man to make a home in the town, having arrived in Otsego in May 1844.^[4] Her parents were among the earliest settlers in that part of Wisconsin, and her early life was that of a pioneer.^[3]

She became well-educated.^[3]

Career

She started her literary career at the age of eighteen, and was a contributor to the periodical press thereafter. Her poems soon made her name well known, and her sketches added to her popularity. Hobart's sonnets are perhaps her best work.^[3] For nearly fifty years, she wrote for the press using various pseudonyms. Her poems appeared in the leading magazines, including the Century, Lippincott's Magazine, Outing, and others. She was a regular contributor for a number of years to Harper's Bazar.^[2] As a regular prose contributor to the Toledo Blade, she wrote over the pen name of “Floyd Bentley.”^[1] By 1880, she had turned her attention almost exclusively to writing melodies.^[1]

Personal life

In 1866, she married Colonel Martin C. Hobart, who had just returned from the American Civil War. They had three children —Frances M., Mary V., and Burr E.—^[5] and lived in Fountain Prairie, Wisconsin.^[3]

Sarah Dyer Hobart died on November 1, 1921, and was buried at Fall River Cemetery, Fall River, Wisconsin.^[6]^[7]

Selected works

Poetry

"The Record of Company B"
"The Legend of St. Freda"
"Hector's Recompense"

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Butterfield 1880, p. 552.
^ ^a ^b Hills & Luce 1907, p. 152.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 382.
^ Butterfield 1880, pp. 552, 833.
^ Butterfield 1880, p. 1066.
^ "Poetess Buried". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, WI. November 6, 1921. p. 5. Retrieved July 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Fall River Cemetery, Fall River, Wisconsin - Burial Records". www.interment.net. Retrieved 23 December 2017.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Butterfield, Consul Willshire (1880). The History of Columbia County, Wisconsin: Containing an Account of Its Settlement ... Its War Record, Biographical Sketches ... the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution and of the Constitution of the United States (Public domain ed.). Western Historical.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Hills, William Henry; Luce, Robert (1907). The Writer: A Monthly Magazine for Literary Workers (Public domain ed.). Writer Publishing Company.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton. p. 382.