Augusta Jane Evans Wilson

Augusta Jane Evans Wilson (May 8, 1835 – May 9, 1909), was an American author of Southern literature and a patriot of the South. She was the first woman to earn US$100,000 through her writing.Wilson was a native of Columbus, Georgia, and her first book, Inez, a Tale of the Alamo, was written when she was still young. It was published by Harpers, but met with indifferent success. Her second book, Beulah, was issued in 1859 and became at once popular, still selling well when the American Civil War broke out. Cut off from the world of publishers, and intensely concerned for the cause of secession, she wrote nothing more until several years later when she published her third story, Macaria, dedicated to the soldiers of the Southern Army. This book was burned by some protesters. After the war closed, Wilson travelled to New York with the copy of St. Elmo, which was speedily published and met with great success. Her later works, Vashti; Infelice; and At the Mercy of Tiberius had phenomenal success. In 1868, she married Lorenzo Madison Wilson, of Alabama, and they resided at Spring Hill.