The Southern Humorists Page


A handy collection of Southern humorists is Oddities in Southern Life and Character. Edited by Henry Watterson. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1883.
Some Representative Writers and Works

David Crockett ( 1786-1836 ).

• Narrative of the Life of David Crockett ( 1834 )
  "Bear Hunting in Tennessee" On Line
• An Account of Col. Crockett's Tour to the North and Down East ( 1835 )
• Colonel Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas ( 1836 )
• The Life of Davy Crockett ( 1899 ) combined the three books listed above.

Augustus Baldwin Longstreet ( 1790-1870 ).

• Georgia Scenes, Characters, Incidents,&c., in the First Half Century of the Republic ( 1835 )
  "The Horse Swap" On Line
  "The Fight" On Line
• Stories with a Moral: Humorous and Descriptive of Southern Life a Century Ago ( 1912 )

W. T. Thompson ( 1812-1882 ).

• Major Jones's Courtship ( 1843 )
• Major Jones's Chronicles of Pineville ( 1845 )
• Major Jones's Sketches of Travel ( 1848 )

George Washington Harris ( 1814-1869 ).

• Sut Lovingood. Yarns Spun by a Nat'ral Born Durn'd Fool. Warped and Wove for Public Wear ( 1867 )
  "Sicily Burn's Wedding" On Line
  "Mrs Yardley's Quilting" On Line

Joseph G. Baldwin ( 1815-1864 ).

• The Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi ( 1855 ) Page Images
• The Flush Times of California (?1864 ). Edited by Richard E. Amacher and George W. Polhemus. Georgia, 1966.

Johnson Jones Hooper ( 1815-1862 ).

• Some Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs, Late of the Tallapoosa Volunteers ( 1846 )
  "Simon Becomes Captain" On Line
  "The Captain Attends a Camp-Meeting" On Line
  
• The Widow Rugby's Husband and Other Tales of Alabama ( 1851 ).

Thomas Bangs Thorpe ( 1815-1878 ).

• The Mysteries of the Backwoods ( 1846 ).
• The Hive of the Bee Hunter ( 1854 ).
  Entire Book on Line
  "The Big Bear of Arkansas" On Line

A New Collection of Thomas Bangs Thorpe's Sketches of the Old Southwest. Edited, with a Critical Introduction and Textual Commentary, by David C. Estes. Louisiana State, 1989.
Richard M. Johnston ( 1822-1898 ).

• Dukesborough Tales ( 1871 ).
• Autobiography of Col. Richard Malcolm Johnston ( 1900 ).

Charles H. Smith ( 1826-1903 ).

• Bill Arp So Called: A Side Show of the Southern Side of the War ( 1866 ). Reprint by Gregg, 1970.
• Bill Arp's Peace Papers ( 1873 ).
• Bill Arp's Scrap Book: Humor and Philosophy ( 1884 ).
• Bill Arp: From the Uncivil War to Date ( 1903 ).

About the Southern Humorists
James C. Austin, Bill Arp. Twayne, 1969.
Richard Boyd Hauck, Davy Crockett: A Handbook.Nebraska, 1982.
Milton Rickles, George Washington Harris. Twayne, 1965.
A Davy Crockett Page with an Alamo link. From Lone Star Junction.
David Crockett
William T. Porter's Spirit of the Times
George Washington Harris
The Durn'd Fool: About G. W. Harris' Sut
Johnson Jones Hooper
The Confidence Man: About Hooper's Captain Suggs

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