Francis Whiting Halsey
Encyclopedia
Francis Whiting Halsey was an American journalist, editor and historian, born in Unadilla
, New York
. He was the son of Dr. Gaius Leonard Halsey, a Civil War
surgeon
, and Juliet (Cartington) Halsey. He was the grandson of Dr. Gaius and Mary (Church) Halsey of Kortright, New York
, and a descendant of Thomas Halsey, who emigrated from England before 1640 and helped to found the settlement of Southampton
, Long Island
, one of the earliest English
settlements in New York.
in 1873, taking one of the prizes for an essay in English literature. He was assistant editor of the Binghamton Times (1873-1875), a member of the editorial staff of the New York Tribune
(1875-1880), and in 1880 joined the staff of the New York Times as foreign editor and writer of book reviews. He was literary editor of the Times from 1892 through 1896, and became the first editor of the Times Saturday Review of Books and Art in 1896. In 1902, he left the Review to become a literary advisor to D. Appleton & Company. Subsequently, he joined Funk and Wagnalls
in the same capacity, remaining with that publisher until his death.
Halsey was a prolific author and editor. His original works included travel writing (Two Months Abroad, collecting his reportage for the Tribune on the Paris World's Fair
(1878)), New York State history (The Old New York Frontier (1901), The Pioneers of Unadilla Village, 1784-1840 (1902), and a number of articles), literary criticism (Our Literary Deluge And Some of Its Deeper Waters (1902)) and family history (extended introduction to Thomas Halsey of Hertfordshire, England and Southampton, Long Island (1895)).
As a compiler and editor, he assembled several enormous collections of, inter alia, famous speeches, prose literary works, travel narratives and writings about American history. (See the list of works infra.) His major achievement was the ten-volume Literary Digest History of the World War, consisting largely of skillfully collated and rewritten newspaper accounts and official documents, enhanced by a plethora of photographs. Publication began within a year after the conclusion of the conflict. While the work obviously is a "first draft of history", it is a good one that can be read with profit even today. The author did not, however, live to see it to completion. He died while at work on the final volume.
Active in the affairs of his alma mater, he was elected president of the New York association of Cornell alumni in 1882 and was twice the candidate of New York and other alumni for trustee of Cornell in 1882 and 1883, during the alumni agitation for new methods in university management. He was elected a member of the Aldine and Cornell clubs in New York. He lectured on early American history and made addresses before the New York Historical Society, the New York library club and the Wyoming, Pennsylvania
Commemorative Association.
In 1883, he married Virginia Isabel, daughter of Alexander Stanton and Sarah Ann Forbes of New York City
. She died in January 1899. In her memory, he published, anonymously, Virginia Isabel Forbes the year after her death. He did not remarry.
Halsey's brother, Frederick Arthur Halsey, graduated from Cornell in 1878 with a degree in mechanical engineering, authored articles and books about engineering, with an emphasis the metric system, and was editor of the American Machinist. Frederick's daughters were Marion S. and Olga S. Halsey.
Unadilla (town), New York
Unadilla is a town located in Otsego County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a population of 4,548. The name is derived from an Iroquois word for "meeting place."...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He was the son of Dr. Gaius Leonard Halsey, a Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
, and Juliet (Cartington) Halsey. He was the grandson of Dr. Gaius and Mary (Church) Halsey of Kortright, New York
Kortright, New York
Kortright is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 1,633 at the 2000 census.The Town of Kortright is in the northern part of the county.-Geography:...
, and a descendant of Thomas Halsey, who emigrated from England before 1640 and helped to found the settlement of Southampton
Southampton (village), New York
Southampton is a village in Suffolk County, New York, USA. The village is named after the Earl of Southampton. The Village of Southampton is in the southeast part of the county in the Town of Southampton...
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, one of the earliest English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
settlements in New York.
Biography
Francis Halsey prepared for college at the Unadilla academy and graduated from Cornell UniversityCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in 1873, taking one of the prizes for an essay in English literature. He was assistant editor of the Binghamton Times (1873-1875), a member of the editorial staff of the New York Tribune
New York Tribune
The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
(1875-1880), and in 1880 joined the staff of the New York Times as foreign editor and writer of book reviews. He was literary editor of the Times from 1892 through 1896, and became the first editor of the Times Saturday Review of Books and Art in 1896. In 1902, he left the Review to become a literary advisor to D. Appleton & Company. Subsequently, he joined Funk and Wagnalls
Funk and Wagnalls
Funk & Wagnalls was an American publisher known for its reference works, including A Standard Dictionary of the English Language , and the Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia Funk & Wagnalls was an American publisher known for its reference works, including A Standard Dictionary of the English...
in the same capacity, remaining with that publisher until his death.
Halsey was a prolific author and editor. His original works included travel writing (Two Months Abroad, collecting his reportage for the Tribune on the Paris World's Fair
Exposition Universelle (1878)
The third Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle in French, was held from 1 May through to 10 November 1878. It celebrated the recovery of France after the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.-Construction:...
(1878)), New York State history (The Old New York Frontier (1901), The Pioneers of Unadilla Village, 1784-1840 (1902), and a number of articles), literary criticism (Our Literary Deluge And Some of Its Deeper Waters (1902)) and family history (extended introduction to Thomas Halsey of Hertfordshire, England and Southampton, Long Island (1895)).
As a compiler and editor, he assembled several enormous collections of, inter alia, famous speeches, prose literary works, travel narratives and writings about American history. (See the list of works infra.) His major achievement was the ten-volume Literary Digest History of the World War, consisting largely of skillfully collated and rewritten newspaper accounts and official documents, enhanced by a plethora of photographs. Publication began within a year after the conclusion of the conflict. While the work obviously is a "first draft of history", it is a good one that can be read with profit even today. The author did not, however, live to see it to completion. He died while at work on the final volume.
Active in the affairs of his alma mater, he was elected president of the New York association of Cornell alumni in 1882 and was twice the candidate of New York and other alumni for trustee of Cornell in 1882 and 1883, during the alumni agitation for new methods in university management. He was elected a member of the Aldine and Cornell clubs in New York. He lectured on early American history and made addresses before the New York Historical Society, the New York library club and the Wyoming, Pennsylvania
Wyoming, Pennsylvania
Wyoming is a borough in the Greater Pittston area of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States five miles north of Wilkes Barre, on the Susquehanna River. Formerly, coal mining was the chief industry. In 1900, 1,909 people resided in Wyoming. There were 3,010 residents in 1910...
Commemorative Association.
In 1883, he married Virginia Isabel, daughter of Alexander Stanton and Sarah Ann Forbes of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She died in January 1899. In her memory, he published, anonymously, Virginia Isabel Forbes the year after her death. He did not remarry.
Halsey's brother, Frederick Arthur Halsey, graduated from Cornell in 1878 with a degree in mechanical engineering, authored articles and books about engineering, with an emphasis the metric system, and was editor of the American Machinist. Frederick's daughters were Marion S. and Olga S. Halsey.
Works
- Two Months Abroad (1878)
- An introduction to Thomas Halsey of Hertfordshire, England, and Southampton, Long Island, 1591-1679, with his American Descendents to the Eighth and Ninth Generations, by Jacob LaFayette Halsey and Edmund Drake Halsey (1895)
- Virginia Isabel Forbes (1900), a memoir of his wife
- The Old New York Frontier: Its Wars with Indians and Tories, its Missionary Schools, Pioneers and Land Titles, 1614-1800, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1901
- American Authors And Their Homes, Personal Descriptions And Interviews, J. Pott & Company, New York (1901)
- The Pioneers of Unadilla Village, 1784-1840 (1902)
- Our Literary Deluge And Some of Its Deeper Waters (1902)
- The World's Famous Orations (with William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
) (ed., 10 volumes, 1906) - The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose (with Senator Henry Cabot LodgeHenry Cabot LodgeHenry Cabot "Slim" Lodge was an American Republican Senator and historian from Massachusetts. He had the role of Senate Majority leader. He is best known for his positions on Meek policy, especially his battle with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 over the Treaty of Versailles...
) (ed., 10 volumes, 1909) - Great Epochs in American History, Described by Famous Writers, From Columbus to Roosevelt (ed., 10 volumes, 1912)
- Seeing Europe with Famous Authors (Project Gutenberg) (ed., 10 volumes, 1914)
- The Literary Digest History of the World War, compiled from Original and Contemporary Sources: American, British, French, German, and Others (10 Volumes, 1919-20)
Sources
- James H. Pickering (Michigan State University), New York in the Revolution: Cooper's Wyandotté, Published in New York History, Vol. XLIX, No. 2 (April 1968), pp. 121-141
- Guide to the Halsey Family Papers, 1870-1975, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Volume 5. The Biographical Society, Boston, 1904
- "F.H.V", Introduction to The Literary Digest History of the World War, Volume 10 (1920)