Georgiana Klingle Holmes
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Georgiana Klingle Holmes (November 4, 1841 - April 22, 1940) was an American poet and painter. She founded the Arthur's Home For Destitute Boys and the LaRue Holmes Nature Lovers' League, both in memory of her sons, who died young.
Georgiana Klingle was born on November 4, 1841, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of George Franklin Klingle (1796-1840), M.D. and Mary Hunt Morris (1812-1897). Mary Hunt Morris was the daughter of William H. Morris and Catherine Tiers of New York City. She descended from Lewis Morris, of Morrisania, Pennsylvania, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.[1] Once widow, Mary Hunt Morris Klingle married John Haas, of Philadelphia, who raised Georgiana Klingle as his daughter.[1] Georgiana Klingle father's ancestry is found in Upper Saxony. Hans George Klingle, her great-grandfather, arrived in the United States in the ship "Restoration" with his son, on October 9, 1747, and settled in Pennsylvania. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War her grandfather, George, resided in Chestnut Hill. Dr. Klingle was a man of literary and scientific reputation.[2]
She was educated in Philadelphia.[2]
Career
From early childhood, Georgiana Klingle Holmes contributed to periodicals of the different cities. Her taste ran in a groove not often entered by young authors, children's stories with a moral to leave an impression. She was an artist of merit, but writing was the passion of her life.[2] Two portraits, Portrait of Martha Washington after Gilbert Stuart (1887) and Portrait of Mrs. Laura Klingle (née Tiernan) (circa 1875) were sold to auction in 2012–2013.[3]
She wrote poetry using the pen-name "George Klingle", which touched many hearts. Her collection of poems entitled "Make Thy Way Mine" (New York, 1876) was made after repeated letters from interested strangers in different parts of the country. That collection was followed by "In the Name of the King" (New York, 1888).[2]
Being interested in philanthropic work, she founded Arthur's Home For Destitute Boys, in Summit, New Jersey, (later The Blind Babies Home) in memory of her son, who died at the age of nine years after being bitten by a rabid dog. It closed in 1927.[2][4] At the death of her second son, LaRue, she founded the LaRue Holmes Nature Lovers' League, for which she was active in various schools, travelling by horse and buggy between 1915 and 1925 to give talks on nature.[1]
