● ● ● she had been there at all, were it not that she was part of a new literary enterprise being planned at the time. Before the end of the year The Floral Wreath, and Ladies’ Monthly Magazine made its appearance and was advertised in the Charleston papers. Edited by one Edwin Heriot of Charleston, it was advertised as containing “besides original contributions, a variety of selections in prose and verse from the most popular American female writers, and distinguished writers of this city.”146 High on the list of contributors was Mary M. Glover, and her name continued to appear both in the magazine and in the advertisements for it. Here is one tangible link with Charleston.
With the move to Wilmington at the beginning of February or earlier, the scene becomes concrete again. The Glovers probably moved straight into the Hanover House, a large boardinghouse or quasi hotel which had just been opened. Glover had been to Wilmington the year before on various construction projects, since a great deal of building was going on there following a devastating fire in 1843. He was consequently already well-known and well-liked, active as in Charleston in Masonic affairs and apparently also in the Oddfellows.147
The young couple made an immediate hit, and the months in Wilmington were happy ones for Mary. Among their friends was Thomas W. Brown, a prominent Mason, master of St. John’s Lodge. Many years later his daughter Harriet said of Mary: “She was extremely beautiful, one of the prettiest young women I have ever seen. I imagine that she was always great for writing verses, for she had no sooner come to Wilmington than she began contributing rhymes to the local paper. . . . Her enthusiasm about our [local] scenery amused us.”148
Her enthusiasm for almost everything there was unbounded. Two blocks north of their hotel was a beautiful old theater where Jenny Lind ● ● ●
146 [ John M. Greer, “Heriot’s Magazine, December,” Charleston Courier, 19 December 1844, p. 3. Publisher’s note: The first edition identifies the title of the new publication as “Heriot’s Magazine: The Floral Wreath & Ladies Monthly Magazine,” apparently based on advertisements found in the Courier.]
147 Mrs. Glover wrote a poem entitled “Odd Fellowship” while in Wilmington, and later she contributed extensively to Oddfellow publications. [Mary Baker Glover, entry c. 1844, “Odd Fellowship,” poem, A09002, pp. 114–115, MBEL.]
148 Interview with Harriet Brown Huntington by a Boston newspaperman, H. W. Sears, c. 1901, quoted in Louis Moore, “Mrs. Eddy, Founder of Christian Science, Once Resided in Wilmington,” Greensboro Daily News, 8 August 1926, p. B8.