Grandmother of Margaret Mitchell
Annie Elizabeth Fitzgerald Stephens
(December 23, 1844 ? February 17, 1934) was an American landowner, businesswoman, and political activist. She was born to a prominent
planting family
in
Clayton County, Georgia
, and grew up on the family plantation
Rural Home
. The daughter of an Irish immigrant, she was a devout Catholic. Stephens was involved in real estate endeavors in
Atlanta
and sued the federal government after General
William Tecumseh Sherman
's
Siege of Atlanta
, during the
American Civil War
, damaged some of her properties. Some historians, literary critics, and film critics, including
Molly Haskell
, consider her to be the inspiration behind the fictional character
Scarlett O'Hara
, from Stephens' granddaughter
Margaret Mitchell
's novel,
Gone with the Wind
.
Early life and family
[
edit
]
Stephens was born Annie Elizabeth Fitzgerald in 1844. She was the daughter of Philip Fitzgerald, an Irish-Catholic emigrant from
County Tipperary
who left Ireland with his family after the
Irish Rebellion of 1798
, and his American wife, Eleanor Avaline McGhan.
[1]
She was one of eight children.
[2]
She was a granddaughter of James Fitzgerald and Margaret O'Donnell.
[2]
Her father became a wealthy member of the
planter class
, owning a plantation of around 2,471 acres in
Clayton County, Georgia
, and enslaving 35 people.
[1]
Stephens grew up on her family's plantation, which was named
Rural Home
, located near
Jonesboro, Georgia
.
[3]
[4]
The plantation mansion was a two-story, wooden farm house.
[5]
Her family was one of the first Catholic families in Georgia.
[6]
Stephens was educated at the Fayetteville Academy.
[4]
Civil War and Reconstruction Era
[
edit
]
Stephens was politically active and strong-willed, pushing for legislation by assembling groups of women to petition elected officials.
[4]
She was known to "speak her mind", particularly regarding moral issues that conflicted with her personal principles.
[4]
Marianne Walker, the author of
Margaret Mitchell and John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone With the Wind
, describes Stephens as "mean", a "hellion from birth", and "contentious, aggressive, domineering, and outspoken."
[4]
Walker also stated that Stephens' "energy, ego, and determination matched or even exceeded" those of the men in her life.
[4]
She was obsessed with property and land, particularly her stake in her family's plantation, and purchased real estate in Atlanta.
[4]
A landowner, she was known to ride around Jonesboro on a horse to collect rent from her tenants and once sued the U.S. Federal Government for damages incurred to her property during the
Siege of Atlanta
towards the end of the
American Civil War
.
[4]
During the war, she spent most of her time in Atlanta and stayed during General
William Tecumseh Sherman
's
March to the Sea
. Toward the end of the Siege of Atlanta, she returned to Rural Home. She allegedly demanded, and was granted, protection from the invading
Union Army
by General Sherman.
[4]
[7]
The house was looted, but not destroyed by the army.
[7]
[8]
Personal life
[
edit
]
On April 14, 1863, she married Captain John Stephens, a
Confederate States Army
officer and member of an old Catholic
gentry
family from Birr, County Offaly, in a Catholic ceremony at the
Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
.
[9]
[1]
[2]
[10]
Her husband became an established merchant in Atlanta and served on the Atlanta Police Commission for six terms.
[1]
They had twelve children together.
[11]
[12]
[13]
[5]
Stephens was the maternal grandmother of author
Margaret Mitchell
, who spent summers with her on the family's plantation.
[1]
It is believed that Mitchell based the character
Scarlett O'Hara
, from her novel
Gone with the Wind
, off of Stephens.
[14]
[15]
[4]
[16]
Feminist film critic
Molly Haskell
stated that Stephens was "the real-life progenitor of Scarlett."
[4]
Following her daughter
Maybelle Stephens Mitchell
's death, Stephens moved in with her son-in-law
Eugene Mitchell
and his children.
[4]
After quarreling with Mitchell one night, Stephens called a cab and left the Mitchells' house, instead taking up residence at the
Georgian Terrace Hotel
.
[4]
The move hurt the Mitchells financially, who were receiving an allowance from some of the Stephens relatives to help maintain Stephens' lifestyle while she lived with them.
[4]
Stephens was estranged from
polite society
in Atlanta due to her shrewd business endeavors and behavior.
[4]
She was a moralist and devout Catholic.
[4]
Stephens contested her father's will in order to claim a larger share of the family estate and won, dispossessing some of her other family members.
[4]
She died on February 17, 1934, and is buried in
Oakland Cemetery
in Atlanta.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a feck"
.
The Irish Times
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Gone with the Wind ? News from Lisheen"
. 4 October 2015.
- ^
Lacy, S. (March 29, 2012). Margaret Mitchell: American rebel [Television series episode]. In S. Lacy (Producer),
American Masters
. New York, NY: WNET. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/margaret-mitchell-american-rebel-biography-of-margaret-mitchell/2043/
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
Young, Elizabeth A. (2013).
Is Tomorrow Another Day? The Uncertain Implications of Scarlett's Life Decisions in Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind
(Thesis). Georgia State University.
- ^
a
b
Haskell, Molly (2009).
Frankly, My Dear
. Yale University Press.
ISBN
9780300117523
.
JSTOR
j.ctt1npm4r
.
- ^
Herald, Catholic.
"Mitchell heir leaves literary rights to archdiocese- The Arlington Catholic Herald"
.
catholicherald.com
.
- ^
a
b
Caudill, Edward; Ashdown, Paul (2008).
Sherman's March in Myth and Memory
. Rowman & Littlefield.
ISBN
9780742550278
.
- ^
"Real home Gone With the Wind"
.
Findery
.
- ^
"Fitzgerald House"
.
www.tomitronics.com
.
- ^
"
"Gone with the Wind" temporarily pulled from HBO Max to add "historical context"
"
. 10 June 2020.
- ^
Ruppersburg, Hugh (2007).
The New Georgia Encyclopedia Companion to Georgia Literature
. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. p. 326.
ISBN
9780820328768
.
- ^
Historical Jonesboro/Clayton County Inc.
Jonesboro-Historical Jonesboro
. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2007. p. 8.
ISBN
0-7385-4355-1
- ^
Reed, Wallace Putnam (1889).
History of Atlanta, Georgia: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers
. Syracuse, New York: D. Mason & Co. p. 563.
OCLC
12564880
.
- ^
"Resident Spotlight: Maybelle Stephens Mitchell ? Oakland Cemetery"
. 15 January 2024.
- ^
Gleeson, David T. (2016).
"The Irish in the South"
.
Irish Studies South
.
1
(2) – via digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu.
- ^
"Scarlett is 75 and Still Going Strong | Irish America"
. August 2011.