The December 27, 1882, issue of The Continent included a poem called “Lady Yeardley’s Guest“. The writer, Margaret Junkin Preston, was a prolific writer, producing articles, poetry, and novels. She was well known for championing the Confederacy in her poems, though it’s not too surprising given her sister was married to Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Margaret’s husband served on Jackson’s staff.
At the time, The Continent was a new periodical, having been launched by Albion Winegar Tourgee in 1881, first under the name Our Continent, but soon changed to The Continent. According to Publisher’s Weekly, the magazine quickly proved to be a first-class weekly magazine in both the quality of the content and the beauty of its pictures. Farny was named among the famed illustrators, while Rossiter W. Raymond and Harriett Beecher Stowe (who were family friends) were among the more famous writers. At the time Rossiter W. Raymond (whose story How Katy Opened the Door is published just above Preston’s poem in the December issue) was famous as the moving spirit behind the professionalism of the mining industry. Raymond had a god-son like relationship with one Karl Eilers, the son of dear friend Anton Eilers. Karl would later marry Farny’s niece, Leonie Wurlitzer (my great grandmother).
Farny had developed some kind of relationship with The Continent for he published illustrations for several articles during the periodical’s short run; the expensive nature of the magazine and, presumably, less than successful circulation, led to the magazine’s demise by 1884.
Here are the three Farny illustrations the accompany “Lady Yeardley’s Guest”:
