Frances Miriam Berry Whitcher

Frances Miriam Berry Whitcher (born Nov. 1, 1811, Whitesboro, N.Y., U.S.—died Jan. 4, 1852, Whitesboro) was an American writer whose popular satirical sketches lampooned small-town pomposities and intolerance. Miriam Berry early displayed marked talents for writing (usually satiric verses and humorous sketches) and for drawing caricatures, but her gifts were little appreciated in her childhood. Her first published story, “The Widow Spriggins,” appeared in a Rome, New York, newspaper after she had read it to...