Mary Tarver Carroll (February 16, 1885 – January 12, 1955) was an American writer and clubwoman based in Ozark, Alabama. She wrote novels and biographies for young readers, poetry, essays, and several ghost stories.
Personal life Mary Tarver was born in Bullock County, Alabama, the daughter of Milton Wesley Tarver and Sarah Bass Tarver. Tarver married Major Oscar Carroll in 1902. Her husband died in 1936, and she died in 1955, at the age of 69. There is a small collection of her papers at the University of Alabama.
Career Carroll was a charter member of the PEN Women of Alabama, and vice president of the Alabama Federation of Women's Clubs (AFWC). She was also statewide chair of the AFWC's writing department, organizing writing contests for members. She was a founding member of the Ozark Study Club (OSC). She was poet laureate of the Alabama Methodist Women's Conference. She read her poems and shared her stories at AFWC and OSC events."Report of Section Meeting of Writers' Department" Alabama Federation of Women's Clubs Year Book (1921): 110-111. Publications Carroll's poems, articles, and stories appeared in anthologies, and in national periodicals including Christian Advocate, The Editor, The Writer, Ghost Stories, Story Parade, and Love Story Magazine. The Renewal (1905, novel based on the life of James Edward Oglethorpe) "Extension is the Keyword for 1916 for the State Federation" (1916, article) "More Tender" and "A Glowing Cross of Red" (1917, poems)Carroll, Mary Tarver. "More Tender" Christian Advocate (December 21, 1917): 10.Carroll, Mary Tarver. "A Glowing Cross of Red" Christian Advocate (July 20, 1917): 9. "Violets" (1921, poem) "Chaperoned by Molly" (1921, story) "Thad Turns the Tables" (1922, story) "The Curse on the House of de Jarnie" (1923, reprinted 1929, story) "On Trudging On" (1923, short essay)Carroll, Mary Tarver. "On Trudging On", The Editor (October 13, 1923): 10. "How Do You Feel?" (1926, essay)Carroll, Mary Tarver. "How Do You Feel?" The Writer 38(9)(September 1926): 431-433. "Wanderlure" and "Green" (1928, poems) "The Tree with a Human Shadow" (1929, story)Carroll, Mary Tarver. "The Tree With a Human Shadow" Ghost Stories 7(4)(October 1929): 48-55. via Internet Archive. "The Mystery of the Jealous Queen" (1930, story) "Florida Adventure" (1941, story) The Man Who Would Not Wait (1941, children's biography of Aaron Burr) The Man Who Dared to Care (1942, children's biography of James Edward Oglethorpe, illustrated by Fay Turpin) Keep My Flag Flying: Daniel Webster (1945, children's biography of Daniel Webster) References