Edward Payson Roe


Edward Payson Roe was an American novelist, Presbyterian minister, horticulturist and historian.

Biography

Edward Payson Roe was born in the village of Moodna, now part of New Windsor, New York. He studied at Williams College and at Auburn Theological Seminary. In 1862 he became chaplain of the Second New York Cavalry, U.S.V., and in 1864 chaplain of Hampton Hospital, in Virginia. In 1866-74 he was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Highland Falls, New York. In 1874 he removed to Cornwall-on-Hudson, where he devoted himself to the writing of fiction and to horticulture. During the American Civil War, he wrote weekly letters to the New York Evangelist, and subsequently lectured on the war and wrote for periodicals..

Writings

His novels were very popular in their day, especially with middle class readers in England and America, and were translated into several European languages. Their strong moral and religious purpose, did much to break down a Puritan prejudice in America against works of fiction. One of his most consistent criticisms was that his work resembled sermons. Among his novels were:
Roe was mentioned in the Sinclair Lewis novel, Elmer Gantry. Elmer is said to have a volume of E.P. Roe novels among other volumes. Lewis also mentions Roe in his novel Work of Art.
His first novel inspired an eponymous movie Barriers Burned Away, released in 1925 by W.S. Van Dyke

Biography

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