George Washington Cable

Jonathan Daigle (University of Hartford)
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Life

Novelist, short story writer, historian, and civil rights activist, George Washington Cable was born October 12, 1844, in a house on Annunciation Square in New Orleans. His parents, George Washington Cable and Rebecca Boardman Cable, were married in Indiana, where they were raised, and came to New Orleans after the financial panic of 1837. There, George Sr.’s fortunes rose and fell with the riverboat industry. After substantial success—the family at one point owned eight slaves— collapsing cotton prices and a devastating flood ultimately forced them to auction most of what they owned. The family never regained its fortune; Cable’s father was working as a shipping house clerk when he died in 1859.

Novelist, short story writer, historian, and civil rights activist, George…

2985 words

Citation: Daigle, Jonathan. "George Washington Cable". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 December 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=686, accessed 19 April 2024.]

686 George Washington Cable 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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