Pete Pareau. See Wright.
Peters, Samuel (1735-1826), author of General History of Connecticut, a satire.
Petroleum V. Nasby. See Locke.
Pharmenas Mix. See Kelly.
Pomeroy, Marcus Mills, born 1833. After an apprenticeship to journalism in the West, he founded in New York, 1868, the Brick Pomeroy Democrat, which for sensationalism was unsurpassed in the history of American journalism. He has the reputation of being able to tell a plainer lie—professionally, of course—than any man in America. His principal books are Sense, Nonsense, Brick Dust, Home Harmonies, and Perpetual Money.
“Porte Crayon.” See Strother.
Riley, James Whitcomb (1854). Mr. Riley is writing the typically American verse of the day, and his work is now read by a larger public than any other American poet finds. His poems, humorous or otherwise, are full of tender feeling, and in them the tear invariably accompanies the smile. He has a perfect command of the country dialects, and pictures as no other writer seems able to do, the humorous and the pathetic side of American life. A number of his books have been published in England. Old Fashioned Roses, by Messrs. Longmans, Green, & Co., and other volumes by Messrs. Gay & Bird. In America the Bowen-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, publish The Old Swimmin’-Hole, and ’Leven More Poems; The Boss Girl, and other Sketches and Poems; and Afterwhiles. Mr. Riley’s verses, “Old Man and Jim,” and “Little Orphant Annie,” are popular with reciters on both sides the Atlantic.
Roche, James Jeffrey (1847), editor of the Boston Pilot, and author of Songs and Satires. Has written a great deal of humorous verse.
Russell, Irwin (1853-1879). According to Joel Chandler Harris, Mr. Russell was the first Southern writer to appreciate the literary possibilities of the negro character. Mr. Russell’s short life was one of hard work and disappointments, and it was not until after his death that his poems were collected and published. “Christmas Night in the Quarters” is the best of his poems.
Sanderson, John (1783-1844). The American in England and The American in Paris are works which attained wide circulation at the time of publication.