American Literature: Biographies

The Oxford Companion to American Literature The Oxford Companion to American Literature Further reading

Smith, Charles Henry

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | | Copyright

Smith, Charles Henry (1826–1903),Southern humorist known by his pseudonym Bill Arp, practiced law, and, loyal to the Confederacy, “joined the army and succeeded in killing about as many of them as they of me.” His humorous writing was begun during the first year of the war, when he contributed to a newspaper of his native Georgia letters addressed to “Mr. Abe Linkhorn,” signed “Bill Arp,” which satirized the North by sympathizing with the Yankees in a deliberately inept manner. This device, used by D.R. Locke for the North, won Smith great popularity, causing him to devote most of the remainder of his life to writing. Although he retained the character of Bill Arp, he transformed him into a shrewd, cracker‐barrel philosopher, and by 1866 dropped the device of comic misspelling to depend upon direct satire and homespun philosophy in his comments on woman suffrage, income tax, Reconstruction, rights for blacks, etc. Upon occasion he employed the dialect of the Georgia “cracker” and the Negro, in which he is supposed to have influenced Joel Chandler Harris. His works include Bill Arp, So‐Called (1866), Bill Arp's Letters (1868), Bill Arp's Peace Papers (1873), Bill Arp's Scrap Book (1884), and Bill Arp: From the Uncivil War to Date (1903).

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Smith, Charles Henry." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Smith, Charles Henry." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-SmithCharlesHenry.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Smith, Charles Henry." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-SmithCharlesHenry.html

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Bill Arp

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | | Copyright

Bill Arp, pseudonym of Charles H. Smith.

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Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Bill Arp." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Bill Arp." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-BillArp.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Bill Arp." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-BillArp.html

Learn more about citation styles

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