![]() ![]() ![]() In the evening hours, she often told stories to the younger children, including Riley. As was customary at that time, she worked alongside the family to earn her board. Mary Alice was taken in by Captain Reuben Riley as a "bound" servant to help his wife Elizabeth Riley with the housework and her four children: John, James, Elva May and Alex. Mary's uncle, a John Rittenhouse, came to Union County and took the young orphan to his home in Greenfield where he "dressed her in black" and "bound her out to earn her board and keep". Whatever the cause, she was considered an orphan. Other evidence points to her father's being incarcerated at the time. Some stories say that Mary's mother died when she was very young and her father, Peter Smith, died when she was ten. She lived on a small farm with her parents until (as one story goes) both parents died when she was about nine years old. Mary Alice Smith was born near Liberty, Union County, Indiana, 25 September 1850. Originally published in the Indianapolis Journal on November 15, 1885, under the title "The Elf Child", the poem was inspired by a girl named Mary Alice "Allie" Smith. "Little Orphant Annie" is one of Whitcomb's most well known poems. James Whitcomb Riley was a poet who achieved national fame in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th century. The underlying moral and warning is announced in the final stanza, telling children that they should obey their parents and be kind to the unfortunate, lest they suffer the same fate.īackground James Whitcomb Riley, c. ![]() Each story tells of a bad child who is snatched away by goblins as a result of his or her misbehavior. The poem contains four stanzas the first introduces Annie and the second and third are stories she is telling to young children. The subject was inspired by Mary Alice "Allie" Smith, an orphan living in the Riley home during her childhood. As one of his most well known poems, it served as the inspiration for the comic strip Little Orphan Annie which itself inspired a Broadway musical, several films, and many radio and television programs. Known as the " Hoosier poet", Riley wrote the rhymes in 19th-century Hoosier dialect. First titled " The Elf Child", the name was changed by Riley to "Little Orphant Allie" at its third printing however, a typesetting error during printing renamed the poem to its current form. " Little Orphant Annie" is an 1885 poem written by James Whitcomb Riley and published by the Bowen-Merrill Company. Mary Alice "Allie" Smith, Riley's inspiration for the poem ![]()
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