Julia McDonald
Julia Ann Ivins McDonald Pace, who wrote under the name Julia McDonald (1859-1900), was a scholar, medical student, and writer who was born in Utah Territory in 1860.[1] She is best known as the author of the novella A Ship of Hagoth (1896), which was adapted in two stage plays and the 1931 motion picture Corianton: A Story of Unholy Love.[2]
McDonald was born Julia Ann Ivins in Salt Lake City. Her father, Israel Ivins, was a prominent surveyor and physician whose second wife, Julia Hill, was Julia's mother.[3] When she was only one year old, her family was called by Brigham Young to joined the "Cotton Mission" to settle St. George and begin producing a cotton crop.[4]
Julia grew up in St. George in a large and prominent polygamous family. Her older brother, Anthony Ivins, later became an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and her cousin, Heber J. Grant, was the Church's president from 1918-1945. In 1881, Julia married Aaron Johnson McDonald and, the next year, she moved to Mesa, Arizona with her husband and newborn daughter LeClaire.[5] In 1884, Aaron died of an injury he received falling off of a wagon, leaving Julia a widow and young mother at the age of 24.[6]
Julia moved to Salt Lake City and began studying obstetrics with Dr. Ellias R. Shipp. In 1888, she became the plural wife of Mormon Elder John E. Pace, who encouraged her to travel to Ann Arbor to study medicine at the University of Michigan.[7] She completed her coursework in good standing, but, in 1890, suffered a heart attack and was unable to take her degree.[5] While in medical school, she began writing and submitting short fiction to the Young Woman's Journal, publication founded and edited by Brigham Young's daughter, Susa Young Gates, an activity that she continued for the rest of her life.
Her most famous work, A Ship of Hagoth, was serialized over 11 issues of the Young Woman's Journal in 1896-1897.[8] Building on the story of Corianton—a minor character in the Book of Mormon who was also the main character in Corianton: A Nephite Story by B.H. Roberts—McDonald crafts an elaborate romantic plot involving Corianton, his brother Shiblon, and two women named Isabel and Relia. This part of McDonald's story was incorporated directly into the Orestes Bean's 1902 play Corianton: An Aztec Romance, Bean's 1910 Broadway musical, An Aztec Romance, and the 1931 film Corianton: A Story of Unholy Love.[9]
McDonald's health deteriorated rapidly after she wrote A Ship of Hagoth, and, on January 17, 1900, she died in St. George Utah at the age of 41.[1]
References
- ^ a b "Obituary: Julia Ivins McDonald Pace". Women's Exponent: 7. February 15, 1900.
- ^ Parshall 2022, pp. xii–xiv.
- ^ Erdman 1969, p. 18.
- ^ Erdman 1969, pp. 19–21.
- ^ a b Pace Graham, Jessie Marguerite. "Autobiography of Jessie Marguerite Pace Graham". FamilySearch. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ Young Woman's Journal 1900, p. 244.
- ^ Young Woman's Journal 1900, p. 245.
- ^ Parshall 2022, pp. xii.
- ^ Parshall 2022, pp. xii–xxv.
Works cited
- Parshall, Ardis E. (2022). "Introduction to the Corianton Saga". The Corianton Saga. By Common Consent Press. pp. vii–xii. ISBN 9781948218528.
- Erdman, Kimball Stewart (1969). Israel Ivins: A Biography.
- "Julia McDonald Pace". Young Woman's Journal. 11 (6): 242–247. June 1900.