The Ancestors and Cousins of Tracy Lynn DeVault

Edwin Carlile Litsey¹

M, #4076, b. 3 June 1874, d. 4 January 1970

Parents

Father	William Henry Litsey (b. about 1844, d. 12 May 1891)
Mother	Sarah Elizabeth Johnston

Pedigree Link

Family: Carrie Selecman (b. June 1874, d. 21 October 1910)

Daughter

Sarah Selecman Litsey+ (b. 23 June 1901)

BASIC FACTS

Edwin Carlile Litsey was born on 3 June 1874 in Washington Co., Kentucky.¹ He and Carrie Selecman were married on 5 June 1900 in Springfield, KY.¹ He died on 4 January 1970, at age 95, in Lebanon, Marion Co., Kentucky.¹

Edwin Carlile Litsey had reference number 4280. [coll30.FTW]

Edwin Carlile Litsey was born at Beechland, Washington County, KY June 3, 1874. His paternal great-great grandfather, Anthony Litsey, was born in 1702 and fought in the War for independence. Edwin Carlile was the son of William H. and Sarah E. Johnston Litsey. He secured his educational training in the public schools of Lebanon, but never attended college.

Mr. Litsey's career has been an achievement. He moved to Lebanon with his parents and two brothers when a child of eight. He later returned to Washington County to marry Miss Carrie Selecman on June 5, 1900. She died on October 21, 1910. Mr. & Mrs. Litsey became the parents of a daughter, Sarah Selecman, who was born June 23, 1901. Sarah was also a noted writer and poet as her father was.

Edwin Carlile began his career at seventeen as a runner for the Marion National Bank, the only salaried job he ever held. During his lifetime career he published 12 books, ten of fiction and two of poetry. His first work, "The Princess of Gramfalon," was published when he was twenty-six years of age. He also wrote "The Love Story of Abner Stone," "The Man from Jericho," "A Maid of the Kentucky Hills," "A Blue Grass Cavalier," "The Race of the Swift," "Grist," and "Spindrift," the latter being a collection of his poems. All of his works were well received and he held a high place among the fiction writers of the day.

One of Mr. Litsey's novels "The Love Story of Abner Stone" made him many friends. It is a charming story, said to be the strongest and best of his work, a beautiful tale of nature with a setting in Washington County near St. Catharine, at the Grundy farm.

One of Mr. Litsey's best poetic books is "The Filled Cup" published in 1955. It contains sixty seven of his poems which have appeared in various magazines. Six of them have won prizes in nation wide contests. His poem "Federal Hill" was responsible for his being named Poet Laureate of Kentucky in 1954. It is considered to be one of the best poems he ever wrote. In 1962 his poem "What of Tomorrow" won first prize in the Poetry Society of Virginia. It sums up man's progress through the ages and offers a challenge for the task of tomorrow.

Mr. Litsey is listed in the Who's Who in America and can also be found in the Biography of Who's Who in Kentucky. He was a member of the Arts Club of New York and the Author's Club of London, England and also a life member of the Academic Society of International History of Paris, France.

Edwin Carlile Litsey was truly a great poet and a fine Kentucky gentleman. His kindness and gentleness was felt by all who were privileged to know and work with him for so many years.

Source:

Washington County, Kentucky Bicentennial History 1792-1992
p. 335.

Citations

[S3170] coll30.FTW, Source Medium: Other

Family Explorer

Carrie Selecman¹

F, #4077, b. June 1874, d. 21 October 1910

Pedigree Link

Family: Edwin Carlile Litsey (b. 3 June 1874, d. 4 January 1970)

Daughter

Sarah Selecman Litsey+ (b. 23 June 1901)

BASIC FACTS

Carrie Selecman was born in June 1874 in Springfield (Washington County) Kentucky.¹ She and Edwin Carlile Litsey were married on 5 June 1900 in Springfield, KY.¹ She died on 21 October 1910, at age 36, in Springfield (Washington County) Kentucky.¹

Carrie Selecman had reference number 4281.

Citations

[S3170] coll30.FTW, Source Medium: Other

Family Explorer

Sarah Selecman Litsey¹

F, #4078, b. 23 June 1901

Parents

Father	Edwin Carlile Litsey (b. 3 June 1874, d. 4 January 1970)
Mother	Carrie Selecman (b. June 1874, d. 21 October 1910)

Pedigree Link

Family: Frank Wilson Nye

Son	Christopher Nye

BASIC FACTS

Sarah Selecman Litsey was born on 23 June 1901 in Springfield, Kentucky.¹

Sarah Selecman Litsey had reference number 4282. [coll30.FTW]

Sarah Litsey Nye is the daughter of Mr. Carlile Litsey, Poet Laureate of Eastern Kentucky. Mrs. Litsey died while Sarah was quite young. Sarah was born in Springfield, but she spent her childhood in Lebanon where her father had moved. She received her early education in the schools of Lebanon and graduated from Radcliffe College. Since her marriage to Mr. Frank Wilson Nye, they have resided in West Redding, Connecticut. She is an instructor in the Famous Writers School, Westport, Connecticut. Aside from her duties as mother, housewife and teacher, she has achieved considerable fame as a poet, novelist and monthly contributor of excellent short stories to the best publications in America.

Her published volumes of poems are "Legend", "For the Lonely", "The Oldest April". She has written three successful novels, "There Was a Lady", 1945. The locale of this novel is her hometown, Lebanon, Kentucky, portraying personalities in this setting just before World War I.

"The Intimate Illusion", 1955, is a realistic story of narrow interests which inevitably lead to sorrow and regret. Her latest novel is "A Path to Water", 1962, published by St. Martin's Press, Fifth Avenue, N.Y.

All three of the Nyes are writers, including their son Christopher, a college student, who writes plays. The writer's flame burns in these three persons by inheritance from Litsey the poet laureate and Bill Nye the satirist, the father of Frank Nye. The younger
Nye, Frank, is a biographer.

Reference: Letter from her father, Edwin Carlile Litsey, Lebanon, Kentucky, May 1, 1965.