Why did James Whitcomb Riley write Little Orphan Annie?

Answer 1

First you need to know that the poem was originally entitled, "The Elf Child" when it was written by Riley in 1885. Also, the poem originally read - "Little Orphan ALLIE has come to our house to stay." A typesetter misread Riley's handwriting and the "Allie" was changed to "Annie." When Riley found out he wanted it changed back; however, he was told that the edition was selling well - so the typo was left. The Little Orphan Allie that Riley was writing about was a real person. Her name was Mary Alice (Allie for short) Smith. She came to live in the Riley home in approximately November 1861. Her mother had died, and she was sent to live with her father's mother in who lived in Hancock County, Indiana. Her father eventually remarried, but it seems that there was very little interaction between the two. Eventually, her grandmother became too ill to care for her, and Mary Alice was sent to live with an Uncle John Rittenhouse (who I believe is her mother's brother). The Rittenhouses had a large family and were very poor. John Rittenhouse was preparing to enter into the Civil War, and Reuben Riley, the poet's father, had just returned from a three month stint, but was planning on re-enlisting (which he did). John Rittenhouse wanted to find a place for Mary Alice to live because he could not afford another mouth to feed; Reuben Riley wanted to find some help for his wife who had small children in addition to the two older boys - James who was 12 and John who was about 15. A bargain was made. Mary Alice would come to live at the Riley home where the family who provide her a place to live and food to eat. In exchange, Mary Alice would do chores around the house to help out Elizabeth Riley. Mary Alice was 11 years old - but the Riley family was told that she was 14. According to most accounts, Mary Alice stayed less than a year with the Riley family. However, since she was close in age to James, and she had the habit of telling fantastic stories, which James liked - - she was forever embedded in his mind. At the time that Riley wrote the poem, he was working as the "poet in residence" for the Indianapolis Journal - a newspaper. This poem became one of his most famous of all time - - and is usually the one that most people know or remember of Riley's work - even today. Riley and Mary Alice never say each other again - - but they did reconnect when they were both older. Riley started to look for Mary Alice - not knowing what had happened to her after she left their home. Mary Alice married a local farmer, John Wesley Gray, and lived the rest of her life in western Hancock County - just a few miles down the National Road from Greenfield (where Riley grew up). Riley put ads in newspapers, looking for Mary Alice and finally a friend recognized the story of Mary Alice and let her know that Riley was looking for her. She wrote a letter to Riley identifying herself and her location, and Riley's nephew was sent out to meet her. This was in 1915. Riley had suffered one stroke and was unable to make the trip. Sadly, he passed away in July 1916 - so Mary Alice and Riley never did meet face to face again. If you would like to see the full account of Mary Alice's arrival at the Riley home - - read Riley's prose poem, "Where is Mary Alice Smith?" You can visit the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood home in Greenfield today. You can see the cubby hole and press that "Annie" talks about in the poem. It is worth a visit.