In New Orleans today there are parents who will not mention to their children the alleged slanders of Creole society in Cable's fiction of a century earlier. Finally, Cable the man and artist provides a fascinating subject for the literary biographer (chief among whom is Arlin Turner), for he mustered his talent against a host of foes--editorial pressure, economic need, his felt obligation to take a stand on current social issues, his own fame--and yet, like so many American writers, he did not sustain his early achievement.
George Washington Cable was the fifth of six children born to George W. Cable, Sr. and Rebecca Boardman Cable. Two siblings died soon after young G. W. Cable's birth. Cable's father's family had moved from Virginia to Pennsylvania, and George Washington Cable, Sr., had moved on to Indiana and then New Orleans. The Cable family had freed its slaves after their move to Pennsylvania. The author's mother, Rebecca Boardman, was an Indianian with New England antecedents. The author's father found his livelihood on the Mississippi River. He had supported his growing family, before their move to New Orleans, as a cooper and a tavern keeper.
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