Who wrote "Aunt Mellissy on Boys" which is written in the James Whitcomb Riley style?

Question

Of course I tried Google. Multiple times with multiple styles. This is a piece my Grandmother used to recite to her family before bedtime.

This is a short story that my grandmother recited at school in 1896 in Northern Indiana. It is a story about some turkeys that got into some fermented corn and got drunk. They passed out and a boy thinking they had died cleaned them at which point they wakened up and ran around with no feathers. It could have been written by someone who was trying to copy the style of James Whitcomb Riley.

Answer 1

I tried both Amazon and the Library of Congress, and searching for titles begining with 'Aunt M' didn't find the title you mentioned. Perhaps it's Aunt Bessy, or there is another title for the book and this is making it hard to find.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but perhaps you can try some other keywords on either amazon.com or loc.gov yourself and find the book.

Update:
After a little more research, I suspect this was a short story/poem that may have been printed in a magazine of the time. I found several similar poems and the more famous authors listed at http://www.neponset.com/yellowkid/news0902.htm but if the author of the poem you seek wasn't well known, it's going to be a challenge to find. I'd keep an eye on project Guttenburg and search Google books to see if it shows up one day.
Because James Whitcomb Riley wrote his Childrens rhymes in about 1890 and then worked for newspapers in Indiana about that time, I would look for local Indiana publications, possibly out of Indianapolis. In 1896 there wouldn't have been many authors copying his style as he was just gaining in popularity then. You might also call or e-mail the librarians at the Nappannee public library in Indiana if they know of the story. I've always been amazed at their knowledge (and I've visited hundreds of libraries).

Thanks for the topic though! I learned a lot about Riley I didn't know. My families surname is Whitcomb, so I've only heard of the connections to the family (because of family friends, no direct relation). I've only seen his books, not his wonderful stories.

Answer 2

You see there's this thing that's called google. Go to www.google.com and type it in.