The Turning of Griggsby: Being a Story of Keeping up with Dan'l Webster

In Short

Irving Bacheller’s The Turning of Griggsby is a lighthearted 19th-century satire following the young scholar Uriel Havelock as he observes the absurdities of his home village. Griggsby has fallen under a bizarre spell: its statesmen, lawyers, and horse-traders all emulate the grandiloquent oratory and heavy-drinking habits of Daniel Webster, leaving their wives to handle all real labor. When the brave, sharp-witted Florence Dunbar buys the local newspaper, she launches a reform campaign that shames the local hypocrites, dismantles the town’s swaggering patriarchy, and restores honesty to the community.

The Story

The narrative begins with the memories of schoolmaster Appleton Hall, who describes witnessing Daniel Webster’s famous Bunker Hill address. Webster’s booming voice, noble stature, and legendary appetite for brandy left a staggering impression on the public—one that corrupts the small village of Griggsby. Young men and ambitious politicians throughout the town abandon practical work, adopting silk hats, gold-headed canes, loud oratory, and heavy drinking in an attempt to capture the "stamp of genius."

Uriel Havelock, nicknamed "Havelock of Stillwater," comes to Griggsby to attend school, boarding with the eccentric auctioneer Daniel Webster Smead. Smead’s household is a microcosm of the town's disease: while Smead spends his time reading, trading horses, and indulging in intemperance, his exhausted wife works from dawn to night to keep the family afloat. Uriel falls deeply in love with Florence Dunbar, a bright, courageous girl raised on a Western ranch who refuses to conform to the town's hypocritical expectations. Florence's brother Henry and their friend Ralph Buckstone—son of the grandstanding politician Colonel Buckstone—fall into the village habit of wild living, horse-racing, and boastful drinking.

When local gossips fabricate rumors to tarnish Florence's reputation, she refuses to run away. Supported by schoolmaster Hall and joined by Uriel and Smead (who resolves to abandon his foolish ways and "try the idee o' givin' somethin' fer somethin'"), Florence takes direct action. Her wealthy father buys the village newspaper, The Little Corporal, and puts Florence in charge.

Using the paper as a weapon of accountability, Florence and her allies shine a harsh light on Griggsby’s vices. They print scathing reports on animal cruelty, political corruption, and the town's hollow reliance on grand speeches. Smead delivers a devastating satirical speech that mockingly exposes how the town's "Dan'l Websters" rob the people of their sense while leaving their wives bound in endless drudgery. Florence goes on to issue a ultimatum to Colonel Buckstone, forcing him to resign his seat in Congress or face public exposure of his misdeeds.

The newspaper campaign shatters the spell of Websterian pretension over Griggsby. Ralph Buckstone, after facing legal trouble and admitting his faults in open court, takes inspiration from Appleton Hall's early lessons and reforms his life, eventually becoming a successful author. Uriel wins the heart and hand of Florence, and the village settles into an era of genuine honesty, hard work, and newfound respect for women.

How It Unfolds

The shadow of a giant Schoolmaster Appleton Hall recounts the majesty of Daniel Webster's Bunker Hill speech, inadvertently revealing how Webster's grand mannerisms and rumored drinking habits inspired a generation of small-town imitators.

Life among the imitators Young Uriel Havelock moves to Griggsby to attend school and boards with Dan'l Webster Smead, witnessing firsthand how Smead's obsession with leisure and horse-trading leaves his weary wife to handle all household labor.

Youth in temptation Uriel and his wealthy classmates become entranced by fast horses, tobacco, and brandy, believing that high hats and reckless indulgence are the essential marks of a true gentleman.

The scandal and the spark When village gossips target the spirited Florence Dunbar with malicious rumors, she refuses to back down and instead resolves to confront Griggsby's hypocritical leadership head-on.

Taking up the pen Florence’s father purchases the local newspaper, The Little Corporal, allowing Florence, Uriel, and a reformed Smead to publish biting truths that expose the town's drunks, politicians, and lazy dreamers.

The fall of the orators Smead delivers a brilliantly satirical speech against the town's mock-statesmen, while Florence forces the corrupt Colonel Buckstone to resign from public life, permanently breaking the spell of Websterian vanity.

A newly grounded town Ralph Buckstone confesses his past errors in court and transforms his life, while Uriel declares his love for Florence, leaving Griggsby a reformed, honest community where real work replaces empty rhetoric.

The People

• Uriel Havelock ("Havelock of Stillwater"): The thoughtful, observant narrator. Sent to Griggsby to overcome a childhood habit of lying, he learns the value of truth and dedicates himself to winning the love of Florence Dunbar while helping reform the town.
• Florence Dunbar: A brave, red-cheeked, straight-shooting young woman raised on a Western ranch. She refuses to succumb to small-town gossip, purchases the local newspaper, and uses her sharp wit and moral courage to dismantle Griggsby's posturing elite.
• Daniel Webster Smead: An auctioneer, musician, and horse-trader burdened by five children and a penchant for intemperance. Though initially a participant in the village's grand lazy habits, he recognizes his failures and becomes an indispensable, witty ally in Florence's reform crusade.
• Colonel Sile Buckstone: The dominant politician of Griggsby, famous for his broadcloth suits, beaver hat, thick public speeches, and heavy drinking. He enforces moral conformity on others while secretly living a hypocritical, corrupt life.
• Ralph Buckstone: The handsome, gifted son of Colonel Buckstone. Though he initially strays into foolishness and intemperance under his father's influence, he eventually owns up to his mistakes, reforms his character, and becomes a successful writer.
• Appleton Hall: The stern village schoolmaster whose early lessons on the value of truth and memories of Daniel Webster set the moral benchmark for Uriel and his classmates.

In Its Own Voice

“Some said that he always took a tumbler of brandy before he made a speech; but I observed that these gossipers had the odor of rum about them.”

— The schoolmaster observes how Daniel Webster's supposed habits were used to excuse local drunkenness.

“Of course, there are able men in the village who are addicted to sobriety. Some of them have tried to reform, but, alas! the habit of sobriety has become fixed upon them--weak stomachs, maybe.”

— Smead sarcastically describes how Griggsby views decent, hardworking citizens.

“God forbid that I should behold him shining upon men of genius in bondage or in exile! Rather let their last feeble and lingering glance see those citizens eating and drinking, according to their needs and wishes, at the Palace Hotel, while their wives are at work, according to their habit, in the kitchen and the laundry.”

— Smead's mock-oration skewers the town's selfish male vanity.

What It's Really About

At its heart, The Turning of Griggsby is a critique of posturing, male vanity, and the romanticization of destructive habits. Irving Bacheller uses the historical shadow of Daniel Webster to examine how a small community can confuse arrogance with authority and heavy drinking with intellectual genius.

The novel zeroes in on the domestic cost of this false grandeur: while the men parade around in beaver hats, drink at the local hotel, and dream of easy wealth, the women are relegated to exhausting, unacknowledged domestic labor. The book argues that true reform requires dismantling these grand illusions, rejecting empty rhetoric, and replacing self-absorbed vanity with honest labor, transparency, and equal partnership between men and women.

Why Read It Today

The Turning of Griggsby offers a brisk, charming slice of 19th-century American satire that feels strikingly modern in its critique of public hypocrisy and performance politics. Readers who enjoy small-town comedies, regional humor, and stories of female-led reform will find much to admire in Florence Dunbar's bold takeover of the local press.

Bacheller’s prose is warm, laconic, and packed with dry Yankee wit, rendering even the most foolish characters with a touch of human sympathy. While contemporary readers must navigate period-specific idioms, references to 19th-century political figures like Seymour and Blair, and traditional village archetypes, the novel's core story moves quickly and pleasantly.

What lingers long after reading is the book's sharp, funny dynamic between Florence and Uriel, as well as its enduring reminder that true character is built on quiet accountability rather than loud, intoxicating speeches.