Barrus, Clara, 1864-1931

Clara Barrus (1864-1931) was a physician and author best known as the official biographer of the prominent American naturalist writer, John Burroughs (1837-1921).

Clara Barrus was one of a small number of women who graduated from medical school in the late nineteenth century. An acquaintance with John Burroughs and his wife Ursala developed into a life-long friendship. Burroughs named her his literary executor and official biographer. After his death, she edited and published his journals and wrote a Burroughs biography.

Biographical Note

Clara Barrus

John Burroughs

Clara Barrus (1864-1931) was a physician and author best known as the official biographer of the prominent American naturalist writer, John Burroughs (1837-1921). Barrus was born in Port Byron, New York and received an M.D. in 1888 from Boston University. During her medical career she practiced privately in Utica, New York, served on the staff of the Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital for the Insane, and as professor of psychiatry at the Woman's Medical College of New York City.

Barrus met John Burroughs in 1902 and became his devoted follower, interviewer, and frequent companion. She published several essays on Burroughs during his lifetime and, after his death, was named his literary executrix and official biographer. She devoted most of her remaining years to Burroughs' memory, editing his posthumous works and journals and publishing the two-volume Life and Letters of John Burroughs in 1928 and Whitman and Burroughs, Comrades in 1931.