Adeline Trafton Knox (abt. 1842–1920?) was an American writer and novelist, she published most of her work in the 1870s. A daughter of minister (and one-term member of U.S. Congress)

Mark Trafton Mark Trafton (August 1, 1810 – March 8, 1901) was a Methodist Episcopal minister who, as a member of the American Party served one term as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Family history Trafton's mother Margaret Dennett, was the d ...

,Genius-Romance-Hardship-Honor
''Christian Union'', p. 1686-88 (October 24, 1901) Trafton was born in Saccarappa, Maine around 1842 (sources vary, it was likely closer to 1842 though many say February 8, 1845). She studied for a time at Wesleyan Female College in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

. She began publishing short pieces in the ''

Springfield Republican ''The Republican'' is a newspaper based in Springfield, Massachusetts covering news in the Greater Springfield area, as well as national news and pieces from Boston, Worcester and northern Connecticut. It is owned by Newhouse Newspapers, a ...

'' newspaper in 1868 under a pseudonym. In 1872, a series of her foreign letters published in that paper were released in book form as ''An American Girl Abroad''.World Biographies
''The Literary World'' (July 1878, p. 35) Two novels were serialized in ''

Scribner's Monthly ''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunch ...

'' before being published in book form, including ''Katherine Earle'' (1874) and ''His Inheritance'' (1878). In 1889 she married lawyer Samuel Knox, Jr. (d. 1897). Her 1890 work ''Dorothy's Experience'' first appeared in serial form in the ''Christian Union''.Willard, Frances E. & Mary A. Livermore (ed.
American Women: Fifteen Hundred Biographies with over 1,400 Portraits, Vol. II
p. 440-41 (Rev. Ed. 1897)A Library of the World's Best Literature, Vol. XLIII: Dictionary of Authors (K-Z)
p. 310 (1896)Books and Authors
''Christian Union'' (January 8, 1891), p. 55 She was opposed to

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

.Woman's Who's Who of America 1914-15
p. 462 (1914) A 1980 volume on American women writers opined that Trafton is little remembered now, and likely did not have much impact on other writers of her time. Yet, although "her plots, by modern standards, seem contrived and sentimental ... she wrote lively, interesting stories" and "remained popular with young readers for at least a few decades."Mainiero, Lina (ed.) ''American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present, Volume 2'' ( Frederick Ungar 1980), p. 479

Bibliography

* ''An American Girl Abroad'' (

Lee & Shepard __NOTOC__ Lee & Shepard (1862-1905) was a publishing and bookselling firm in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 19th century, established by William Lee (1826–1906) and Charles Augustus Billings Shepard (1829–1889) Authors published by the firm i ...

1872) * ''Katherine Earle'' (Lee & Shepard 1874)Kilgour, Raymond Lincoln
Lee and Shepard: Publishers for the People
p. 157 (1965) (describing ''Katherine Earle'' as "most successful") * ''His Inheritance'' (Lee & Shepard 1878) * ''Dorothy's Experience'' (Lee & Shepard 1890)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trafton, Adeline 1842 births 1920 deaths American women novelists People from Westbrook, Maine Novelists from Maine 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American women writers