Agnes Sligh Turnbull (October 14, 1888,

New Alexandria, Pennsylvania New Alexandria is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 560 at the 2010 census. Settled in 1760 along the banks of the Historic Loyalhanna Creek, this community began as a wagon rest stop for travelers, ...

– January 31, 1982,

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,366, reflecting an increase of 1,975 (+7.2%) from the ...

) was a bestselling

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer, most noted for her works of historical fiction based in her native

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

Biography

Her parents were Alexander Halliday Sligh, an immigrant from Scotland, and Lucinda Hannah McConnell, also of Scottish descent. She attended the village school, and went on to boarding school before enrolling at the Teachers College at what is now called

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The univ ...

, from which she graduated

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. She also attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

before starting her career as a high school English teacher. In 1918, she married James Lyall Turnbull, just before his departure for Europe during

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. He returned, and they were married for 40 years and had one child, a daughter named Martha. The family moved to

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's populatio ...

in 1922, where she lived for the rest of her life.Waggoner, Walter H
"AGNES TURNBULL, NOVELIST, 93, DIES"
''

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'', February 2, 1982. Accessed October 24, 2007. "Agnes Sligh Turnbull, a popular and prolific novelist and shortstory writer, died Sunday at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J. She was 93 years old and had lived in Maplewood, N.J., for 60 years." Turnbull had her first short story published by ''The American Magazine'' in 1920, and published further short stories regularly until 1936, when she published her first novel,

The Rolling Years ''The Rolling Years'' is the first novel by the American writer Agnes Sligh Turnbull (1888–1982) and it is set in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, just east of Pittsburgh. It is a family chronicle (1852–1910) of three generations of Scottis ...

. While some critics regarded the morality of her writing as old-fashioned, she and others attributed it to a hopeful outlook on life. She is buried in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania.

Works

Novelettes

*''In The Garden''. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1926 *''The Wife of Pontius Pilate''. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1928 *''The Colt That Carried A King''. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1933 *''Once To Shout''. New York: Macmillan, 1943 *''Little Christmas''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1964

Novels

*''

''. New York: Macmillan, 1936. *''

Remember the End ''Remember the End'' is the second novel by the American writer Agnes Sligh Turnbull (1888–1982) and it is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from the 1890s to World War I. The protagonist Alex MacTay is a Scotsman who is called to be a poet, but ...

''. New York: Macmillan, 1938. *''

The Day Must Dawn ''The Day Must Dawn'' is a 1942 historical novel by the American writer Agnes Sligh Turnbull (1888–1982) set in 1777 in Hanna's Town, Pennsylvania, a frontier settlement thirty miles east of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the ...

''. New York: Macmillan, 1942. *''

The Bishop's Mantle ''The Bishop's Mantle'' is a novel by Agnes Sligh Turnbull about the grandson of an American Episcopal bishop in New York City in the early years of World War II. The book was written during the Second World War but not published until shortly af ...

''. New York: Macmillan, 1947. *''

The Gown of Glory ''The Gown of Glory'' is a 1952 novel by the American writer Agnes Sligh Turnbull (1888–1982). It is set in a fictional rural village of Ladykirk, which is much like the author's birthplace of New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, about thirty miles eas ...

''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1952. *''

The Golden Journey ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1955. *'' The Nightingale''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960. *'' The King's Orchard''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1963 *'' The Wedding Bargain''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966 *'' Many A Green Isle''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968 *'' The Flowering''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972. *''The Richlands''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974. *'' The Winds of Love''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977. *'' The Two Bishops''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980.

Collection of short stories

*''This Spring of Love''. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1924 *''Far Above Rubies''. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1926 *''The Four Marys''. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1932 *''Old Home Town''. New York: Fleming H.Revell, 1933

Juvenile works

*''Elijah the Fish-bite''. New York: Macmillan, 1940. *''Jed, the Shepherd's Dog''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1957. *''George''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1964. *''The White Lark''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968.

Memoir

*''Dear Me: Leaves from the Diary of Agnes Sligh Turnbull''. New York: Macmillan, 1941. *''Out Of My Heart''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1958

References

Sources

Alan Jalowitz's biographical sketch
of Agnes Turnbull at Pennsylvania Center of the Book * Edward K. Halula, Seaside, Oregon 97138 * Halula, Edward K., "Old Home Town", ''The Sentinel'', October 2002. * Halula, Edward K., "A Nightingale Sang: A Story About Agnes Sligh Turnbull",''The Sentinel'', Feb. 2003. * Halula, Edward K., "Two 'Girls' From New Alex", ''The Sentinel'', June 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbull, Agnes, Sligh American women writers 1888 births 1982 deaths American people of Scottish descent People from Maplewood, New Jersey People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Chicago alumni