Charles Frederic Goss (June 14, 1852 - May 7, 1930) was an American clergyman and author. His 1900 novel ''The Redemption of David Corson'' was a best selling book of that year.Annual Bestsellers, 1900-1909
(Rankings from Bowker's Annual/Publishers Weekly) He also edited and partly authored a series of volumes on the history of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. Goss was born in

Meridian, New York Meridian is a village in Cayuga County, New York, United States. The population was 309 at the 2010 census. Meridian is near the northern town line of the town of Cato and is west of Syracuse. History The community was settled in 1804. It was o ...

on June 14, 1852. He graduated from

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1873 (he also later received a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

degree from there in 1898),Alumni Notes
''The Hamilton Review'' (June 1900), p. 24 and from the Auburn Theological Seminary in 1876.Alumniana
p. 336 (Vol. IV, No. 8) (February 1901) He also married Rosa E. Houghton in 1876 and was ordained as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister.Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912, Volume 4
p. 24-27 (1912) (biographical sketch) After serving in churches in Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and Chicago (at

Moody Church The Moody Church (often referred to as Moody Memorial Church, after a sign hung on the North Avenue side of the building) is a historic evangelical Christian (Nondenominational Christianity) church in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Ill ...

), he became pastor of Avondale Presbyterian Church in

in 1894.1876 Graduates and Students
General biographical catalogue of Auburn Theological Seminary, 1818-1918, p. 179 (1918) Popular columns that Goss wrote for the ''

Cincinnati Commercial Tribune The ''Cincinnati Commercial Tribune'' was a major daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 1896, and folded in 1930.(3 December 1930)OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN CINCINNATI QUITS; Commercial Tribune Stopped by McLean Interests After Political Shift in ...

'' as ''The Optimist'' were published as a book of the same name in 1897, and his writing career grew from there.Charles Frederic Goss
''Book News'' (Vol. XIX, No. 219) (November 1900) In January 1906, a play based on ''Corson'' written by

Charlotte Blair Parker Charlotte Blair Parker (1858 – January 5, 1937) was an American playwright and actress in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She began her theatrical career as an actress, eventually playing opposite John Edward McCullough, Mary Anderso ...

debuted on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, and ran for 16 performances.(28 January 1906)
More New Plays
''

Telegraph Herald The ''Telegraph Herald'', locally referred to as the ''TH'', is a daily newspaper published in Dubuque, Iowa, for the population of Dubuque and surrounding areas in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The newspaper is the result of a 1901 merger of th ...

'' In 1914, the book was made into a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

."The Redemption of David Corson"
/ref> A 2012 episodeSeason 3, Episode 34, "A Man, a Plan..." of the HBO television drama

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and ...

featured a character reading ''The Redemption of David Corson''.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goss, Charles Frederic 1852 births 1930 deaths American Presbyterian ministers People from Cayuga County, New York Writers from Cincinnati Hamilton College (New York) alumni Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery Auburn Theological Seminary alumni