The Bradys as reporters, or, Working for a newspaper

Francis Worcester Doughty (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1917) was an American

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and novelist. Doughty held unorthodox views about the age of humans.

Biography

Doughty was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and wrote '' Old King Brady'' dime novel stories for Frank Tousey. He wrote around 1500 novels. Doughty specialized in detective stories, and had the characteristic of repeating the title in the final sentence of the story. In 1914, he was recruited to work on the Thanhouser serial, '' Zudora'', writing episodes 11 to 20. Doughty was also a numismatist and

coin collector Coin collecting is the collecting of coins or other forms of minted legal tender. Coins of interest to collectors often include those that were in circulation for only a brief time, coins with mint errors, and especially beautiful or historic ...

. He wrote ''The Cents of the United States, A Numismatic Study'' (1890) and his collection (containing 1539 lots) was sold at auction in 1891.

''Evidences of Man in the Drift''

Doughty authored the book, ''Evidences of Man in the Drift'' in 1892. He believed that humans existed during the

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

period in America, citing as evidence, pebbles and ferruginous

nodules Nodule may refer to: *Nodule (geology), a small rock or mineral cluster *Manganese nodule, a metallic concretion found on the seafloor *Nodule (medicine), a small aggregation of cells *Root nodule Root nodules are found on the roots of plants, p ...

from the glacial drift that he believed depicted art of early humans.McGee, W. J. (1893)
''Man and the Glacial Period''
''

American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), published quarterly by Wiley. The "New Series" began in 1899 under an editorial board that included Franz Boas, Daniel G. Brinton, and John W ...

'' 6: 85-95. Doughty was convinced that upon the flattened surfaced clay stones he had found, animal and human figures could be seen, including men with Caucasian features. Doughty rejected the theory of continental glaciation and endorsed the pseudohistorical view of

Ignatius Donnelly Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (November 3, 1831 – January 1, 1901) was an American Congressman, populist writer, and fringe scientist. He is known primarily now for his fringe theories concerning Atlantis, Catastrophism (especially the idea of an a ...

, that the "drift was suddenly thrown upon the earth either by the contact of our planet with a comet or by some other agency not understood." The book was negatively reviewed by geologist William John McGee who commented that it is a "bundle of absurdities worthy of notice only because it is representative of the vain imaginings so prevalent among unscientific collectors." Archaeologist A. F. Berlin negatively reviewed the book, noting its "absurd and ridiculous statements, assertions a true archaeologist would not for a moment give a thought, and much less print."Berlin, A. F. (1893)
''Display of Archaeological Ignorance''
''The Archaeologist'' 1 (3): 57-59. He concluded that Doughty had a wild imagination by seeing in "glacial and rolled stones remains of human art, when indeed they are but the result of Earth's elements and chemical action."

Selected publications

''The Cents of the United States: A Numismatic Study''
(1890)
''Evidences of Man in the Drift''
(1892)

References

External links

* * under his own name, and linked pseudonyms * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doughty, Francis W. 1850 births 1917 deaths 19th-century American novelists 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers Writers from Brooklyn American male short story writers Screenwriters from New York (state) American detective fiction writers 19th-century American short story writers 19th-century American male writers 20th-century American short story writers American numismatists American male screenwriters Dime novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Pseudoarchaeologists Pseudohistorians 20th-century American screenwriters