Joseph Crosby Lincoln (February 13, 1870 – March 10, 1944) was an

American author American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

of novels, poems, and short stories, many set in a fictionalized

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

Biography

Lincoln was born in 1870 in

Brewster, Massachusetts Brewster is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population of Brewster was 10,318 at the 2020 census. Brewster is twinned with the town of Budleigh Salterton in the Un ...

, on Cape Cod, and his mother moved the family to

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 s ...

, a manufacturing city outside

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, after the death of his father. Lincoln's literary career celebrating "old Cape Cod" can partly be seen as an attempt to return to an Eden from which he had been driven by family tragedy. His literary portrayal of Cape Cod can also be understood as a pre-modern haven occupied by individuals of old Yankee stock which was offered to readers as an antidote to an America that was undergoing rapid modernization, urbanization, immigration, and industrialization. Lincoln was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and a Universalist. Lincoln's work frequently appeared in popular magazines such as the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'' and ''

The Delineator ''The Delineator'' was an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded by the Butterick Publishing Company in 1869 under the name ''The Metropolitan Monthly.'' Its name was changed in 1875. The magazine was publis ...

''. Lincoln was aware of contemporary naturalist writers, such as

Frank Norris Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr. (March 5, 1870 – October 25, 1902) was an American journalist and novelist during the Progressive Era, whose fiction was predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include '' McTeague: A Story of San ...

and

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm mora ...

, who used American literature to plumb the depths of human nature, but he rejected this literary exercise. Lincoln claimed that he was satisfied "spinning yarns" that made readers feel good about themselves and their neighbors. Six films and a short were based on his work. Upon becoming successful, Lincoln spent his winters in northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, near the center of the publishing world in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, but summered in

Chatham, Massachusetts Chatham () is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Chatham is located at the southeast tip of Cape Cod and has historically been a fishing community. First settled by the English in 1664, the township was originally called Mo ...

. In Chatham, he lived in a shingle-style house named "Crosstrees" that was located on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Lincoln died in 1944, at the age of 73, in

Winter Park, Florida Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 30,183 according to the 2022 census population estimate. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was fo ...

Major works

*''Cape Cod Ballads and Other Verse'' (1902) *''Cap'n Eri: A Story of the Coast'' (1904) (adapted into the 2009 film ''

The Golden Boys ''The Golden Boys'' is a romantic comedy, set on Cape Cod in 1905, about three 70-year-old retired sea captains who try to lure an attractive middle-aged woman into marriage. Developed under the working title ''Chatham'', the film is an adaptat ...

'') *'' Partners of the Tide'' (1905) *''Mr. Pratt'' (1906) *'' Cape Cod Stories'' (1907) *''Cy Whittaker's Place'' (1908) *''Our Village'' (1909) *''Keziah Coffin'' (1909) *''The Depot Master'' (1910) *''Cap'n Warren's Wards'' (1911) *''The Woman-Haters: A Yarn of Eastboro Twin-Lights'' (1911) (adapted into the 2010 film '' The Lightkeepers'') *''The Postmaster'' (1912) *''The Rise of Roscoe Paine'' (1912) (adopted into the 1922 film '' No Trespassing'') *''Mr. Pratt's Patients'' (1913) *''Cap'n Dan's Daughter'' (1914) *''Kent Knowles: Quahaug'' (1914) *''Thankful's Inheritance'' (1915) *''Mary-'Gusta'' (1916) *''Extricating Obadiah'' (1917) *''"Shavings"'' (1918) *''The Portygee'' (1920) *''Galusha the Magnificent'' (1921) *''Fair Harbor'' (1922) *''Doctor Nye of North Ostable'' (1923) (adopted into the 1924 film ''

Idle Tongues ''Idle Tongues'' is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Lambert Hillyer and produced by Thomas H. Ince, one of his last efforts before his death that year. It starred Percy Marmont and Doris Kenyon and was distributed by First National ...

'') *''Rugged Water'' (1924) (a 1925 Paramount

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

) *''Queer Judson'' (1925) *''The Big Mogul'' (1926) *''The Aristocratic Miss Brewster'' (1927) *''Silas Bradford's Boy'' (1928) *''Blair's Attic'' (1929) *''Blowing Clear'' (1930) *''All Alongshore'' (1931) *''Head Tide'' (1932) *''Back Numbers'' (1933) *''The Peel Trait'' (1934) *''Storm Signals'' (1935) *''Great-Aunt Lavinia'' (1936) *''Storm Girl'' (1937) *''Christmas Days'' (1938) *''A. Hall & Co.'' (1938) *''The Ownley Inn'' (1939) *''Rhymes of the Old Cape'' (1939) *''Out of the Fog'' (1940) *''The New Hope'' (1941) *''The Bradshaws of Harniss'' (1943)

External links

BiographyJoseph C. Lincoln's Presentation of Cape Cod Folks
* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln, Joseph C. 1870 births 1944 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets American male novelists People from Brewster, Massachusetts Writers from Chelsea, Massachusetts People from Chatham, Massachusetts People from Winter Park, Florida American male short story writers American male poets 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Massachusetts