Mary Tracy Earle (October 21, 1864 – September 7, 1955) was an American fiction writer. She contributed short stories and occasional essays to various periodicals. Among her published works can be counted ''The Wonderful Wheel'' (1896), ''The Man Who Worked for Collister'' (1898), ''Through Old Rose Glasses'' (1900), and ''The Flag on the Hilltop'' (1902).

Early life and education

Mary Tracy Earle was born in

Cobden, Illinois Cobden is a village in Union County, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt.” The population as of the 2020 census is 1,034, a decline of 10.63% since the 2010 census. Cobden is regional ...

, October 21, 1864. Her parents were Parker and Melanie (Tracy) Earle. Parker was the horticultural director at the

World Cotton Centennial The World Cotton Centennial (also known as the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition) was a World's Fair held in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States in 1884. At a time when nearly one third of all cotton produced in the United Sta ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, 1884. Melanie's mother,

Hannah Tracy Cutler Hannah Maria Conant Tracy Cutler (December 25, 1815Alexander Street Press. Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600–2000''Author Details: Cutler, Hannah Maria Conant Tracy, 1815–1895''. Retrieved on May 28, 2009. – February 11 ...

was an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

as well as a leader of the

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

and

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 ...

movements in the United States. Mary had two brothers: Charles Theodore Earle, and the

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

Franklin Sumner Earle Franklin Sumner Earle (September 4, 1856 – January 31, 1929) was an American mycologist who specialized in the diseases and cultivation of sugar cane. He was the first mycologist to work at the New York Botanical Garden, and was the author of '' ...

. Earle attended Cobden High School. She represented Alethenai Literary Society in the intersociety oratorical contest of 1884, while attending the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. She graduated from the University of Illinois in 1885 (B.S.) and received an A.M. degree in 1903.

Career

Beginning in 1885, Earle lived in the south, where she began to write, at first not with any purpose, but simply in accordance to the inspiration. As she grew older, her predilection for literary pursuits became more pronounced, and in 1898, when she removed to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, it was with the intention of devoting herself seriously to a writing career. She continued writing through 1904. From 1904 to 1907, she served as a Librarian and Editorial Assistant, Estación Central Agronómica de Cuba. In 1907, she returned to writing. On July 1, 1906, in Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba, she married William Titus Horne (1876-1944), Professor of Plant Pathology in the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. From 1887, Earle contributed short stories and occasional essays in ''The Outlook'', ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ''The Century'', ''Everybody's'', ''Harper's Weekly'', ''McClure's'', ''Scribner's'', as well as other magazines and papers. She was also the author of: ''The Wonderful Wheel'' (Century Company, 1896); ''The Man Who Worked for Collister'' (Copeland & Day, Boston, 1898); ''Through Old Rose Glasses'' (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1900); and ''The Flag on the Hilltop'' (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, 1902). Most of her stories were of the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, where she had spent much of her time, but some are of

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

Personal life

In 1907, Earle was living in Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba. In 1913, she was living in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. She died in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

, September 7, 1955.

Selected works

* ''The Wonderful Wheel'', 1896 * ''The Man Who Worked for Collister'', 1898 * ''Through Old Rose Glasses'', 1900 * ''The Flag on the Hilltop'', 1902

References

Attribution

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Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Earle, Mary Tracy 1864 births 1955 deaths 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American short story writers 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers People from Union County, Illinois Writers from Illinois University of Illinois alumni American women novelists