Ellen Warner Olney Kirk (November 6, 1842 – November 29, 1928) was an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

. Her novels tended to have romance plots set in New York or

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Early life

Kirk was born in

Southington, Connecticut Southington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 43,501. Southington contains the villages of Marion, Milldale, and Plantsville. Geography Southington is situ ...

on November 6, 1842, the daughter of geographer and educator Jesse Olney and Elizabeth Barnes Olney. Her uncle was publisher

Alfred Smith Barnes __NOTOC__ Alfred Smith Barnes (January 28, 1817 – February 17, 1888) was an American publisher and philanthropist. Early life Barnes was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Eli Barnes of Southington, Connecticut, a farmer and innkeeper, who ...

Career

Although Kirk wrote as a young woman, she did not publish her first novel until age 34. Contemporary reviewers considered her work somewhat old-fashioned, especially after the turn into the twentieth century, but some were charmed by the familiar plots and the absence of overt social commentary. Her 1898 Christmas book for young readers, ''Dorothy Deane: A Children's Story'', was illustrated by Philadelphia artist Sarah Stilwell Weber.

Personal life

Ellen Warner Olney married author, editor, and librarian

John Foster Kirk John Foster Kirk (March 23, 1824, Fredericton, New Brunswick – 1904) was an American historian, journalist, educator and bibliographer. Kirk was educated privately in Nova Scotia and came to the United States in 1842. From 1847 to 1859 he was se ...

in 1879, as his second wife. She was widowed when he died in 1904. She died at her home in Philadelphia on November 29, 1928, aged 86 years.

Publications

As Ellen Olney Kirk

* ''His Heart's Desire'' (1878) * ''Sons and Daughters'' (1887) * ''Queen Money'' (1888) * ''A Daughter of Eve'' (1889) * ''Walford'' (1890) * ''Ciphers'' (1891) * ''The Story of Lawrence Garthe'' (1894) * ''Revolt of a Daughter'' (1897) * ''Dorothy and her Friends'' (1899) * ''A Remedy for Love'' (1902) * ''Good-bye, Proud World'' (1903) * ''Marcia'' (1907).

As Henry Hayes

* ''Love in Idleness'' (serialized 1876-1877) * ''The Story of Margaret Kent'' (1886)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Ellen Olney 1842 births 1928 deaths Novelists from Connecticut American women novelists American children's writers People from Southington, Connecticut