Julia Cruger

Julia Cruger
portrait by Fernand Paillet
Born19 July 1854 Edit this on Wikidata
Paris Edit this on Wikidata
Died12 July 1920 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 65)
OccupationWriter Edit this on Wikidata
Spouse(s)Stephen Van Rensselaer Cruger Edit this on Wikidata

Julia Grinnell Storrow Cruger (pseudonym, Julien Gordon; c. 1850 – July 12, 1920) was an American novelist. Because many of her books examined the American social world, she was known as the Edith Wharton of her day.

Family

Julia Grinnell Storrow was born in Paris, France, c. 1850. She was the daughter of Thomas Wentworth Storrow of Boston[1] and a grandniece of Washington Irving.[2]

Career

She married Civil War veteran Col. Stephen Van Rensselaer Cruger, grandson of Stephen Van Rensselaer, who died in 1898, leaving her independently well off.[3][4] She married broker Wade Chance in 1908; they separated after a year and were divorced in 1916.[1][2][4][5] Cruger, who spoke French fluently, then moved to Paris for several years, returning to New York not long before her death.[2]

In 1892, Cruger and her husband were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[6] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[7]

Her first book was A Diplomat's Diary (1890); it and the next three novels all appeared first in serial form.[1] Many of her novels closely examined the social world of New York and Washington, D.C., and she was known as the Edith Wharton of her day.[2][4]

Selected works

  • A Diplomat's Diary (1890)
  • Vampires: Mademoiselle Réséda (1891)
  • A Successful Man (1891)
  • A Puritan Pagan (1891)
  • Marionettes (1892)
  • His Letters (1892)
  • Poppaea (1895)
  • A Wedding and Other Stories (1896)
  • Eat Not Thy Heart (1897)
  • Mrs. Clyde: The Story of a Social Career (1901)
  • The Wage of Character: A Social Study (1901)

References

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  1. ^ a b c Willard, Frances E. & Livermore, Mary A. (eds.) A Woman of the Century, p. 218 (1893).
  2. ^ a b c d (13 July 1920). Mrs. Julia Cruger, Once Famous As Author, Dies Here, New York Tribune, p. 11
  3. ^ (24 June 1898). Death of S.V.R. Cruger, The New York Times
  4. ^ a b c (13 July 1920). Mrs. Cruger, Novelist Julien Gordon, Dies: Widow of Col. S. Van. R. Cruger and ex-wife of Wade Chance, Wrote "Vampires", The New York Times
  5. ^ (13 July 1920). Mrs. J. G. Cruger, Kin of Washington Irving, Dies, Chicago Tribune
  6. ^ McAllister, Ward (16 February 1892). "THE ONLY FOUR HUNDRED | WARD M'ALLISTER GIVES OUT THE OFFICIAL LIST. HERE ARE THE NAMES, DON'T YOU KNOW, ON THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR GREAT LEADER, YOU UNDER- STAND, AND THEREFORE GENUINE, YOU SEE" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  7. ^ Keister, Lisa A. (2005). Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got That Way. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780521536677. Retrieved 20 October 2017.