Maud Wilder Goodwin

Maud Wilder Goodwin
Born(1856-06-05)June 5, 1856
Ballston Spa, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 5, 1935(1935-02-05) (aged 78)
Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.
OccupationWriter

Maud Wilder Goodwin (June 5, 1856 – February 5, 1935) was an American writer of historical fiction, biographies, and popular histories.

Early life

Maud Wilder was born in Ballston Spa, New York, the daughter of John N. Wilder and Delia A. Wilder.[1] Her older sister Blanche, also a writer,[2] married lawyer Frederick P. Bellamy, the brother of writer Edward Bellamy.[3]

Publications

Goodwin's books were commercially successful,[4] and generally well-reviewed by critics. The Literary World found The Colonial Cavalier "very gay and charming,"[5] and Dolly Madison a "delightfully written, carefully gleaned biography".[6] Public Opinion found White Aprons to be "animated with fresh and absorbing interest."[7] "There is nothing specially startling in her plot of her situations," noted The Richmond Times-Dispatch about Richmond's novel, Four Roads to Paradise. "But she has endowed her characters with life and the ability to enjoy it; she has infused a strong dramatic element into her scenes; she has described her surroundings well, and she has given zest and animation to her conversations and dialogues."[8]

  • "The Antislavery Legacy" (1893)[9]
  • The Colonial Cavalier, or, Southern Life Before the Revolution (1895)[10]
  • Dolly Madison (1896)[11]
  • White Aprons: A Romance of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia (1896, illustrated by Clyde O. DeLand)[12]
  • The Head of a Hundred: Being an Account of Certain Passages in the Life of Humphrey Huntoon, Esq., Sometime an Officer in the Colony of Virginia (1897)[13]
  • Fort Amsterdam (1897)[14]
  • Flint: His Faults, His Friendships And His Fortunes (1897)[15]
  • Open Sesame! Poetry and Prose for School-Days (1898–1890, 3 volumes, with Blanche Wilder Bellamy)[16]
  • Historic New York During Two Centuries (1899, co-editor with Alice Carrington-Royce, Ruth Putnam, and Eva Palmer Brownell)[17]
  • Sir Christopher: A Romance of a Maryland Manor in 1644 (1901)[18]
  • Four Roads to Paradise (1904)[8][19]
  • Claims and Counterclaims (1905)[20][21]
  • Veronica Playfair (1910)[22]
  • Dutch and Quakers: Part 1: Dutch and English on the Hudson (1919, with Sydney George Fisher)[23]
  • Dutch and English on the Hudson: A Chronicle of Colonial New York (1921)[24]

A quote by Goodwin ("My dear, whenever you feel that it would relieve your mind to say something, don't say it") was included in the Chicago Woman's Club's calendar for 1905.[25]

Personal life

Wilder married lawyer Almon Goodwin in 1879. They had daughter Miriam and Hilda,[1] and a son, Wilder.[26] Her husband died in 1905, and Goodwin died in 1935, at the age of 78, at her son's home in Greenwich, Connecticut.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915. American Commonwealth Company. 1914. p. 334.
  2. ^ "Bellamy, Blanche Wilder, 1852-". The Online Books Page. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  3. ^ "Frederick Bellamy, Lawyer, Dead at 82; Had Been Trustee of City College and Packer Institute--Brother of Noted Writer". The New York Times. 1929-09-17. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  4. ^ "Mrs. Maud Wilder Goodwin, Historical Novelist, Dies". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1935-02-06. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "The Colonial Cavalier". The Literary World. 27: 12. January 11, 1896.
  6. ^ "Dolly Madison". The Literary World. 27: 197. June 27, 1896.
  7. ^ "White Aprons". Public Opinion. 21: 89. July 16, 1896.
  8. ^ a b "Reviews and Criticisms of Some Books of the Day". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 1904-04-24. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1893). "The Antislavery Legacy". In Goodale, Frances Abigail (ed.). The Literature of Philanthropy. Harper & brothers.
  10. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1895). The Colonial Cavalier: Or, Southern Life Before the Revolution. Little, Brown & Company.
  11. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1896). Dolly Madison. Scribner.
  12. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1896). White Aprons: A Romance of Bacon's Rebellion : Virginia, 1676. Little, Brown and Company.
  13. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1897). The Head of a Hundred: Being an Account of Certain Passages in the Life of Humphrey Huntoon, Esq., Sometime an Officer in the Colony of Virginia. Little, Brown.
  14. ^ "Papers on Historic New York". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1897-12-19. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1897). Flint: His Faults, His Friendships and His Fortunes. Little, Brown.
  16. ^ Bellamy, Blanche Wilder; Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1898). Open Sesame!: Arranged for children from four to twelve years old. Ginn & Company.
  17. ^ "Historic New York, by Maud Wilder Goodwin et al". The Online Books Page. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  18. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1901). Sir Christopher: A Romance of a Maryland Manor in 1644. Little, Brown.
  19. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1904). Four Roads to Paradise. Century Company.
  20. ^ "A Lover's Dilemma; Much Wit and Good Characterization in Maud Wilder Goodwin's New Novel". The New York Times. 1905-08-19. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  21. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1905). Claims and Counterclaims. Doubleday, Page.
  22. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1910). Veronica Playfair. Little, Brown.
  23. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder; Fisher, Sydney George (1919). Dutch and Quakers: Part 1: Dutch and English on the Hudson. Yale University Press.
  24. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1921). Dutch and English on the Hudson: a chronicle of colonial New York. New Haven: Yale University Press. OL 6644920M.
  25. ^ "Club Women to Be Wise; Special Calendar With Daily Maxims is Provided". Chicago Tribune. 1904-12-01. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Mrs. Frederick P. Bellamy's Nephew and 'Maud Wilder Goodwin's' Son, Wilder Goodwin, Engaged". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1910-08-21. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Prominent Woman Author Succumbs". Argus-Leader. 1935-02-06. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.