Ellen Olney Kirk

Ellen Warner Olney Kirk (November 6, 1842 – 1928) was an American novelist. Her novels tended to have romance plots set in New York or Philadelphia.

Ellen Olney Kirk in 1893

Early life

Ellen Warner Olney was born in Southington, Connecticut, the daughter of geographer and educator Jesse Olney and Elizabeth Barnes Olney. Her uncle was publisher Alfred Smith Barnes.[1]

Career

Ellen Warner Olney wrote as a young woman, but did not publish her first novel until age 34.[2] Novels by Ellen Olney Kirk include Love in Idleness (serialized 1876-1877, under pseudonym "Henry Hayes"); His Heart's Desire (1878); The Story of Margaret Kent (1886, again as "Henry Hayes"); Sons and Daughters (1887);[3] Queen Money (1888); A Daughter of Eve (1889); Walford (1890); Ciphers (1891); The Story of Lawrence Garthe (1894);[4] Revolt of a Daughter (1897);[5] Dorothy and her Friends (1899);[6] A Remedy for Love (1902);[7] Good-bye, Proud World (1903);[8] and Marcia (1907).[9][10] 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.[11] Her 1898 Christmas book for young readers, Dorothy Deane: A Children's Story, was illustrated by Philadelphia artist Sarah Stilwell Weber.[12]

Personal life

Ellen Warner Olney married author, editor, and librarian John Foster Kirk in 1879, as his second wife. She was widowed when he died in 1904.[13] She died in 1928, aged 86 years, in Philadelphia.[10]

References
  1. John Willian Leonard, Who's Who in America (A. N. Marquis 1903): 844.
  2. Mary Marshall, "Famous Woman, Her Birthday and Yours" Washington Herald (November 6, 1915): 10. via Newspapers.com
  3. Ellen Olney Kirk, Sons and Daughters (Ticknor & Company 1887).
  4. Ellen Olney Kirk, The Story of Lawrence Garthe (Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1894).
  5. Ellen Olney Kirk, Revolt of a Daughter (Houghton, Mifflin & Company 1897).
  6. Ellen Olney Kirk, Dorothy and Her Friends (Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 1899).
  7. Ellen Olney Kirk, A Remedy for Love (Houghton, Mifflin & Company 1902).
  8. "A Non-Strenuous Life" Literary Digest 27(22)(November 28, 1903): 752.
  9. "Boston Notes: Ellen Olney Kirk's New Novel" New York Times (March 9, 1907).
  10. Vicki Lynn Hill, "Ellen Warner (Olney) Kirk" in American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to Present (Gale Group 2000).
  11. "Old Time Love Story: Ellen Olney Kirk Writes a Love Story Without Social Problems of Morbid Questions" Brooklyn Daily Eagle (June 3, 1902): 7. via Newspapers.com
  12. Ellen Olney Kirk, Dorothy Deane: A Children's Story (Houghton, Mifflin & Company 1898).
  13. "Recent Deaths: John Foster Kirk" Boston Evening Transcript (September 30, 1904): 12.
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