author
Adeline Trafton
b. 1845
A 19th-century American novelist and travel writer, she published lively fiction and observation-filled prose, with much of her best-known work appearing in the 1870s. Her life bridged New England religious circles, journalism, and later literary work under the name Adeline Trafton Knox.
1 Audiobook
An American Girl Abroad
by Adeline Trafton
About the author
Born in Saccarappa, Maine, Adeline Trafton Knox was the daughter of Rev. Mark Trafton, a Methodist minister and former member of Congress. Sources differ on the exact year of her birth, but several standard references give February 8, 1845, while others suggest an earlier date in the 1840s.
She was educated in New England and spent time at Wesleyan Female College in Wilmington, Delaware. She began publishing shorter pieces in newspapers before building a reputation as an author of fiction and travel writing. Her books include An American Girl Abroad, Katherine Earle, His Inheritance, and Dorothy's Experience.
Writing as Adeline Trafton and later Adeline Trafton Knox, she is remembered as part of the generation of American women writers who moved between journalism, magazine culture, and the novel. She died on January 27, 1920.