Alfred Henry Lewis

Alfred Henry Lewis was an American journalist, lawyer, editor, novelist, and short-story writer. Reliable sources agree that he is best known for the popular Wolfville Western stories, and that he also wrote investigative work about New York politics. He sometimes published under the pen name Dan Quin.

Born in Ohio, Lewis trained in law before shifting into journalism. He worked for newspapers in the Midwest and later became associated with major big-city journalism, building a reputation both as an editor and as a writer with a brisk, accessible style.

His nonfiction and fiction show two strong sides of his career: one aimed at exposing corruption and one aimed at entertaining a wide readership with vivid Western tales. Although the date in some catalog records is given as 1857, the biographical sources located here identify his life dates as January 20, 1855 – December 23, 1914.