Arthur L. (Arthur Livermore) Meserve

Born in Bartlett, New Hampshire, on April 18, 1838, he began writing young, with an early sketch published when he was just fifteen. Later he contributed poems and short pieces to papers and magazines, and went on to become a highly prolific author of popular fiction.

He is especially remembered for writing adventure and dime-novel stories, including work for George Munro's Ten Cent Novels and the novel Death-Dealer, the Shawnee Scourge; or, The Wizard of the Cliffs. Alongside his writing, he was deeply involved in public life in Bartlett: he worked as a grocer, served in the New Hampshire State Legislature in 1873–74, and was a county commissioner from 1875 to 1878. He also served on the staffs of Governors Weston and Bell, which helps explain the title "Colonel" often attached to his name.

He wrote under several names, including "Saco" and "Duke Cuyler." Never married, he lived with a sister in Bartlett, where he died on December 13, 1896. Later accounts remembered him as both striking in appearance and astonishingly productive.