Capwell Wyckoff

Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on February 21, 1903, Albert Capwell Wyckoff grew up in Elizabeth and attended Pingry School. After his father died while he was still in high school, he left school to help support his family, later working for Standard Oil and then as a switchboard operator at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Those long night hours helped launch his writing life. He taught himself to type and began producing stories, plays, and novels, eventually becoming best known for boys' adventure fiction such as the Mercer Boys books and the Mystery Hunter series. He also wrote Christian work connected to his mission experience, including The Challenge of the Hills.

Wyckoff was also an ordained Presbyterian minister, and his ministry took him into the Ozarks before he later settled in Columbia, Kentucky. He died there on January 10, 1953, at just 49, leaving behind a body of fast-moving fiction remembered by readers of early 20th-century juvenile adventure stories.