author
Charles Pierce Burton
1862–1947
Best known for the lively Bob’s Hill books, this Midwestern journalist turned memories of roaming a Massachusetts ridge into a long-running adventure series for young readers. His career also stretched through newspaper work, magazine editing, and local history writing.
1 Audiobook
The Boy Scouts of Bob's Hill A Sequel to 'The Bob's Hill Braves'
by Charles Pierce Burton
About the author
Born in Anderson, Indiana, Charles Pierce Burton grew up partly in Adams, Massachusetts, where a ridge called Bob’s Hill later inspired the setting for his most famous books. After moving to Aurora, Illinois, he graduated from East Aurora High School in 1880 and began working in journalism.
Burton is remembered chiefly for the Bob’s Hill series, a group of 12 adventure books that began with The Boys of Bob’s Hill in 1905. The stories followed a band of boys through outdoor exploits and, in later volumes, journeys far beyond New England, helping make the series a lasting favorite with collectors of early boys’ fiction.
Alongside his fiction, he worked as editor of Earth Mover magazine and wrote a history column for The Aurora Beacon-News, later gathered into a book of Aurora stories. Sources disagree on his year of death, with some listing 1947 and others 1949, but they agree that he spent most of his life in Aurora and was a well-known local literary figure.