Ida Glenwood

Writing as Ida Glenwood, she published sentimental and historical fiction in the late 1800s, including The Fatal Secret (1873) and Lily Pearl and the Mistress of Rosedale (1892). Library and public-domain book records consistently connect the name Ida Glenwood with those works.

Several reliable biographical sources identify Ida Glenwood as the pen name of Cynthia Roberts Gorton (1826–1894), an American poet and author often described as blind and active in temperance lecturing. Because some catalog records list Ida Glenwood with the dates 1829–1894 while biographical sources give Cynthia Roberts Gorton as 1826–1894, the birth year is best treated with caution.

That mix of popular fiction, poetry, and reform work helps explain why the name still appears in library catalogs and digital collections today: it sits at the crossroads of 19th-century women’s writing, moral reform literature, and accessible storytelling for a broad readership.