John Harvey Whitson

Born in Seymour, Indiana, on December 28, 1854, John Harvey Whitson studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1876, and practiced for several years before moving into newspaper work. He edited papers in Indiana and wrote poems and short pieces before turning more seriously to fiction.

After moving to Kansas in 1885, he drew on frontier life in his writing and began publishing professionally. He wrote western and adventure stories for popular magazines and story papers, sometimes using the pseudonym "Lieut. A. K. Sims," and contributed to series for Beadle and other publishers. Later he published novels including Barbara, a Woman of the West, The Rainbow Chasers, Justin Wingate: Ranchman, and A Courier of Empire.

Whitson's career is also notable for his resilience. In 1888 he became almost blind after sun exposure during irrigation work, and for years had limited use of his eyes; his sister Barbara helped by taking dictation. He continued writing across many outlets, including boys' weeklies and religious periodicals, and lived until 1936.