Margaret Hill McCarter

Born in Carthage, Indiana, on May 2, 1860, Margaret Hill McCarter became an American teacher and novelist whose work was closely tied to Kansas history and identity. She studied at Earlham College and graduated in 1884 from the State Normal School at Terre Haute, Indiana, later making her home in Topeka, Kansas.

McCarter became widely known in the early 1900s for novels set against the Kansas prairies and the state's frontier past. Contemporary reference sources describe her as, at the time, the best-known and highest-paid novelist in Kansas. Her writing helped popularize romantic and historical stories about the region for a broad readership.

She died in Topeka on August 31, 1938. Beyond her books, she is also remembered as a prominent public figure in Kansas life, including being noted as the first woman to address a Republican National Convention.