author
Rufus Rockwell Wilson
1865–1949
A journalist turned prolific historical writer, he spent decades bringing American places and figures vividly to life in books on colonial travel, Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Late in life, he returned to Elmira, New York, where he continued publishing and earned recognition as a Lincoln scholar.
2 Audiobooks
The Sea Rovers
by Rufus Rockwell Wilson
Lincoln in Caricature
by Rufus Rockwell Wilson
About the author
Born in Troy, Pennsylvania, in 1865, Rufus Rockwell Wilson built his career first in newspapers. Sources describe him working in journalism in Pittsburgh, Washington, New York, and Elmira before moving deeply into magazine writing and book publishing. His writing ranged widely across American history and travel, including books such as Rambles in Colonial Byways, works on Washington, and studies connected to Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
He is especially remembered for his long-running interest in Lincoln. Library and archival records show that he wrote and edited several Lincoln-related works, including Lincoln in Caricature, Lincoln in Portraiture, Intimate Memories of Lincoln, and Uncollected Works of Abraham Lincoln. That body of work helped establish him as a respected Lincoln scholar as well as a popular historical storyteller.
Later in life, Wilson returned to Elmira, where he and his wife, Anna Otilie Erickson Wilson, ran Primavera Press. He died in 1949, leaving behind a large body of readable, public-facing history that reflects both a reporter’s curiosity and a bookman’s love of the American past.