author
Timothy Templeton
A playful voice from 19th-century American satire, this author is best known for sending the wryly observant Solomon Smooth into the political world of Washington. The result is a funny, pointed look at public life in the Franklin Pierce era.
1 Audiobook
The Adventures of My Cousin Smooth
by Timothy Templeton
About the author
Timothy Templeton is the pen name attached to The Adventures of My Cousin Smooth, a humorous novel first published in 1856. Reliable bookseller and catalog records identify Timothy Templeton as a pseudonym of Charles Adams, and the novel has remained available through public-domain archives and later reprints.
The book follows Solomon Smooth, a Cape Cod character whose journey into national politics turns into a lively satire of mid-19th-century America. Modern summaries from Project Gutenberg describe it as a humorous work centered on Washington and the age of President Franklin Pierce, giving today's readers a window into the wit, habits, and political culture of its time.
Although biographical details about the person behind the pen name are limited in the sources I could confirm, the work itself has kept Templeton's name in circulation. For listeners who enjoy classic comic fiction, political send-ups, and a distinctly American 1800s voice, this is an author worth rediscovering.