Wilbur Gleason Zeigler

Born near Fremont, Ohio, Wilbur Gleason Zeigler studied law and began his career as an attorney before turning seriously toward writing. Early on, he collaborated with Ben S. Grosscup on The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), a descriptive and historical book about western North Carolina that helped establish him as a literary figure.

He is best remembered for It Was Marlowe (1895), a novel whose preface and notes helped launch the Marlovian theory of Shakespeare authorship—the idea that Christopher Marlowe wrote the plays usually credited to Shakespeare. That mix of storytelling, argument, and literary mystery gave Zeigler a lasting niche in authorship debates.

Zeigler also wrote about Ohio history and later published an account of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, which he experienced himself. Sources located during this search disagree about his death year: some list 1923, while others give 1935, so that detail remains uncertain here. No confirmed portrait image was found on the pages reviewed; only a signature and book-related images appeared.