Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben

Born in Dalton, Georgia, on July 5, 1858, William Nathaniel Harben became one of the most widely read American novelists of the early twentieth century. He was known for stories set in north Georgia and for writing about the lives of mountain communities with a strong sense of place.

Harben published many novels and short stories, including White Marie and Northern Georgia Sketches. Although he spent much of his adult life in New York, Georgia remained at the center of his imagination, and his work kept returning to the speech, customs, and landscapes of his home region.

His popularity was enormous in his own era, even if he is less widely remembered today. Harben died on August 7, 1919, but his books still offer a vivid glimpse of how one successful regional writer helped shape national ideas about the American South.