Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben

Born in Dalton, Georgia, on July 5, 1858, William Nathaniel Harben grew up in the region that would shape much of his fiction. Reliable reference sources describe him as an American writer who became known for stories about the people and landscape of northern Georgia, especially its mountain communities.

Harben began publishing in the late 19th century and went on to write novels, short fiction, and some detective and speculative work. Sources such as the New Georgia Encyclopedia note that he was widely read in his day, and Project Gutenberg's catalog shows how many of his novels continued to circulate long after their first publication, including Pole Baker, Westerfelt, Northern Georgia Sketches, and The Land of the Changing Sun.

He died on August 7, 1919. Although he is less widely known now than he was during the height of his career, his work still stands out for its lively regional settings and for the way it captured a particular corner of Southern life for national readers.