William C. Gage

author

William C. Gage

A lively 19th-century travel writer, printer, and public figure, he wrote practical guidebooks that helped readers imagine summer journeys across the eastern United States. His life also reached well beyond the page, linking publishing, preaching, and civic service in Battle Creek, Michigan.

1 Audiobook

"Chicago to the Sea." Eastern Excursionist A complete guide to the principal eastern summer resorts, including: Niagara Falls, the White Mountains, Saint Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers, Montreal and Quebec, the New England sea beaches, etc., and how and when to enjoy them.

"Chicago to the Sea." Eastern Excursionist A complete guide to the principal eastern summer resorts, including: Niagara Falls, the White Mountains, Saint Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers, Montreal and Quebec, the New England sea beaches, etc., and how and when to enjoy them.

by William C. Gage

About the author

Born in 1842, William Claggett Gage built a varied career as a printer, writer, and preacher. Reliable biographical sources describe him as deeply involved with the Seventh-day Adventist publishing world, and later as the first Adventist elected mayor of a city when he became mayor of Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1882.

As an author, he is best known for travel books such as Chicago to the Sea, a guide for summer tourists heading east to places like Niagara Falls, the White Mountains, Montreal, Quebec, and the New England coast. The book presents him as an energetic guide to rail-era travel, mixing practical advice with an inviting sense of landscape and leisure.

Gage's career also included newspaper and printing work in New Hampshire and Michigan, as well as his own printing business in Battle Creek. He died in 1907, leaving behind a body of writing that captures the style, curiosity, and optimism of late 19th-century American travel.