Maud Wilder Goodwin (June 5, 1856 – February 5, 1935) was an American writer of historical fiction, biographies, and popular histories.

Maud Wilder Goodwin
Born(1856-06-05)June 5, 1856
DiedFebruary 5, 1935(1935-02-05) (aged 78)
OccupationWriter

Early life

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Maud Wilder was born in Ballston Spa, New York, the daughter of John N. Wilder and Delia A. Wilder.[1] Her older sister Blanche, also a writer,[2] married lawyer Frederick P. Bellamy, the brother of writer Edward Bellamy.[3]

Publications

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Goodwin's books were commercially successful,[4] and generally well-reviewed by critics. The Literary World found The Colonial Cavalier "very gay and charming,"[5] and Dolly Madison a "delightfully written, carefully gleaned biography".[6] Public Opinion found White Aprons to be "animated with fresh and absorbing interest."[7] "There is nothing specially startling in her plot of her situations," noted The Richmond Times-Dispatch about Richmond's novel, Four Roads to Paradise. "But she has endowed her characters with life and the ability to enjoy it; she has infused a strong dramatic element into her scenes; she has described her surroundings well, and she has given zest and animation to her conversations and dialogues."[8]

  • "The Antislavery Legacy" (1893)[9]
  • The Colonial Cavalier, or, Southern Life Before the Revolution (1895)[10]
  • Dolly Madison (1896)[11]
  • White Aprons: A Romance of Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia (1896, illustrated by Clyde O. DeLand)[12]
  • The Head of a Hundred: Being an Account of Certain Passages in the Life of Humphrey Huntoon, Esq., Sometime an Officer in the Colony of Virginia (1897)[13]
  • Fort Amsterdam (1897)[14]
  • Flint: His Faults, His Friendships And His Fortunes (1897)[15]
  • Open Sesame! Poetry and Prose for School-Days (1898–1890, 3 volumes, with Blanche Wilder Bellamy)[16]
  • Historic New York During Two Centuries (1899, co-editor with Alice Carrington-Royce, Ruth Putnam, and Eva Palmer Brownell)[17]
  • Sir Christopher: A Romance of a Maryland Manor in 1644 (1901)[18]
  • Four Roads to Paradise (1904)[8][19]
  • Claims and Counterclaims (1905)[20][21]
  • Veronica Playfair (1910)[22]
  • Dutch and Quakers: Part 1: Dutch and English on the Hudson (1919, with Sydney George Fisher)[23]
  • Dutch and English on the Hudson: A Chronicle of Colonial New York (1921)[24]

A quote by Goodwin ("My dear, whenever you feel that it would relieve your mind to say something, don't say it") was included in the Chicago Woman's Club's calendar for 1905.[25]

Personal life

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Wilder married lawyer Almon Goodwin in 1879. They had daughter Miriam and Hilda,[1] and a son, Wilder.[26] Her husband died in 1905, and Goodwin died in 1935, at the age of 78, at her son's home in Greenwich, Connecticut.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915. American Commonwealth Company. 1914. p. 334.
  2. ^ "Bellamy, Blanche Wilder, 1852-". The Online Books Page. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  3. ^ "Frederick Bellamy, Lawyer, Dead at 82; Had Been Trustee of City College and Packer Institute--Brother of Noted Writer". The New York Times. 1929-09-17. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  4. ^ "Mrs. Maud Wilder Goodwin, Historical Novelist, Dies". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1935-02-06. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "The Colonial Cavalier". The Literary World. 27: 12. January 11, 1896.
  6. ^ "Dolly Madison". The Literary World. 27: 197. June 27, 1896.
  7. ^ "White Aprons". Public Opinion. 21: 89. July 16, 1896.
  8. ^ a b "Reviews and Criticisms of Some Books of the Day". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 1904-04-24. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1893). "The Antislavery Legacy". In Goodale, Frances Abigail (ed.). The Literature of Philanthropy. Harper & brothers.
  10. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1895). The Colonial Cavalier: Or, Southern Life Before the Revolution. Little, Brown & Company.
  11. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1896). Dolly Madison. Scribner.
  12. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1896). White Aprons: A Romance of Bacon's Rebellion : Virginia, 1676. Little, Brown and Company.
  13. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1897). The Head of a Hundred: Being an Account of Certain Passages in the Life of Humphrey Huntoon, Esq., Sometime an Officer in the Colony of Virginia. Little, Brown.
  14. ^ "Papers on Historic New York". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1897-12-19. p. 16. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1897). Flint: His Faults, His Friendships and His Fortunes. Little, Brown.
  16. ^ Bellamy, Blanche Wilder; Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1898). Open Sesame!: Arranged for children from four to twelve years old. Ginn & Company.
  17. ^ "Historic New York, by Maud Wilder Goodwin et al". The Online Books Page. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  18. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1901). Sir Christopher: A Romance of a Maryland Manor in 1644. Little, Brown.
  19. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1904). Four Roads to Paradise. Century Company.
  20. ^ "A Lover's Dilemma; Much Wit and Good Characterization in Maud Wilder Goodwin's New Novel". The New York Times. 1905-08-19. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  21. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1905). Claims and Counterclaims. Doubleday, Page.
  22. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1910). Veronica Playfair. Little, Brown.
  23. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder; Fisher, Sydney George (1919). Dutch and Quakers: Part 1: Dutch and English on the Hudson. Yale University Press.
  24. ^ Goodwin, Maud Wilder (1921). Dutch and English on the Hudson: a chronicle of colonial New York. New Haven: Yale University Press. OL 6644920M.
  25. ^ "Club Women to Be Wise; Special Calendar With Daily Maxims is Provided". Chicago Tribune. 1904-12-01. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Mrs. Frederick P. Bellamy's Nephew and 'Maud Wilder Goodwin's' Son, Wilder Goodwin, Engaged". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1910-08-21. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Prominent Woman Author Succumbs". Argus-Leader. 1935-02-06. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.