Adelaide Day Rollston (, Kidd; February 23, 1854 – January 7, 1941) was an American poet and author.

Early life and education

Adelaide Day Kidd was born near

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Miss ...

, February 23, 1854. Her earliest years were spent in the countryside. Her parents were, William Henry Kidd (1819–1864), a physician of good standing, and Elvira (Roberts) Kidd (1823–1895). Her siblings were, Sarah, Mary Marcellus, Cincinnatus, Eliza, Fannie, Edmonia, William, and John. At the age of twelve, her talent for writing verse began to manifest itself in brief poems published in the local press. Later, several appeared in the ''Saturday Star-Journal'', of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. After the family moved to Paducah when Adelaide was twelve years old, she was educated in that city's St Mary's Academy.

Career

After completing her education, Rollston continued her contributions to the neighboring press, and frequently verses over her name appeared in ''

The Courier-Journal ''The Courier-Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), is the highest circulation newspaper in Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett and billed as "Part of the ''USA Today'' Ne ...

'' of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

. They attracted little or no attention, until she found a friend and helper in the veteran of the

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

press, Col. H. M. McCarty, who provided her with critical review of her work. Still, her writing career was a struggle. In 1877, she began to contribute to the ''Current'', and later received wide recognition as a contributor to ''Once a Week'', ''Youth's Companion'', ''Godey's Lady's Book'', and other

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periodicals. She also wrote several

novelette Novelette may also refer to: * ''Novelette'' (ballet), a solo modern dance work choreographed by Martha Graham * Novelette (music), a short piece of lyrical music * Novelette (literature), a work of narrative prose fiction that is longer than a ...

s. Her poems of note included, "His Second Wife", "One Woman's Story", "A Fragment", "If I Had Known", and "The Wanderers".

Death

In December 1874, in

Massac County, Illinois Massac County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 15,429. Established in 1843 and named for a French fort founded in the 18th century, its county seat is Metropolis. Massac County i ...

, she married Joseph L. Rollston (1850–1931). They had four children, Guy, Vera, Ina, and Edward. Adelaide Day Rollston died at her home in Paducah, Kentucky January 7, 1941. Burial was in the city's Oak Grove Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:RollstonAdelaide Day 1854 births 1941 deaths Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century People from Paducah, Kentucky Writers from Kentucky 19th-century American poets 19th-century American women writers American women poets 19th-century American novelists American women novelists