Adeline Trafton Knox (abt. 1842–1920?) was an American writer and novelist, she published most of her work in the 1870s. A daughter of minister (and one-term member of U.S. Congress) Mark Trafton,Genius-Romance-Hardship-Honor
''Christian Union'', p. 1686-88 (October 24, 1901) Trafton was born in

Saccarappa, Maine Westbrook is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States and a suburb of Portland. The population was 20,400 at the 2020 census, making it the fastest-growing city in Maine between 2010 and 2020. It is part of the Portland– South Portlan ...

around 1842 (sources vary, it was likely closer to 1842 though many say February 8, 1845). She studied for a time at

Wesleyan Female College Wesleyan Female College may refer to: * Cincinnati Wesleyan Female Seminary, Ohio * Ohio Wesleyan Female College, Delaware, Ohio * Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia * Wesleyan Female College (Wilmington) Wesleyan Female College of Wilmington, Dela ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. She began publishing short pieces in the ''

Springfield Republican ''The Republican'' is a newspaper based in Springfield, Massachusetts, covering news in the Greater Springfield area, as well as national news and pieces from Boston, Worcester and northern Connecticut. It is owned by Newhouse Newspapers, a ...

'' newspaper in 1868 under a pseudonym. In 1872, a series of her foreign letters published in that paper were released in book form as ''An American Girl Abroad''.World Biographies
''The Literary World'' (July 1878, p. 35) Two novels were serialized in ''

Scribner's Monthly ''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunc ...

'' before being published in book form, including ''Katherine Earle'' (1874) and ''His Inheritance'' (1878). In 1889 she married lawyer Samuel Knox, Jr. (d. 1897). Her 1890 work ''Dorothy's Experience'' first appeared in serial form in the ''Christian Union''.Willard, Frances E. & Mary A. Livermore (ed.
American Women: Fifteen Hundred Biographies with over 1,400 Portraits, Vol. II
p. 440-41 (Rev. Ed. 1897)A Library of the World's Best Literature, Vol. XLIII: Dictionary of Authors (K-Z)
p. 310 (1896)Books and Authors
''Christian Union'' (January 8, 1891), p. 55 She was opposed to

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

.Woman's Who's Who of America 1914-15
p. 462 (1914) A 1980 volume on American women writers opined that Trafton is little remembered now, and likely did not have much impact on other writers of her time. Yet, although "her plots, by modern standards, seem contrived and sentimental ... she wrote lively, interesting stories" and "remained popular with young readers for at least a few decades."Mainiero, Lina (ed.) ''American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present, Volume 2'' (

Frederick Ungar Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from ...

1980), p. 479

Bibliography

* ''An American Girl Abroad'' (

Lee & Shepard __NOTOC__ Lee & Shepard (1862-1905) was a publishing and bookselling firm in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 19th century, established by William Lee (1826–1906) and Charles Augustus Billings Shepard (1829–1889) Authors published by the firm ...

1872) * ''Katherine Earle'' (Lee & Shepard 1874)Kilgour, Raymond Lincoln
Lee and Shepard: Publishers for the People
p. 157 (1965) (describing ''Katherine Earle'' as "most successful") * ''His Inheritance'' (Lee & Shepard 1878) * ''Dorothy's Experience'' (Lee & Shepard 1890)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trafton, Adeline 1840s births 1920 deaths American women novelists People from Westbrook, Maine Novelists from Maine 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American women writers Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century