Charles Major (July 25, 1856 – February 13, 1913) was an American lawyer and novelist.

Biography

Major was born on July 25, 1856 in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Born to an upper-middle class

family, Major developed an interest in both law and English history and subsequent

British history The history of the British Isles began with its sporadic human habitation during the Palaeolithic from around 900,000 years ago. The British Isles has been continually occupied since the early Holocene, the current geological epoch, which star ...

at an early age. Majors graduated from the old Shelbyville High School which then like most other

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and even down to the growing early

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

s /

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

s in that

19th century The 19th century began on 1 January 1801 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 (MCM). It was the 9th century of the 2nd millennium. It was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was Abolitionism, ...

era emphasized Classical and European history and ancient languages as part of the academic curriculum. In 1872, Major then attended the adjacent state

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

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for three years, and after an apprenticeship in the law practice of his father, and successfully completing the required examinations here, was admitted to the Indiana Bar and its bar association in 1877. Shortly thereafter he opened his own law practice, which also launched a short political career, culminating in a year-long term in the Indiana General Assembly (state legislature) at the Indiana Statehouse (state capitol) in Indianapolis. Writing fiction however remained an interest of Major, and fifteen years later at age 42, he published his first novel in 1896, '' When Knighthood Was in Flower'' under the pseudonym / pen name of Edwin Caskoden. The novel about old medieval

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

in the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

during the reign of

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

(1491-1547, reigned 1509-1547). It was an exhaustively extensively researched saga of

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

and romantic fiction, and soon became enormously popular, holding a place on several bestselling published book lists for nearly three years in the late

1890s The 1890s (pronounced "eighteen-nineties") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1890, and ended on December 31, 1899. In American popular culture, the decade would later be nostalgically referred to as the "Gay Nineti ...

. The novel was adapted into a popular Broadway play in

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by popular noted playwright Paul Kester (1870-1933) for the turn-of-the-century stage in the 1901 season, premiering at the Criterion Theatre that year. The novel also launched relatively several subsequent successful film adaptations in the

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

format (up to 1927-1928), first in the earlier

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era of shorter flicks in 1908 and again a second time with longer more developed plot by the 1922 version. With a successful writing career thus launched, Major gradually lessened his other legal obligations, finally closing his law practice in 1899 after only a year after his first novel publication. With the later publication of his third novel in 1902, '' Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall'', which was another historical romance, this time continuing in the royal

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and biography of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, set in the later

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

era and continuing the story of the later

Tudor dynasty The House of Tudor ( ) was an English and Welsh dynasty that held the throne of England from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd, a Welsh noble family, and Catherine of Valois. The Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Eng ...

of the times of Henry VIII's younger daughter Queen Elizabeth I (the Great) (1533-1603, reigned 1558-1603), in the latter 16th to early 17th centuries. It too rivaled the success of his first book. Once again, the ''Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall'' novel was adapted for the live theater again by Paul Kester, and saw another silent film release under the same title as the 1902 book in 1924 starring the most famous film star of that time and "sweetheart of America",

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

(1892-1979) at age 22. A third film adaptation of Major's first novel ''When Knighthood Was In Flower'' , this time with more modern technology of added

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

over a half-century later made in 1953 by the

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studios, under the changed title of '' The Sword and the Rose'' Major continued to write and publish several additional novels, to varying degrees of success, as well as a number of children's adventure stories, most set in and around his native state of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. He died at the age of 57 of

Hepatocellular carcinoma Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer in adults and is currently the most common cause of death in people with cirrhosis. HCC is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. HCC most common ...

(

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

) on February 13, 1913, at his home in Shelbyville, Indiana. Almost a century later, in 2006, Shelbyville, Indiana native Eric Linne wrote and copyrighted a motion picture screenplay adaptation of Major's earlier novel ''The Bears of Blue River''.

Bibliography

* '' When Knighthood Was in Flower'' (1898) * ''The Bears of Blue River'' (1901) * '' Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall'' (1902) * ''A Forest Hearth: A Romance of Indiana in the Thirties'' (1903) * ''Yolanda: A Maid of Burgundy'' (1905) * ''Uncle Tom Andy Bill: A Story of Bears and Indian Treasure'' (1908) * ''A Gentle Knight of Old

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

'' (1909) (about Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia and Margravine, consort of Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth) * ''The Little King: A Story of the Childhood of King Louis XIV'' (1910) * ''Sweet Alyssum'' (1911) * ''The Touchstone of Fortune: Being the Memoir of Baron Clyde etc.'' (1912) * ''Rosalie'' (1925)

Filmography

*'' Sweet Alyssum'', directed by Colin Campbell (1915, based on the story ''Sweet Alyssum: A Story of the Indiana Oil Fields'') *'' When Knighthood Was in Flower'', directed by Robert G. Vignola (1922, based on the novel '' When Knighthood Was in Flower'') *'' Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall'', directed by Marshall Neilan (1924, based on the novel '' Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall'') *'' Yolanda'', directed by Robert G. Vignola (1924, based on the novel ''Yolanda'') *'' The Sword and the Rose'', directed by Ken Annakin (1953, based on the novel '' When Knighthood Was in Flower'')

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Major, Charles 1856 births 1913 deaths 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists American historical novelists American male novelists Deaths from liver cancer in Indiana Indiana lawyers Members of the Indiana House of Representatives Novelists from Indiana People from Shelbyville, Indiana University of Michigan alumni Writers from Indianapolis Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period 19th-century Indiana politicians 19th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly