Julia Grinnell Storrow Cruger (

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

: Julien Gordon; July 19, 1848 – July 12, 1920) was an American novelist. Because many of her books examined the American social world, she was known as the

Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...

of her day.

Family

Julia Grinnell Storrow was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, in 1848. She was the daughter of Thomas Wentworth Storrow Jr. (1805–1861) of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and Sarah Sanders ( Paris) Storrow (1813–1885). Her elder sister, Katherine Paris Storrow, was the wife of banker Francis McNiel Bacon. Her paternal grandparents were Thomas Wentworth Storrow and Sarah Phipps ( Brown) Storrow. His maternal grandparents were attorney John ''Daniel'' Paris and Catherine ( Irving) Paris, sister to

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

(making Julia a grandniece of Washington Iriving).

Career

In 1892, Cruger and her husband were included in

Ward McAllister Samuel Ward McAllister (December 28, 1827 – January 31, 1895) was a popular arbiter of social taste in the Gilded Age of America, widely accepted as the authority to which families could be classified as the cream of New York society ( The Fou ...

's "

Four Hundred 400 (four hundred) is the natural number following 399 and preceding 401. Mathematical properties A circle is divided into 400 grads. Integers from 401 to 499 400s 401 401 is a prime number, tetranacci number, Chen prime, prime index p ...

", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom. Her first book was ''A Diplomat's Diary'' (1890); it and the next three novels all appeared first in serial form. Many of her novels closely examined the social world of New York and Washington, D.C., and she was known as the Edith Wharton of her day.

Personal life

On April 21, 1868, she married Col. Stephen Van Rensselaer Cruger in Trinity Chapel in New York City. A

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

veteran, he was a grandson of Stephen Van Rensselaer. Following her husband's death in 1898, Julia inherited his fortune, leaving her independently well off. On May 11, 1908, she married broker Wade Chance of

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

, and London, who was fifteen years her junior, at her home in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The couple, however, separated after a year, and were divorced in 1916. Cruger, who spoke French fluently, then moved to Paris for several years living at 5 Rue du Général-Lambert and Avenue de Suffren, returning to New York not long before her death. As both of her daughters from her first marriage died young, her estate was inherited by her nephew, Wentworth Cruger Bacon.

Selected works

* ''A Diplomat's Diary'' (1890) * ''Vampires: Mademoiselle Réséda'' (1891) * ''A Successful Man'' (1891) * ''A Puritan Pagan'' (1891) * ''Marionettes'' (1892) * ''His Letters'' (1892) * ''Poppaea'' (1895) * ''A Wedding and Other Stories'' (1896) * ''Eat Not Thy Heart'' (1897) * ''Mrs. Clyde: The Story of a Social Career'' (1901) * ''The Wage of Character: A Social Study'' (1901)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruger, Julia 1920 deaths 1840s births 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American novelists American expatriates in France French women writers American women novelists 20th-century American women writers Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century French women 19th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers