Mary Bradford Crowninshield (1844-1913)

She was born at Geneva, New York, and inspired by her mother began to write at an early age. Her first story was published but her second was rejected and it would be another 25-years before she returned to her writing desk. She lived in Europe for several years and was married at Dresden in 1870 to Rear-Admiral Arent Schuyler Crowninshield, U.S. Navy, with whom she had four children, only one of whom (listed) lived to adulthood. When not in Europe, she lived for the last years of her married life between 820 18th Street, Washington D.C. and "The Anchorage" Seal Harbor, Maine.

Her novels were often based on her and her husband's own travel experiences and writing under the pseudonym "Mrs Schuyler Crowninshield" her books were very well received by contemporary critics for the quality of her writing. Her books included: All Among the Lighthouses (1886);  The Ignoramuses, A Travel Story (1887); The Ignoramuses in Europe (1889); Latitude 19 Degrees (1889); Where the Trade Winds Blow (1898); The Archbishop and the Lady (1900); San Isidro (1900); Valencia's Garden (1901). In 1905, her first play Between Two Fires was performed at the Lyceum in New York. In 1906, she witnessed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in and wrote about it for The New York Times.