Augusta Huiell Seaman was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author of children's literature

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

.

Augusta Huiell Seaman was born Augusta Curtiss Huiell in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, on April 3, 1879, the daughter of the bookkeeper John Valentine Huiell and his third wife, Anna Curtiss. Augusta's mother died in 1888.

She graduated from Normal College (later renamed Hunter College

Hunter College

Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...

) in New York City in 1900 and went on to teach elementary school. She married Robert Seaman in 1906. Following her marriage, she devoted her time to writing children's books.

Her only child, Helen Roberta (Bobbie) was born in 1915. Her husband Robert died in 1927. In 1928 she married her second husband, Francis Parkman Freeman, foreman of the Phipps

Henry Phipps

Henry Phipps, Jr. was an American entrepreneur and major philanthropist.-Biography:He was the son of an English shoemaker who emigrated in the early part of the 19th century to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before settling in Pittsburgh. When a child, he was a friend and neighbor to Andrew Carnegie...

 estate in Island Beach, New Jersey

Island Beach, New Jersey

Island Beach was a borough that existed in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States, from 1933 to 1965.Island Beach was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on June 23, 1933, from portions of Berkeley Township, Lacey Township and Ocean Township. The referendum that...

, the setting for several of her later books. While living in Island Beach, Augusta held various offices in the local government, including Borough clerk, Tax Collector, and Borough Registrar.

Books

• Jacqueline of the Carrier Pigeons (1910)
• When a Cobbler Ruled a King (1911) [copyright expired]
• Little Mamselle of the Wilderness (1913) [copyright expired]
• The Boarded-Up House (1915) [copyright expired]
• The Sapphire Signet (1916) [copyright expired]
• The Girl Next Door (1917) [copyright expired]
• Three Sides of Paradise Green (1918) [copyright expired]
• Melissa-Across-the-Fence (1918) [copyright expired]
• The Slipper Point Mystery (1919) [copyright expired]
• Americans All; Stories to Tell Boys and Girls of Ten to Twelve (1919) [copyright expired]
• The Crimson Patch (1920) [copyright expired]
• The Dragon's Secret (1921) [copyright expired]
• The Mystery at Number Six (1922) [copyright expired]
• Tranquility House (1923)
• Sally Simms Adventures It (1924)
• The Edge of Raven Pool (1924)
• Bluebonnet Bend (1924)
• The Secret of Tate's Beach (1926)
• The Adventure of the Seven Keyholes (1926)
• The Shadow on the Dial (1927)
• The Disappearance of Anne Shaw (1928)
• A Book of Mysteries: Three Baffling Tales (1929)
• The Charlemonte Crest: A Mystery of Modern Haiti (1930)
• The Brass Keys of Kenwick (1931)
• The House in Hidden Lane: Two Mysteries for Younger Girls (1931)
• The Stars of Sabra (1932)
• The Mystery of the Empty Room (1933)
• Bitsy Finds the Clue: A Mystery of Williamsburg, Old and New"' (1934)
• The Riddle at Live Oaks (1934)
• The Figurehead of the 'Folly (1935)
• The Strange Pettingill Puzzle: Two Mysteries for Boys and Girls (1936)
• Voice in the Dark (1937) [copyright was not renewed]
• The Pine Barrens Mystery (1937)
• The Vanderlyn Silhouette (1938) [copyright was not renewed]
• The Mystery at Linden Hall (1939) [copyright was not renewed]
• The Curious Affair at Heron Shoals (1940) [copyright was not renewed]
• The Missing Half (1941) [copyright was not renewed]
• The Case of the Calico Crab (1942)
• The Mystery of the Folding Key (1943) [copyright was not renewed]
• The Half-Penny Adventure (1945)
• The Mystery of the Other House (1947)
• The Vanishing Octant Mystery (1949)

A few of Seaman's books have been reprinted, but many remain out of print. The rarest of her books are much sought after by collectors. Several of her novels were translated into Norwegian, Danish, and French.

Sources

• Bookfever.com Book Fever used rare books magazines pulps for sale at www.bookfever.com