Harold Frederic was an American

United States

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

 journalist and novelist.

Biography

Frederic was born in Utica, New York

Utica, New York

Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....

 to Presbyterian parents. After his father was killed in a train accident when Frederic was 18 months old, the boy was raised primarily by his mother. He finished school at fifteen, and soon began work as a photographer. For four years he was a photographic touch-up artist in his hometown and in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

. In 1875 he began work as a proofreader for the Utica Herald and then the Utica Daily Observer. Frederic later became a reporter, and by 1882 he was editor of the Albany Evening Journal.

Two years later he went to live in England as London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 correspondent of the New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

. He retained this job for the rest of his life. He was soon recognized for his ability both as a writer and as a talker. He wrote several early stories, but it was not until he published Illumination (1896), better known by its American title, The Damnation of Theron Ware

The Damnation of Theron Ware

The Damnation of Theron Ware is an 1896 novel by American author Harold Frederic. It is widely considered a classic of American literature by scholars and critics, though the common reader often has not heard of it...

, followed by Gloria Mundi (1898), that his gifts as a novelist were fully realized. Jonathan Yardley

Jonathan Yardley

Jonathan Yardley is a book critic at The Washington Post, and at one time of the Washington Star. In 1981 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.-Background and education:...

 called Damnation "a minor classic of realism".

Frederic married Grace Green Williams in 1877, and they had five children. Sometime between 1889 and 1890, he met Kate Lyon, who became his mistress. Frederic and Lyon established a second household, living openly together; they had three children. Lyon was a Christian Scientist who, when he suffered a stroke in 1898, tried to cure him through faith healing. After his death, she was tried on charges of manslaughter and acquitted. Frederic was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery

Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica

-Notable burials:*Ezekiel Bacon , represented Massachusetts's 12th congressional district from 1807 to 1813.*William J. Bacon , represented New York's 23rd congressional district from 1877 to 1879....

 in Utica, New York

Utica, New York

Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....

.

Novels

• Seth's Brother's Wife. New York, London 1887
• The Lawton Girl. New York, London 1890
• In the Valley
  In the Valley
  In the Valley is a historical novel by Anglo-American novelist Harold Frederic. It is set in the United States in the Mohawk Valley and in Albany, New York, from 1757 to 1777.-Plot:...
  
  , a story of 1777. New York, London 1890
• The Return of the O'Mahoney. New York 1892. London 1893.
• The Copperhead. New York 1893
• Marsena. London 1896
• The Damnation of Theron Ware. Chicago 1996. Also called Illumination. London, Leipzig 1896.
• March Hares. London 1896.
• Gloria Mundi. Chicago, New York, London 1898.
• The Market Place
  The Market Place
  The Market Place is a novel by American author Harold Frederic. It was published posthumously in 1899.The publication of the book led to a conflict over Frederic's estate, and culminated in a scandal involving most of Victorian society. The resulting furor led to the jailing of his mistress,...
  
  . New York, London 1899

Collections

• 'The Copperhead' and Other Stories of the North During the American War. London 1894.
• 'Marsena' and Other Stories of the Wartime. New York 1894
• Mrs. Albert Grundy: Observations in Philisia. London, New York 1896
• In the Sixties. 1897
• 'The Deserter' and Other Stories: A Book of Two Wars. 1898.
• Harold Frederic's Stories of York State. 1966.

Non-Fiction

• The Young Emperor William II of Germany: A Study in Character Development on a Throne New York, London 1891
• The New Exodus: A Study of Israel in Russia. New York, London 1892.

External links

• Works by Harold Frederic at Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
  
• Harold Frederic's The Damnation of Theron Ware (biography, bibliography etc.)