About an author

 

Katharine Adams, author, 1922

Katharine Adams wrote several books for young people, but it appears that biographical information about her is not readily available. My daughter asked me if I could find out who she was. I found her, and am posting about her to make the information available to others.

Katharine Adams was born in Elmira, Chemung County, New York, January 18, 1885. She was the daughter of Edward Legrand Adams and Kate Lynn Atwater. Katharine was raised abroad for several years, and she incorporates these places in her novels. Mr. Edward Adams served as American Consul in Stockholm, Sweden (circa 1902-1909), Dublin, Ireland (circa 1909-1915), and Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada (circa 1921-1923).[i]

On June 1, 1926, at Strathmont, the home of Mrs. Jacob Sloat Fassett in Elmira, New York, Katharine Adams married Percy Alexander Walker of Dublin, Ireland.[ii] She died October 17, 1969 in London England. Her obituary lists one daughter, Sally Caroline Walker. Katharine and Percy are buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, Chemung County, New York. So are her parents and her daughter.

Some people have confused the author Katharine Adams (1885-1969) of New York, USA with Katharine Adams (1862-1952) the famous British bookbinder. They are not the same person.

One newspaper reported that “Miss Adams has a remarkable faculty for getting atmosphere into her stories” and has “won the esteem of distinguished critics in the handling of the plot in the mystery pervading the old Swedish castle.”[iii] According to The MacMillan Company, her publisher, by 1926 she had garnered “a large audience” of readers.[iv]

Elmira Star-Gazette, Thursday, May 27, 1926, p. 13

Books by Katharine Adams (Published mostly, if not all, by the Macmillan Company, New York/London) include:

• Mehitable, 1920
• Mid-Summer: a Story for Boys and Girls, 1921
• Wisp: a Girl of Dublin, 1922
• Red Caps and Lilies, 1924
• The Silver Tarn, 1924
• Toto and the Gift, 1926
• Mid-Winter, 1927
• Thistle Inn, 1930
• Blackthorn, 1931

[In some cases the date given may be a second or third publishing. This needs to checked more closely.]

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[i] Elmira Star-Gazette, Monday, June 11, 1923, p. 13; 1921 Census of Canada; Ireland Census, 1911; Katharine Adams Passport Application, July 8, 1922.
[ii] Elmira Star-Gazette, Tuesday, June 1, 1926, p. 5; New York marriage records on Ancestry.com.
[iii] Brooklyn Life, Saturday, May 17, 1924, p. 27.
[iv] Elmira Star-Gazette, Thursday, May 27, 1926, p. 13.