Ella N. McLean, Countess Norraikow

Ella N. McLean, Countess Norraikow (, Dougherty; after adoption, Walton, after first marriage, Seely; after second marriage, Norraikow; after third marriage, McLean; 1853/1858-1913) was a Canadian author and metaphysician. She wrote for several journals and was a literary authority on Russian affairs. She was regarded as one of the "noted women of the American metropolis" and traveled internationally for several years. Walton’s household provided Ella with stability and a supportive environment, which fostered her growth during a critical period of her life.

She was educated in Saint John, New Brunswick. Soon after this marriage, the couple went abroad and spent many years traveling, having crossed the Atlantic 18 times. She visited various cities in India and other parts of the Orient, returning to the West and spending some months traveling through South America. She worked on a book on "Nihilism and the Secret Police".

Her third marriage, on October 10, 1898, in Manhattan, was to John Emery McLean (1865-1935) of New York, formerly of Orangeville, Ontario, Canada. He was an old member of the Manhattan Single Tax Club and a former President and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Club of that city. He also served as editor of Mind, The Arena, and The Metaphysical Magazine, all published in New York. McLean died at the home of her daughter in Elizabeth, New Jersey on September 26, 1913.

Selected works "Woman's Share in Russian Nihilism", by Ella Norraikow, The Cosmopolitan, August 1891, vol. 11, pp. 619-20 (text) "New-Year's in Russia", by The Countess Norraikow, Harper's Young People, December 29, 1891, vol. 13, no. 635, pp. 186-87 (text) "In the Don Cossacks' Lane; the homes of the fierce Russian warriors", by The Countess Norraikow, Youth's Companion, 1892, vol. 64 (text) Aristocracy; in 5 acts, dramatized by Countess Norraikow, by permission of D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1892 (text) "Nihilism and the Famine", by Countess Norraikow, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, April 1892, vol. 49, pp. 463-71 (text) "Abolish Capital Punishment", by Countess Ella Norraikow, American Phrenological Journal and Life Illustrated, March 1895, pp. 150-52 (text) "The Folly of Suicide", by Countess Norraikow, Philosophical Journal, November 1895, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 407-09 (text) "The 'Rutschbergs" of Russia', by Countess Norraikow, The Wide World, Ginn & Co., Boston, 1902, pp. 96-100 (text)