Mary A. Cornelius

Mary Ann Mann Cornelius (, Mann; pen name, Mrs. Mary A. Cornelius; September 25, 1829 – April 18, 1918) was an American writer and social reformer. A temperance activist, she served as president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) of Arkansas. She lived several years in Tacoma, Washington, where she established a free reading room and circulating library for the young. In Tacoma and also in Topeka, Kansas, Cornelius served as a director of the humane society. She was the author of various novels and occult stories, including Little Wolf; Uncle Nathan's Farm; The White Flame; and Why? or A Kansas Girl's Query. She favored woman's suffrage.

Early life and education Mary Ann Mann was born in Pontiac, Michigan, on September 25, 1829. Her parents were Lewis Whiting Mann (1802-1889) and Elvira (Bagley) Mann (1810-1867). Both of her parents were of Pilgrims ancestry and New England origin.

She assisted her husband when he was engaged in editorial work. About the time of his death, in 1886, she edited a journal in the interest of the temperance society. Her poems, numerous prose articles, and voluminous newspaper correspondence testified to her writing career. Perhaps the best known of her writings were Little Wolf, which has had a wide sale, and the poem, "Sweet Marie". They had one child, a son, William S. Cornelius (1853-1894).

Selected works

Books as Mary A. Cornelius The White Flame, 1900 (text) Why? Or, A Kansas Girl's Query, 1903 (text)

Books as Mrs. M. A. Cornelius Little Wolf: A Tale of the Western Frontier, 1872 (text) Uncle Nathan's Farm: A Novel, 1898

Poems "Sweet Marie" "The Watchword", 1911