Julia Cruger
American novelist
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Julia Grinnell Storrow Cruger (pseudonym: Julien Gordon; July 19, 1848 – July 12, 1920) was an American novelist. Because many of her books examined the American social world, she was known as the Edith Wharton of her day.
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July 19, 1848
Julia Cruger | |
|---|---|
Watercolor portrait of Mrs. S.V.R. Cruger by Fernand Paillet, 1893 | |
| Born | Julia Grinnell Storrow July 19, 1848 Paris, France |
| Died | July 12, 1920 (aged 71) New York City |
Resting place | Sleepy Hollow Cemetery |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse(s) |
Wade Chance
(m. 1908; div. 1916) |
| Parent | Thomas Wentworth Storrow |
| Relatives | Washington Irving (grand-uncle) |
Family
Julia Grinnell Storrow was born in Paris, France, in 1848. She was the daughter of Thomas Wentworth Storrow Jr. (1805–1861) of Boston and Sarah Sanders (née Paris) Storrow (1813–1885).[1] Her elder sister, Katherine Paris Storrow, was the wife of banker Francis McNiel Bacon.[2]
Her paternal grandparents were Thomas Wentworth Storrow and Sarah Phipps (née Brown) Storrow.[3] His maternal grandparents were attorney John Daniel Paris and Catherine (née Irving) Paris, sister to Washington Irving (making Julia a grandniece of Washington Iriving).[4]
Career
In 1892, Cruger and her husband were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[5] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[6]
Her first book was A Diplomat's Diary (1890); it and the next three novels all appeared first in serial form.[1] Many of her novels closely examined the social world of New York and Washington, D.C., and she was known as the Edith Wharton of her day.[4][7]
Personal life
On April 21, 1868, she married Col. Stephen Van Rensselaer Cruger in Trinity Chapel in New York City. A Civil War veteran, he was a grandson of Stephen Van Rensselaer.[8] Following her husband's death in 1898, Julia inherited his fortune, leaving her independently well off.[9][7]
On May 11, 1908, she married broker Wade Chance of Canton, Ohio, and London, who was fifteen years her junior, at her home in Washington, D.C.[10][11] The couple, however, separated after a year,[12] and were divorced in 1916.[13][7][14][a] Cruger, who spoke French fluently, then moved to Paris for several years living at 5 Rue du Général-Lambert and Avenue de Suffren,[11] returning to New York not long before her death.[4] As both of her daughters from her first marriage died young, her estate was inherited by her nephew, Wentworth Cruger Bacon.[15][16]
Selected works
- A Diplomat's Diary (1890)
- Vampires: Mademoiselle Réséda (1891)
- A Successful Man (1891)
- A Puritan Pagan (1891)
- Marionettes (1892)
- His Letters (1892)
- Poppaea (1895)
- A Wedding and Other Stories (1896)
- Eat Not Thy Heart (1897)
- Mrs. Clyde: The Story of a Social Career (1901)
- The Wage of Character: A Social Study (1901)
