Mary Ann Mann Cornelius

Mary Ann Mann Cornelius (née, 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. Cornelius' siblings were Anna (b. 1827), Sarah (b. 1832), Preston (b. 1834), Louie (b. 1838), Evelina (b. 1842), and Lewis (b. 1852).

She was educated at the Pontiac Academy. Her first school composition, written when she was nine years of age, was a hit in the rural community where she lived and was printed in the local newspaper.

Career

Her husband encouraged her to write short articles for the press on religious and philanthropic subjects, even with the responsibilities of motherhood and her position as a pastor's wife upon her. But when she brought to his notice a story she had written of 39 long chapters, he protested against it.