Albert Capwell Wyckoff (February 21, 1903 – January 10, 1953) was an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and a writer of juvenile fiction, most notably the Mercer Boys series and Mystery Hunter series.
Early life
Wyckoff was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, the son of Albert C. and Eva (Thorn) Wyckoff, and later lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He had an older sister and a younger sister and brother
Wyckoff attended Pingry School, where he played on the football team. This school is considered to be the model for the academies in his Mercer Boys series and other books. His father worked for Fox Film of New York; he died while Capwell was a senior in high school. Capwell had to leave school before graduation, and he and his older sister went to work to support the family. He worked for Standard Oil for a few years, and then as a switchboard operator at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Marriage and children
In 1926, while working at the Federal Reserve Bank, he met Edna Mae Deakyne (May 20, 1906 – June 5, 1992) at a church social. They were married on March 2, 1929, and had two children, Dorothy Jean Wyckoff Finn (August 5, 1931 – March 23, 1985) and Virginia Rae Wyckoff Chapman (born 1934).
Writing career
While working in the 1920s as a night telephone operator of the Federal Reserve Bank, Wyckoff had time on his hands. wondered if he could write stories, so he acquired a typewriter, taught himself to type with a two-finger method, and began to write. Over the years he wrote plays, short stories, and novels, both adventure tales and Christian stories.
