Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist. He is best known for his works The Red Badge of Courage, a Civil War novel that was praised for its realistic depiction of war, and Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, a novella that was one of the first major works of American naturalism.
Crane was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1871. He attended Syracuse University, where he studied journalism. After graduating, he worked as a reporter for several newspapers in New York City.
At the end of his life, he was in financial stress. He wrote feverishly to try and put out as many books as possible, but none of his books did as well as the Red Badge of Courage.
His health began to give out on him, and he died in 1900.
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Family Overview
Stephen Crane was the youngest of 13 siblings.
He was born into a family that encouraged education. His father was a Methodist minister, and his mother became an activist for women's rights.
While the first children seemed to be born healthy, the family went through a series of tragedies in the late 1860s, just prior to Stephen's birth.
His parents lost 5 children from 1865 - 1870.
His older siblings helped raise him after the passing of his father. His mother's schedule left his older sister as an influential figure in his life.
He never formally married but had a common-law marriage with a woman, but no children.
Family Tree Chart
Parents:
Jonathon Townley Crane Sr. (1819 - 1880) - He was a pastor in a Methodist church in New Jersey. He and his wife had 14 children, with many dying in childhood.
Mary Helen Peck (1827 - 1891) - She was involved with her husband and took part in the Temperance movement.
Spouse:
Cora Ethel Eaton Howarth (1868 - 1910) - She was better known as the unconventional common-law wife of writer Stephen Crane. Cora, a well-born Bostonian who ran an elegant brothel house in Jacksonville, Florida, called the 'Hotel de Dream.' Cora and Stephen met in a Jacksonville, Florida, brothel in 1896 while Stephen was on an expedition to Cuba in 1896 to report on the Spanish-American War. Crane narrowly escaped his end when his ship sank. Cora nursed him back to health and later traveled with him to Greece to cover the Greco-Turkish war for the New York press. Cora was billed as the first female war correspondent; she wrote under the pen name Imogene Carter. After the war ended, the Cranes settled in England, where they socialized with literary luminaries, including Conrad, James, and Wells. Following his passing, Cora unsuccessfully attempted a literary career of her own and then opened another brothel in Jacksonville.
Children: None
Siblings:
George Peck Crane (1850 - 1903) - There is not much known about him. He married but did not have children.
John Townley Crane Jr. (1852 - 1908) - He did not marry or have any children. He died eight years after his youngest brother.
William Howe Crane (854 - 1926) - He was born in New Jersey but died in California. He married and had four children.
Agnes Elizabeth Crane (1855 - 1883) - She played an important role in her youngest brother's childhood, acting as surrogate mother and mentor while their own mother traveled the country giving speeches to the WCTU. Agnes attended the Wyoming Seminary from 1872 to 1874 and graduated from Centenary Collegiate Institute, where she won academic awards for an English essay and for excellence in German. She was also named valedictorian of Centenary's 1880 graduating class. Unfortunately, she contracted meningitis and died at her brother Edmund's New Jersey home at the young age of 28.
Edmund Bryan Crane (1857 - 1922) - He was a teacher in Sussex County, New Jersey, and became Stephen's legal guardian following the passing of their parents. Stephen Crane wrote most of his novels, The Third Violet and The Red Badge of Courage, at Edmund's summer home in Hartwood, New York. He married and possibly had children.
Wilbur Fiske Crane (1859 - 1918) - He became a doctor and practiced in New Jersey. He married and had two children.
Elizabeth Townley Crane (1861 - 1866) - She died at the age of 5.
Luther Peck Crane (1863 - 1886) - He was a flagman for the Erie Railroad who tragically died in an accident. He was not married and did not have children.
Almira Blanche Crane (1865 - 1866) - She tragically died young.
Jessie Peck Crane (1867) - He died shortly after his birth.
Elizabeth Blanche Crane (1868) - She died less than a year after birth.
Jesse Peck Crane (1869 - 1870) - He died less than a year after birth