Carroll Watson Rankin

Infobox Writer
name = Caroline Clement Watson Rankin


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pseudonym = Carroll Watson Rankin
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birthdate = 1864
birthplace = Marquette, Michigan
deathdate = 1945
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nationality = American
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citizenship = American
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genre = Short stories, novels
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notableworks = "Dandelion Cottage"
spouse = Ernest Rankin
partner =
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"Carroll Watson Rankin" is the pen name of American author Caroline Clement Watson Rankin (1864-1945).

Biography

Rankin was born in Marquette, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula, and raised her four children there. Her first writing assignment came at the age of 16, when she was hired as a reporter for the "Daily Mining Journal". She kept the job until her marriage to Ernest Rankin in 1886.cite web|url=http://www.marquettecohistory.org/pdf/Dandelion-Cottage.pdf|title=Dandelion-Cottage|last=Lammi|first=Jennifer|date=Undated|work=Dandelion-Cottage|publisher=marquettecohistory.org|accessdate=2008-07-25] Her free lance stories were published by "Century", "Harper's Monthly", "Youth's Companion", "St. Nicholas", "Leslie's", "Lippincott's", "Metropolitan" and other widely circulated periodicals. Her best known novel is "Dandelion Cottage", published in 1904 by Henry Holt and Company. She first wrote the story serially for her own children. Considered a regional classic in the midwest, it tells of four young girls who negotiate the use of a derelict cottage as a playhouse by pulling dandelions for the owner, prosperous Mr. Black. The real life model for Mr. Black is generally acknowledged to be Marquette businessman and philanthropist, Peter White.cite web|url=http://www.michiganhistorymagazine.com/extra/up/pdfs/white.pdf|title=The Legacy of Peter White|last=Merk|first=George P.|work=The Legacy of Peter White|publisher=Michigan History Magazine|accessdate=2008-07-25] The original Dandelion Cottage is located at 440 East Arch and is privately owned.cite web|url=http://mmnow.com/mm_archive_folder/06/0602/back_then.html|title=Dandelion Cottage: Living with a piece of the past|last= Pohl |first=Kathy|date=February, 2006|work= Back Then|publisher=Marquette Monthly |accessdate=2008-07-25] The Marquette County History Museum still publishes "Dandelion Cottage".

Rankin allowed her characters much latitude in emotion and behavior at a time when writing for children was often tepid and tutelary. Other of her novels for youth include "The Girls of Gardenville" (1906), "The Anti Foster Pet Association" (1907), "The Adopting of Rosa Marie" (1908), "Castaways of Pete's Patch" (1911), "The Cinder Pond" (1915), "Girls of Highland Hall" (1921), "Gipsy Nan" (1926), "Finders Keepers" (1930), "Wolf Rock" (1933) and "Stump Village" (1935).

References

External links

* [http://www.marquettecohistory.org The Marquette County History Museum]

Persondata
NAME= Rankin, Caroline Clement Watson
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Rankin, Carroll Watson
SHORT DESCRIPTION= American author
DATE OF BIRTH= 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH= Marquette, Michigan
DATE OF DEATH= 1945
PLACE OF DEATH=