Adeline Dutton Train Whitney (1824-1906) was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. An avid reader during her childhood and adolescent years, she didn't begin writing seriously until she was in her thirties. Poems, stories, and articles for a religious journal were her initial published pieces; Adeline went on to write twenty books, primarily targeted at conservative young women, and became one of the nineteenth century's most popular and successful female writers. She also wrote a cookbook, and continued to publish poetry and magazine articles throughout her life.