Caroline M. Kirkland (1801-1864) is recognized as the first author to write sustained realistic fiction about the American frontier. A New Yorker by birth and upbringing, she and her husband,William, settled the town of Pinckney, Michigan, in 1836, and from her letters home emerged her first book, A New Home,Who'll Follow?

She gave birth to six children, three of whom died in childhood. In 1843, the family returned to New York City, where, with Henry Whitney Bellows and in offices in our second church building, William founded and edited the Christian Inquirer.

In 1846, William drowned in a tragic accident, and at age 45, Mrs. Kirkland found herself responsible for the family's support. First, she assumed the editorial duties of the Christian Inquirer; then, she set to work on a busy career as an editor and writer. She was very popular in New York literary circles and is described as a highly energetic, resourceful and attractive person full of optimism and good cheer. In April 1864, Kirkland led the efforts to create the great Metropolitan Fair of New York, which raised $1.5 million for the United States Sanitary Commission.

After months of exhausting work, she died quietly in her sleep, two days after the Fair opened. A New Home,Who'll Follow? has been reissued by Rutgers University Press in their American Women Writers series. Though often witty, sometimes bitingly satirical, the book reflects a deep respect for the life of the American pioneer.