Journalist and author Harold Frederic was born in Utica, New York on August 19, 1856. He decided to become a journalist and was editor of the Albany Evening Journal by 1882. In 1884, he became a London correspondent for the New York Times. He covered the cholera epidemic in France and Italy and went to Russia to investigate the persecution of the Jews. Besides working as a journalist, he wrote numerous novels that dealt with such topics as the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, New York state, and English life. The Damnation of Theron Ware or Illumination, about the decline and fall of a Methodist minister, was his most famous work. He died in England on October 19, 1898 following a summer of illness that ended with a stroke. After his death, his mistress Kate Lyon and Athalie Mills, were arrested and charged with manslaughter for trying to heal him through faith instead of calling for a doctor. They were later acquitted.
