J. Walker McSpadden’s Romantic Stories for Young People

J. Walker McSpadden’s Romantic Stories for Young People,

a series about the history of specific US states

Very little information is available online about this author, J. Walker McSpadden. He was born on May 13, 1874, in Knoxville, TN, the third child of Wilkie and Margret. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1897. Somehow he met and fell in love with a young lady from Binghamton, NY, and on December 16, 1902, he and Inez McCrary married in her home town. They had one son, Chester Ford, and one daughter, Florence, who died in NYC at age 37 in 1948. At some point he lived at 137 Grove St., Montclair, NJ. Several of the adult books he wrote center around there.  McSpadden evidently also lived in NYC and was a member of the National Arts Club of NYC; his involvement there prompted his book for children, Famous Painters of America, in 1916. He is mentioned in the 1917-1918 edition of Who’s Who in New York, a Biographical Dictionary of Prominent Citizens of New York City and State, edited by Herman W. Knox.  Although he is mentioned in such a prestigious list, it seems strange that so little is known of his life. He registered for the draft in 1917, but there is no record of him going to war or receiving a veteran’s pension. McSpadden traveled a lot; his name is listed on several ships’ records, from France, England, Hawaii, and other far-flung places. World Cat lists him as an author, editor, translator, author of introduction, composer and adaptor. He died on February 9, 1960 and was buried near my home town in Johnson City, NY.

McSpadden was a prolific writer, authoring several hundred books, mostly for children. He wrote the series “The Romantic Story of…..” about various states, twelve in all. They include: Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, New York, California, and Virginia. I believe that is all that he did; I can’t find any more listed anywhere. Each book is about 120 pages, published by J.H. Sears & Company in the 1920s, and illustrated by Howard C. Hastings. These books are true “living” books, a story within a story. I have read three of them so far and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish them. The Michigan story was about a family traveling by ship through the Great Lakes from Chicago to New York state. And if you know your geography, that journey included Lake Michigan, up through the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Huron, then down the Detroit River past the city of Detroit, and on to Lake Erie and eventually Lake Ontario. All along this journey the father in the story tells his children the history of the state of Michigan. The Pennsylvania title tells of a Boy Scout troop that is camping for a week in the wilds. Two of the boys take refuge from a storm in the cave of a “mountain man” who tells them the history of Pennsylvania. Each book is like this – a story within a story. Each one gives the highlights of the state’s history. McSpadden deals fairly with the Native Americans’ plight, defending their right to their land, telling in a balanced way how they were treated by settlers as well as of their raids and massacres.

I learned so much from these books, especially Michigan, even after having lived in Michigan for many years. Obviously, states’ histories overlap, so as you read you see the connections in their histories. The books are well-written in short chapters, excellent vocabulary, but in story form to make them interesting to young people. I think these books could be used as spines in your study of a state. The topics covered for each state are like looking across the mountain tops, seeing the high points of each period of history. Then further study could be done on each of the events or people mentioned. I’m surprised these have not been listed on any quality lists of children’s history books. I picked up one copy at Half Price Books recently and immediately ordered the rest on Amazon, Abebooks, and Ebay.

If you want to know more about the illustrator of these books on the states, Howard L. Hastings, he is discussed here: https://www.pulpartists.com/Hastings.html

The introduction to these books on the states was written by McSpadden,

“This series of ‘Romantic Stories of the States’ is addressed to everyone, young and old, who is not ‘dead of soul,’ as Scott so aptly put it a century ago. Most of us would resent being called unpatriotic, and yet how many of us know the story of our native state? How many of us have stopped to trace the colorful adventures of the hardy pioneer fathers and mothers who laid the first hearthstones in the wilderness?

“If we trace the story of each one of our states back to Colonial times, we find that the well-springs of history bubble over with adventure and romance. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction, as the reader will find repeatedly in following these tales of bygone days. And in the writing of them, we have adhered closely to historical fact, oftentimes gathering the local color from some ancient volume which was published only a few years after the occurrences – as for example the narratives of the travels of the explorer himself.

“In each instance the story is followed from earliest Colonial times to the dawn of statehood. We enter the primeval forest or the pathless plain, and we witness, step by step, its slow emergence and transformation into a busy, thriving commonwealth. This book is not intended as a history, as much as a series of historic incidents, or sidelights which reveal the spirit of the times.

“It is addressed both to young folks who revel in adventure, and to their elders - the man and woman who hearken back with pride to their native heath, although they may have been absent from it for many years, and now want their children to know something of its rich past. To all such we hope the book will come with the memory-laden fragrance of a breeze from the mountains or across the prairies ‘back home’.

To still a third group of readers, this series is offered – the harassed librarian or teacher who is often asked questions in regard to local history. They know that while it is easy enough to get material about the United States as a whole, the occurrence closest home is often most elusive.

“These stories may be called adventures in patriotism. They are culled from a wealth of material in our heroic past, in the hope and belief that they will bring back to us all, whether young or old, something of the rich heritage which clings to our native soil.”

Some have raised the question about the word “romance” in the titles of these books. These are definitely not romantic stories like those in cheap novels of today. A romance is “in traditional literary terms, a narration of the extraordinary exploits of heroes, often in exotic or mysterious settings. Most of the stories of King Arthur and his knights are romances. A romance is a novel or other prose narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry,….usually in a historical or imaginary setting.” (www.dictionary.com). These were popular in the High Middle Ages and early modern ages, and again in the late 1800s into the mid-1900s.

McSpadden wrote many other books for children and young people. He authored a book about Robin Hood, holidays, operas and musical comedies, animals of the world, Hawaii, stories from Dickens, stories from Wagner, the quest for gold and many others. He also translated such books as Pinocchio, and wrote introductions for books such as The Three Muskateers. Now that I know what a great writer he was, I am keeping my eyes open for more. They are well-worth owning!

(all rights reserved. Sandy Hall 4/5/2018. Please ask permission to publish this elsewhere. Thank you.)