Murfree, Mary Noailles

mur'free, Mary Noailles (1850-), an American novelist, better known by her pen name of Charles Egbert Craddock. She was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Her early years were passed in her native town. She spent many summers in the mountains, where material was collected for her novels. Her first short story was published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1878. For some years, until she chose to make herself known, it was believed that her work was that of a masculine writer. In the Tennessee Mountains, The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountain, and Down the Ravine are Miss Murfree's best known stories. Others worthy of mention are Where the Battle Was Fought, In the Clouds, The Young Mountaineers, and The Bushwhackers.