He moved to New York City to become a professional writer. In 1868, Alger found his place in the literary world with his fourth boys' book, "Ragged Dick". This book is about a poor shoe shine boy in New York City who rises to middle class comfort and security through hard work, honesty, and a little luck. The book was a great success.
Alger continued to write boys' books. They were similar to "Ragged Dick" in theme and other details. Characters such as the poor but honest boy, the snobbish youth, and the greedy lawyer appeared in one book after another. Details changed from book to book, but the essentials remained the same. Boys loved the books.
By the 1870s, boys' tastes had changed. They wanted cowboys, hunters, and Indians. Alger headed west to gather material for future books. The trip had little impact on his writing however. He wrote four books set in the west called the "Pacific Series", but they were stuck in Alger's rags-to-riches rut.
In the last decades of the 19th century, boys' tastes changed again. They wanted violence, murder, and other sensational themes. Alger gave them what they wanted. Public librarians did not like these books. They wondered whether children should be reading them. They began throwing Alger's books away.
Alger passed his last years quietly. He went to the theatre, visited old friends, and kept in touch with the boys he had helped over the years. He based new books on those of his past. He died at his sister's home in South Natick, Massachusetts, in 1899.
Horatio Alger, Jr. was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on January 13, 1832. His parents were Horatio Alger, a Unitarian clergyman, and his wife Olive Augusta Fenno Alger. Horatio was the eldest of the couple's five children. He was a descendant of several Plymouth Pilgrims, a brigadier general of the American Revolution, and a member of the Constitutional Convention.
Horatio was a sickly child. He had asthma and myopia. He was timid and shy. He was bullied by the bigger boys in the neighborhood. His father decided Horatio would become a clergyman. He taught the boy Greek and Latin. He took Horatio along with him on parish house calls to give the boy a sense of a minister's duties.
In 1842, Horatio entered the Chelsea Grammar School. He was a good student. His father had money troubles about this time. He took a better paying job in Marlborough, Massachusetts, a farming community about 25 miles west of Boston. The Alger family moved there in December 1844.
In Marlborough, Horatio went to a prep school called Gates Academy. He began writing poems and short stories. He sent his writings to local newspapers. The family's money troubles made a lasting impression on Horatio. Money ills like foreclosure and bankruptcy became themes in his books. He had fond memories of Marlborough, despite the family's woes. Quiet country villages are settings in many of his boys' books.
Alger entered Harvard College in 1848. He became a professional writer the following year when he sold two essays and a poem to a Boston magazine. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, a fraternity for outstanding scholars. He graduated in 1852, ranking eighth in a class of eighty-eight. He went to Harvard Divinity School in 1853. He quit the same year to take a job as an assistant editor with a Boston magazine. He hated editing, and quit in 1854.
He taught briefly in two New England boys' boarding schools. In 1856 he published "Bertha's Christmas Vision", a book of short stories and poems. He returned to the Harvard Divinity School in 1857, and graduated in 1860. His health was poor. He was rejected for military service during the American Civil War, but wrote for the Union cause instead. His first boys' book "Frank's Campaign" was published in 1864.
On December 8, 1864, Alger became pastor of the First Unitarian Church and Society in Brewster, Massachusetts. The people of Brewster liked him. He was a good speaker. He played ball games with the boys, and took walks with them. He kept writing stories, and sent them to a boys' magazine in Boston called "Student and Schoolmate". He wrote another boys' book, "Paul Prescott's Charge". It was published in September 1865. The critics gave it good reviews.
Early in 1866, the people of Brewster accused Alger of sexually molesting two boys. These boys were 13 and 15 years old. Three men of the church discovered that this was true. Alger said that he had been "unwise", and quit his job with the Brewster church. He left town quickly, and went to his parents' home in South Natick, Massachusetts.
His father got in touch with Unitarian church authorities in Boston. He promised them that his son would never take a job in the church again. These authorities were satisfied. Further action was not taken. This was probably done so Alger's father would not be publicly embarrassed. Some members of the Brewster church wanted Alger put to death as the Bible ordered. Alger never mentioned his days in Brewster again.
In April 1866, Alger moved to New York City to become a professional writer. In the summer of 1866, he wrote "John Maynard". This is a poem about a real shipwreck on Lake Erie. It brought Alger the notice of other writers when it was published in "Student and Schoolmate" in January 1868. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, for example, sent a letter of compliments to Alger. Children loved the poem and read it aloud in classrooms for many years.
Alger loved the attention, but he needed money. He rewrote some of his old stories. One became his third boys' book "Charlie Codman's Cruise". Although readers liked the book, it did not make much money. Alger made more money with the boys' stories he published in "Student and Schoolmate". His writings for boys satisfied his two biggest concerns at this time—the need for a good income and the need to atone for his crimes in Brewster.
Alger met many poor boys on the docks and streets of New York City. These boys had been made homeless by the Civil War. They had drifted to the city looking for work. Alger collected material from them about their lives in the city and the lives of the poor. He put this material into his books.
Some of these real boys became characters in his books. Johnny Nolan, for example, was one of the first boys Alger met in New York City. He appears in several of Alger's early books as a lazy, carefree street boy. Alger often had a crowd of street boys in his apartment. They would play while Alger sat calmly at his desk writing a page or two for his latest book. There is no record of sexual misconduct on Alger's part during this period.
In 1866, Alger began visiting the shelters for homeless boys in the city such as the YMCA, the Five Points Mission, and the Newsboys Lodging House. This last shelter was opened in 1854 by people concerned about the welfare of street children.
At this shelter, a homeless boy could have a hot meal and a clean bed for a few pennies. He could come and go as he pleased. There was even something like a savings bank at the shelter.
Alger had his own room, a desk, and a bed at the Newsboys Lodging House. He wandered about in slippers and an old sweater talking to the boys. In this way, he gathered the material he needed for his stories. In the introductions to his books, Alger asked his readers to give generously to such shelters.
In October 1866, Reverend Henry Morgan published "Ned Nevins, the Newsboy; or, Street Life in Boston". It was a great success. Alger sharpened his pencils and began a similar story. He wanted readers to believe his story was a realistic picture of street life, but it was actually a sentimental story that carefully avoided any mention of the sex and violence that threatened street boys every day.