Edward Noyes Westcott
1846-1896
Author of "David Harum"

Edward N., was the third child of Dr. Amos Westcott, who was a prominent dentist in Syracuse, N.Y., and Clara Babcock Westcott. Dr. Amos was mayor of Syracuse during the Civil War. He was also the first President of the New York State Dental Society.

Edward N. attended school until he was 16. He then went into clerking in a bank. In 1880 he organized the firm on "Westcott and Abbott", Bankers and Brokers. A series of adversities wiped out his business and ruined his health. He became secretary to the Syracuse Water Commission. Previous to this, he had been Captain of a Syracuse Militia Complany and, while staging an exhibition drill at the Old Weiting Opera House, he fell into the orchestra pit. He landed on the back of his head and never fulled recovered from the fall. In failing health, he retired in 1895.

Suffering from tuberculosis, he spent the summer of 1895 near Naples, overlooking the bay. In spite of his illness, he began to write for his own amusement. He set down the adventures of a droll old rascle who practiced banking with horse dealing on the side--the start of "David Harum: A Story of American Life"--the book for which he is chiefly known. He completed the book near the end of 1896. "David Harum" was refused by six well-known publishers. One publiser said, "It's vulgar and smells of the stables."

After revisions, the book was accepted by D. Appleton & Co. on January 17, 1898. Edward Noyes Westcott died on March 31, 1898--not suspecting that appreciation and fame were near.

Six months later, "David Harum" was published. Its popularity was immediate and prolonged. By January 1, 1899, the book was in its sixth large printing. By February 1901, after two years at or near the top of the lists of best sellers, over 400,000 copies had been sold. Thirty-five years after its appearance, more than a million copies had been sold; and, for books published in America, it stood second in popularity only to "Quo Vadis".

Edward N. also wrote "The Tellers". His advocation was music. He was an excellent singer and composed the words and music for several songs.

Edward married Jane Dows on june 11, 1874. They had three children: Harold, who died young froma fall from a cherry tree, and Philip and Violet who inherited the profits from their father's book. Violet married victor Morawitz who became a millionaire New York Corporation lawyer.

Lineage: Amos 7 Westcott, Gorton 6, Reuben 5, Amos 4, William 3, Jeremiah 2, Stukely 1

Source: Betty W. Acker, 2000

Also see the Biography of Edward Noyes Westcott from the Westcott Genealogy and additional photos.