Profile of the Day: Stephen Crane

Remember reading The Red Badge of Courage? Author Stephen Crane was born on November 1, 1871 in Newark, New Jersey.

Image: Stephen Crane / Wikimedia Commons

The youngest of 14 children, Crane was the son of Jonathan Townley Crane, a minister and abolitionist, and Mary Helen Peck. The Cranes were descendants of Jaspar Crane, who was one of the original settlers of the New Haven Colony in what is Connecticut today. He was named after his second great grandfather, Stephen Crane, who was a delegate in the Continental Congress.

Although he was born after the American Civil War, Crane was praised for his realistic depiction of battle and the psychological complexities of fear in his 1895 novel, The Red Badge of Courage. The book was immediately popular with readers and made Crane an instant celebrity at the age of 24. Sadly, his life was cut short when he died at the age of 28 from tuberculosis.

Explore Stephen Crane’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re related to the author.

View Stephen Crane’s Geni Profile