American Studies Commons^™

The Westcotts And David Harum, Richard G. Case

The Courier

In the 1890's, the Westcotts lived at 826 James Street, Syracuse. The man of the house was an occasional clerk, banker, and stock broker who worked for the Syracuse Water Commission. When he died, the obituary writer of a Syracuse newspaper described Edward Noyes Westcott as a "clerk," and added, "Mr Westcott was facile with a pen but never indulged himself in writing to any great extent."

Today, few of us recognize the name Edward Noyes Westcott, although we probably know the book he wrote, David Harum, A Story of American Life, which is, by almost any standard, fairly called …