Editing Horatio Alger (section)

=== New York City: 1866–1896 ===

In 1866, Alger relocated to [[New York City]] where he studied the condition of the street boys, and found in them an abundance of interesting material for stories.<ref name="BDA1906" /> He abandoned forever any thought of a career in the church, and focused instead on his writing. He wrote "Friar Anselmo" at this time, a poem that tells of a sinning cleric's atonement through good deeds. He became interested in the welfare of the thousands of vagrant children who flooded New York City following the Civil War. He attended a children's church service at [[Five Points, Manhattan|Five Points]], which led to "[[John Maynard (Alger poem)|John Maynard]]", a [[ballad]] about an actual shipwreck on [[Lake Erie]], which brought Alger not only the respect of the literati but a letter from Longfellow. He published two poorly received adult novels, ''Helen Ford'' and ''Timothy Crump's Ward''. He fared better with stories for boys published in ''Student and Schoolmate'' and a third boys' book, ''Charlie Codman's Cruise''.<ref>Scharnhorst 1980, pp. 30–34.</ref>

In January 1867, the first of 12 installments of ''[[Ragged Dick]]'' appeared in ''Student and Schoolmate''. The story, about a poor bootblack's rise to middle-class respectability, was a huge success. It was expanded and published as a novel in 1868.<ref>Scharnhorst 1980, p. 34.</ref> It proved to be his best-selling work. After ''Ragged Dick'' he wrote almost entirely for boys,<ref>Scharnhorst 1980, p. 48</ref> and he signed a contract with publisher Loring for a Ragged Dick Series.<ref>Scharnhorst 1980, p. 35.</ref>

[[File:Student and Schoolmate August 1867.jpg|thumb|upright=1|''[[Ragged Dick]]'', serialized in ''[[Student and Schoolmate]]'' and later expanded into a full-length novel]]

In spite of the series' success, Alger was on financially uncertain ground and tutored the five sons of the international banker [[Joseph Seligman]]. He wrote serials for ''Young Israel''<ref>Scharnhorst 1980, p. 35–36.</ref> and lived in the Seligman home until 1876.<ref name="Alger279">Alger 2008, p. 279.</ref> In 1875, Alger produced the serial ''Shifting for Himself'' and ''Sam's Chance'', a sequel to ''The Young Outlaw''.<ref>Hoyt 1974, pp. 184–186.</ref> It was evident in these books that Alger had grown stale. Profits suffered, and he headed West for new material at Loring's behest, arriving in California in February 1877.<ref name="Alger279" /><ref>Hoyt 1974, p. 187.</ref> He enjoyed a reunion with his brother James in San Francisco and returned to New York late in 1877 on a schooner that sailed around [[Cape Horn]].<ref name="Alger279" /><ref>Hoyt 1974, pp. 187–188.</ref> He wrote a few lackluster books in the following years, rehashing his established themes, but this time the tales were played before a Western background rather than an urban one.<ref>Hoyt 1974, p. 190.</ref>

In New York, Alger continued to tutor the town's aristocratic youth and to rehabilitate boys from the streets.<ref>Hoyt 1974, p. 199.</ref> He was writing both urban and Western-themed tales. In 1879, for example, he published ''The District Messenger Boy'' and ''The Young Miner''.<ref name="Hoyt 1974, p. 201">Hoyt 1974, p. 201.</ref> In 1877, Alger's fiction became a target of librarians concerned about sensational juvenile fiction.<ref name="Alger279" /> An effort was made to remove his works from public collections, but the debate was only partially successful, defeated by the renewed interest in his work after his death.<ref>Nackenoff 1994, pp. 250–257.</ref>

In 1881, Alger informally adopted Charlie Davis, a street boy, and another, John Downie, in 1883; they lived in Alger's apartment.<ref name="Alger279" /> In 1881, he wrote a biography of President [[James A. Garfield]]<ref name="Alger279" /> but filled the work with contrived conversations and boyish excitements rather than facts. The book sold well. Alger was commissioned to write a biography of [[Abraham Lincoln]], but again it was Alger the boys' novelist opting for thrills rather than facts.<ref>Hoyt 1974, pp. 207–210.</ref>

In 1882, Alger's father died. Alger continued to produce stories of honest boys outwitting evil, greedy squires and malicious youths. His work appeared in hardcover and paperback, and decades-old poems were published in anthologies. He led a busy life with street boys, Harvard classmates, and the social elite. In Massachusetts, he was regarded with the same reverence as [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]].