By Tom Morrow

We’ve all heard the phrase, “His life was a real Horatio Alger story”. Just who was Horatio Alger and what does that saying mean?
Horatio Alger., Jr., was born Jan .3, 1832 in Chelsea, Mass. He was a prolific 19th-century American author best known for his many juvenile novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty. His writings were characterized by the “rags-to-riches” narrative, which had a formative effect on America during the Gilded Age, hence the phrase “… a real Horatio Alger story.”
Many of his stories lifts the young hero, not by hard work, but by bravery, honesty and sheer luck. The boy might return a large sum of lost money or rescue someone from an overturned carriage, which brings the lad … and his plight … to the attention of a wealthy individual.
By 1868, Alger was known nationwide through basically his fourth novel, “Ragged Dick,” the story of a poor boot-black’s rise to middle-class respectability. This book was a huge success, as were many of his tomes that followed, all with essentially variations on “Ragged Dick” … the usual character saved by a mysterious stranger. Also, the young man puts up with a snobbish youth, who often is an evil, greedy rich boy. Eventually, the “Ragged Dick” series would consist of 12 installments.
But by the 1870s, Alger’s stories were growing stale. His publisher suggested he tour the American West for fresh material to incorporate into his fiction, but a trip to California had little effect on his writing: Alger remained mired in the tired “poor boy makes good” theme. The backdrops of his novels merely changed to the American West rather than urban New England.
Later, Alger moved to New York City where he wrote “Friar Anselmo,” and he did try adult novels. Two were published with poor reviews, “Helen Ford” and “Timothy Crump’s Ward.” He fared better with stories for boys published in the periodical “Student and Schoolmate,” and a third boys’ book “Charlie Codman’s Cruise.”
In the last decades of the 19th century, Alger’s moral tone coarsened with the change in boys’ tastes. Sensational thrills were wanted by the public. The Puritan ethic had loosened its grip on America, and violence, murder, and other sensational themes entered Alger’s works. Public librarians questioned whether his books should be made available to the young. But with the first decades of the 20th century, interest in Alger’s writing was renewed and his novels sold in the thousands.
By the time he died, Alger had published some 100 books. Since 1947, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans has awarded scholarships and prizes to accomplished people. In 1982 to mark his 150th birthday, a Broadway musical, “Shine!,” was based on Alger’s work, particularly the characters, Ragged Dick and Silas Snobden’s office boy.
Alger died at age 67 on July 18, 1899 at the home of his sister in Nantucket, Mass.. His death was barely noticed. Alger once estimated he earned only $100,000 between 1866 and 189l, but upon his death, Alger had little money, leaving only small sums to family and friends. His life ended in a reversal of the myth he created.

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