Isabella Macdonald Alden

Who was Isabella Macdonald Alden?

Isabella Macdonald Alden was an American author, writing under the pseudonym of Pansy.

Alden was born in Rochester, New York to Isaac Alden and Myra Spafford Macdonald; both parents well-educated. She was the sixth of seven children, and was initially home-schooled by her father, who also gave her the nickname Pansy. She developed her writing skills early: as a child, she kept a daily journal, which her father critiqued, and had her first story, "Our Old Clock", published in the village paper when she was only ten.

Alden met her husband, Reverend Gustavus Rossenberg Alden, while teaching at Oneida Seminary in New York. His work took the couple to various parts of the country, including Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. After her marriage, Alden divided her time among writing, participating in church activities, teaching at several of the Chautauqua sessions, and raising her son Raymond, who was born in 1873. By 1900, the Family had three residences: a home in Philadelphia, a summer residence in Chautauqua, New York, and a winter home in Winter Park, Florida.

Throughout her life, Isabella Alden combined her writing and her religion. She did much work with Christian periodicals, writing serialized stories for the Herald and Presbyter from about 1870 until 1900; editing The Pansy, a Sunday juvenile, from 1874-1894; editing the Primary Quarterly and producing the primary grade Sunday School lessons for the Westmister Teacher for twenty years; and working on the editorial staff of Trained Motherhood and The Christian Endeavor.