Frank R. Stockton was born in Philadelphia on April 5, 1834. He was educated locally and graduated from Central High School in 1850. He entered the engravers trade afterwards and eventually became quite skilled in the profession. However, Stockton switched gears and went into journalism following his father's death. He worked for the local Morning Post newspaper for a time, but then he found a job editing the magazine Hearth and Home in New York. He later went onto to work as an editor for Scribner’s Magazine.

 

Stockton also flourished as an author of children’s stories, his most famous of which may be the “Ting-a-Ling” series, and short stories. The Lady, or the Tiger? was first published in The Century magazine in 1882. He also tried his hand at longer missives, such as Rudder Grange, as well as works in the style of Edgar Allen Poe’s, such as Spectral Mortgage and Transferred Ghost.

 

Stockton lived most of his life in Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey. After marrying his wife, Mary Ann Edwards Tuttle, the couple moved to Burlington, New Jersey. Later on they moved to the town of Nutley, New Jersey. He died in 1902 and is buried at Woodlands Cemetery.