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WIGGIN, Kate Douglas.

An American author, whose maiden name was Smith. She was born in Philadelphia (1859), whence her family removed to Hollis, Maine. After graduating from Abbott Academy (Andover, Mass.) in 1878, she went to California, where she studied kindergarten methods and gained success as a teacher, organizing the first free kindergartens on the Pacific coast. In 1880 she was married to S. B. Wiggin, a California lawyer. He died in 1889 and six years later she became the wife of George C. Riggs. They lived in New York and at Hollis, Maine. "The Birds' Christmas Carol", a story published in 1888, was the first to attract attention to Kate Douglas Wiggin, and it continued to be very popular. Her other chief successes were "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1903 and "New Chronicles of Rebecca" (1907) and the Penelope series-- "A Cathedral Courtship" (1893); "Penelope's English Experiences" (1893), "Penelope's Progress" (1898), "Penelope's Experiences in Ireland" (1901), and "Penelope's Postscripts (1915). Other stories were widely read. They include "The Story of Patsy" (1889); "Timothy's Quest" (1890); "Marm Lisa" 1896); "Dieary of a Goose Girl" (1902); "Mother Carey's Chieckens" (1911); "The Story of Waitstill Baxter" (1913). With her sister Nora Archibald Smith, well known as a kindergartner, she edited various books for children and wrote "Froebel's Gifts" (1895); "Froebel's Occupations" (1896), and "Kindergarten Principles" ( 1896). Bowdoin College honored her with the degree of Litt.D.