Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller: Prolific Dime Novelist
Mittie Frances Clarke Point (1850-1937) wrote 80 dime novels under the pen name of Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller. One of the few well-paid dime novel authors, Clarke Point earned more than $100,000 before 1910 for her writings.
Her second husband, Alexander McVeigh Miller, was a West Virginia teacher who was elected to serve in the West Virginia Senate from 1901 to 1909. After she married McVeigh Miller, she moved to Alderson, WV and lived on the property known as “The Cedars.” Built in 1881 by McVeigh Miller, the Cedars became Clarke Point’s writing retreat. She wrote most of her dime novels in this home. Clarke Point divorced her husband in 1908 due to infidelity.
West Virginia and Regional History Center Rare Book Collection houses the majority of Clarke Point’s dime novels. For more information and locating the collection, go to West Virginia and Regional History Center: Rare Books https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.