Carroll Watson RankinCaroline Clement Watson Rankin, an American author who lived from 1864 to 1945, wrote under the name Carroll Watson Rankin. Rankin was born in Marquette, Michigan, on May 11, 1864. She raised her four children there as well. She did her first piece o writing when she was 16 and was hired as a writer for the Daily Mining Journal. She did the job until 1886, when she married Ernest Rankin. Her short stories that she wrote on her own time were published in Century, Harper's Monthly, Youth's Companion, St. Nicholas, Leslie's, Lippincott's, Metropolitan, and other well-known magazines. Dandelion Cottage, which came out in 1904 from Henry Holt and Company, is her best-known book. She wrote the story in parts at first for her own kids. This book is a classic in the Midwest. It's about four girls who get to use a run-down church cottage as a playhouse by picking dandelions for Mr. Black, the senior minister of the church and a wealthy man. Most people agree that Peter White, a businessman and philanthropist from Marquette, is a good example of Mr. Black. There is a private home at 440 East Arch that is the original Dandelion Cottage. The book can now be found on Project Gutenberg and in print at the Marquette Regional History Center, which is run by the Marquette County Historical Society. It is now in the public domain. Read More Read Less