Rinehart, Mary Roberts

Mary Roberts Rinehart was an American author. She was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, today part of Pittsburgh. Her father, Tomas Roberts, was an inventor and sewing machine salesman who committed suicide in 1895, and as a result the family endured long periods of financial distress. Rinehart attended Allegheny High School, graduating in 1893. She trained as a nurse at the Homeopathic Hospital in Pittsburgh, and was able to complete her training in 1896 thanks to an endowment from an uncle. She was not interested in working as a nurse, however. She instead married a doctor, Stanley Marshall Rinehart, the same year. They had three sons and a daughter and she became a housewife.