Elizabeth-Towne

Elizabeth Towne

Founder of "Nautilus" Magazine

Elizabeth Towne (May 11, 1865 - June 1, 1960) was the daughter of one of Oregon’s earliest pioneers. In 1900, at age 35, she reversed her father’s footsteps and headed east to Holyoke, where she became a pioneer in her own right.

Though never an official publication of the New Thought Movement, Nautilus was most probably the most widely read of the many that have appeared over the years, and was very influential. It was a private enterprise of its editor, Elizabeth Towne, who, originally a Methodist, had taken up New Thought and become a teacher.

Many famous New Thought writers contributed to Nautilus at one time or another. Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Edwin Markham, Anne Warner, Edward B. Warman, Horatio W. Dresser and Orison Swett Marden are among the well-known helpers who contributed some of their best work to Nautilus. William Walker Atkinson, one of the leading New Thought writers of the time, also joined the staff of writers.

Begun in 1898, Nautilus continued for more than fifty years until in August 1953, Mrs. Towne announced that the advancing years of the editor and the increasing costs of production made it seem wise to discontinue publication with that issue.

A letter from a former president of INTA recalls his seeing Elizabeth Towne walking arm in arm down the street one day with poets Edwin Markham and Ella Wheeler Wlcox, an impressive sight as he recalled it. Elizabeth Towne was without doubt one of the more colorful characters in the history of the New Thought Movement.

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