The Frontier Angel

This is a catalog note for The Frontier Angel, a dime novel by Edward S. Ellis published by Beadle and Adams, set in late-18th-century Pennsylvania. The narrative opens in a border settlement as the Abbot family prepares to emigrate westward to Kentucky via flatboat. Marian Abbot and her suitor Russel Mansfield must part temporarily—she departing the next morning with armed neighbors while he remains to help his parents settle their affairs. Their separation troubles them both, but Mansfield recognizes the security offered by their larger escort group. Their conversation turns serious when Marian's father reveals that McGable, a rejected suitor, has become a renegade working with British forces and Indians along the Ohio River, using deceptive tactics to lure flatboats ashore and capture settlers. He reportedly showed particular enmity toward both Marian and Mansfield. As a storm gathers outside, the family concludes the evening with Bible reading and prayer before the parents retire, leaving the young couple alone together.