William Osborn Stoddard (Jr) (1835-1925) was an American author. His father was for many years a bookseller and publisher in Rochester and Syracuse, New York. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1858. He edited the Daily Ledger in Chicago for a short time, and in the same year became editor of the Central Illinois Gazette at Champaign. He was an opponent of slavery, and took an active part in the Republican presidential canvass of 1860. He was a private secretary to President Lincoln in 1861-64 and was United States marshal for Arkansas in 1864-66. He invented a centre-locking printer's chase, and took out several patents for successful improvements in desiccating processes and in machinery. His works include: Dab Kinzer: A Story of a Growing Boy (1881), The Talking Leaves: An Indian Story (1882), The Lives of the Presidents (1886), Crowded Out o' Crofield; or, The Boy Who Made His Way (1890), Inside the White House in War Times (1890), Little Smoke: A Tale of the Sioux (1891), Ahead of the Army (1903) and Captain of the Cat's Paw (1914). --This text refers to the Paperback edition.