Jones, Alice Ilgenfritz, 1846-1905

Alice Ilgenfritz Jones (January 9, 1846 – March 5, 1906) was an American author. Born in Ohio, she spent most of her life in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She wrote travel essays for Lippincott's Monthly Magazine and several novels. The first novel, High-Water Mark, appeared under the pen name "Ferris Jerome" and was a Gothic romance set in a prairie town. Her most notable work is the 1893 feminist utopia Unveiling a Parallel. She wrote it with Ella Robinson Merchant, and they called themselves the "Two Women of the West". Jones also wrote a novel about an enslaved woman who becomes an artist, Beatrice of Bayou Têche, and a historical novel set in the 18th century called The Chevalier de St. Denis. She died during a vacation in Cuba.