Ida Sedgwick Proper was born around 1874 on a farm near Bonaparte, Iowa, the third child in the family of a Baptist minister. She attended Bethany College, an Episcopal school for girls in Kansas. She studied art and taught art at schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. From 1919 to 1922 she was on the faculty of the University of Puerto Rico. She worked in libraries in Seattle and New York City. In 1925 or 1926 she first came to Monhegan Island in Maine on a vacation and bought a house which became her home for thirty years. As a permanent resident of Monhegan she continued to sketch and paint. In 1930 she conducted an art school on the island. She served as librarian and became registrar or town clerk. Her first book was about the island titled Monhegan, the cradle of New England and was published by Southworth Press in 1930. Her study of background of early settlers led to an interest in 16th century travel, politics, intrigues, and literature. Her second book, Our elusive Willy, was published by Falmouth Press in 1954. In it she develops and supports the idea that Shakespeare wrote both music and literature under nine pseudonyms, including Marlowe, Campion, and Dowland. Her third literary venture - a book on the Popham colony, entitled Mawooshen - was interrupted by her death in the late 1950's.
From the description of Papers, 1915-1955. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 55643869
