John Elderkin was a New Yorker and a founder of the Lotos Club in 1870, a private club for journalists, literary men, artists, and members of musical and dramatic professions in New York. The club entertained visiting celebrities such as Mark Twain, Henry M. Stanley, Jacques Offenbach, Wilkie Collins, and King Kalahaua, among others. Elderkin joined the staff of the New York ledger in 1856 and later became its editor until the end of 1902. He wrote A brief history of the Lotos Club (1895), Speeches at the Lotos Club (1901, 2 vols.), and Slow horses made fast and fast horses made faster (1871). He died in 1926.
From the description of John Elderkin letter to Mr. Benners, 26 April [between 1902 and 1926]. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 106485737
