Mr. Churchill, was born in St. Louis, his mother´s hometown. She died after childbirth and he was raised by his aunt and uncle. Mr. Churchill attended Smith Academy, then lucked into an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy when a friend was forced to give up his appointment because of ill health. Mr. Churchill graduated from the Naval Academy, but his interests were not in the Navy, but rather literature. He started his literary career as an editor of the "Army and Navy Journal." Later, he wrote for "Century" and "Cosmopolitan" magazines.

After his marriage to a wealthy St. Louis woman, Mabel Harlakenden Hall, Mr. Churchill could afford to spend his time writing novels. His first novel was "The Celebrity" (1898), followed by "Richard Carvel" (1899). The Churchills eventually moved to New Hampshire, but he returned to St. Louis several times, as it was the setting for some of his novels, including "The Crossing" (1904). He relied on his friendship with Pierre Chouteau for much of his information for this novel. Mr. Churchill wrote several other novels while also getting involved in New Hampshire politics. For twenty years he was the king of fiction in this country and his 10 novels sold 500,000 copies each and went into fifty-four editions in several languages.