Dr. Alvin Wood Chase was born in 1817, and was a travelling physician, salesman, author, and self-made man. He dispensed remedies all over America during the late nineteenth century, collecting recipes and domestic tips from the people he met along the way. He wrote and self-published multiple books in his lifetime, which eventually became revered US bestsellers and were the household bibles of their day. He passed away a few months after completing this book in 1885.