Augusta Foote Arnold
Augusta Newton Foote Arnold (October 24, 1844 – May 9, 1904) was an American writer and naturalist. She published three books: two cookbooks under the pen name Mary Ronald, and The Sea-Beach at Ebb-Tide, a landmark guide to life found between the tides along the U.S. coasts.
She was born in Seneca Falls, New York, to Elisha Foote, a judge, inventor, and patent office official, and Eunice Newton Foote, a pioneering woman scientist who described the greenhouse gas effect. Her sister was Mary Foote Henderson, an artist and writer. Augusta studied at private schools in Saratoga Springs.
On March 6, 1869, she married Francis Benjamin Arnold in Washington, D.C. They had three children: Benjamin Foote Arnold, Henry Newton Arnold, and Frances A. Arnold.
Her books include The Century Cook Book (1895) written as Mary Ronald, and The Sea-Beach at Ebb-Tide (1901), a guide to the plants and animals of the intertidal zone along the East Coast. A second cookbook, Luncheons - A Cook's Picture Book, appeared in 1905 after her death.
The Sea-Beach at Ebb-Tide is considered an important early American work on intertidal biology. It was promoted in St. Nicholas Magazine and helped inspire future naturalists, with mentions by writers such as Rachel Carson and Ed Ricketts. Some scientists note that a Pacific fish, Alticus arnoldorum, was named in a way honoring Augusta Arnold.
Arnold was active in science circles, including the Torrey Botanical Club and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She died in New York City on May 9, 1904, at age 59, and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 03:59 (CET).