Ella Sterling Mighels

Ella Sterling Mighels
Ella Sterling [Mighels] Cummins (1853-1934). The Story of the Files: A Review of Californian Writers and Literature...Issued under the Auspices of the World’s Fair Commission of California, Columbian Exposition, 1893. [San Francisco: Co-Operative Printing Co.], 1893.
Born	Ella Sterling Clark (1853-05-05)May 5, 1853 Mormon Island, California
Died	December 10, 1934(1934-12-10) (aged 81) San Francisco
Resting place	Mountain View Cemetery
Pen name	Aurora Esmeralda
Occupation	California pioneer, author and literary historian
Language	English
Nationality	American
Notable works	Wawona : an Indian story of the Northwest (1921), Book of the Ark-adian school (1928), Life and letters of a forty-niner's daughter by Aurora Esmeralda (Ella Sterling Mighels) ... (1929)
Notable awards	"First Literary Historian of California"
Spouse	Adley Cummins, Philip Verrill Mighels
Children	Genevieve
Relatives	Henry Rust Mighels, Nellie Verrill Mighels Davis

Ella Sterling Mighels (May 5, 1853 – December 10, 1934) (née: Ella Sterling Clark; during first marriage: Ella Sterling Cummins; pen name: Aurora Esmeralda) was a California pioneer, author and literary historian. She was born in Mormon Island, California, but grew up in the town of Aurora, Esmeralda County, Nevada, leading her to adopt the pen name, "Aurora Esmeralda". She founded the California Literature Society (1913), and was named the "First Literary Historian of California" (1919). She died in San Francisco, and is buried in Oakland, California at the Mountain View Cemetery.

Her first husband was the philologist, author, lecturer and lawyer, Adley Cummins (d. 1889); they had one child, a daughter, Genevieve (1875–1905). Her second husband was the lawyer, newspaper artist, novelist and playwright Philip Verrill Mighels (d. 1911); they divorced 1910. Her in-laws were the US journalist and politician, Henry Rust Mighels, and the US civic leader and journalist, Nellie Verrill Mighels Davis.