Stephen Crane was born in a red brick house on Mulberry Place in Newark, New Jersey, on November 1, 1871. Stephen's father was the presiding elder of the Methodist Conference, and, because of this job, the family moved from city to city in New Jersey while Stephen was a child and young boy. Because his parents were aging (his mother was forty-five years old when he was born, and he was their youngest child), he was essentially raised by his sister, Agnes, who was fifteen years older than Crane.
After Crane's father died in 1880, the family continued to move to various places in New Jersey. At one point, Stephen contracted scarlet fever, and the family moved to Port Jervis, New York, a place where Stephen had previously recovered from severe colds. Eventually the Cranes moved to Asbury Park, New Jersey, where Stephen grew into his teen-age years.
