Norreys Jephson O'Conor was born in New York City on December 31, 1885, the son of John Christopher and Maria Jephson (Post) O'Conor. He graduated from Harvard University (A.B., 1907 and M.A., 1911). After working as an editor in various publishing companies, he taught in the English Department at Harvard (1911-1913) and at Radcliffe College (1918-1919). He also taught at Grinnell College (1922-19230), Mount Holyoke College (1923-1924) and at Bryn Mawr College (1924-1926).

O'Conor was known for his work on early Irish literature, as well as his own poetry and prose. He worked in civil defense during World War II in California.

O'Conor married Grace Edith Corson, in Cambridge, Mass., on June 27, 1917. They had two daughters, Moria and Cathleen. Following his divorce from Grace in 1935, he married Evangelia Hawley in the same year. He died in Santa Barbara, California on October 24, 1958.

See: National Cyclopedia of American Biography, v. 37, p. 391.

Grace Hazard graduated from Smith College, Class of 1899. She studied music and studied in Europe before her marriage to Roscoe Platt Conkling in 1905. She had two children with him, but was divorced from him in 1914, at which time she accepted a teaching position at Smith College. Besides her teaching responsibilities, she wrote poetry and short stories that were published in the popular journals of the day. She died on November 15, 1958.