Laura J. Rittenhouse (née, Arter; April 30, 1841 – July 11, 1911) was an American temperance activist, juvenile literature author, poet, businesswoman, and club-woman of the long nineteenth century.

[1] Laura Jacinta Arter was born in Grand Chain,[1] Pulaski County, Illinois, near the Ohio River, April 30, 1841.

[2][3] In Pulaski County, December 31, 1863, she married Wood Rittenhouse (1835–1896),[4] a prominent business man of Cairo, Illinois.

Their family included one daughter and four sons: Isabella Maud, Wood Arter, Harry H., Fred M. and Robin C.

[4] After her marriage, for many years, Rittenhouse was able to spare little time for literary work, but during the early 1890s, she was a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers.