[4] Melanie's mother, Hannah Tracy Cutler was an abolitionist as well as a leader of the temperance and women's suffrage movements in the United States.

[2] Beginning in 1885, Earle lived in the Southern United States, where she began to write, at first not with any purpose, but simply in accordance to the inspiration.

As she grew older, her predilection for literary pursuits became more pronounced, and in 1898, when she removed to New York City, it was with the intention of devoting herself seriously to a writing career.

[3] On July 1, 1906, in Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba, she married William Titus Horne (1876-1944), Professor of Plant Pathology in the University of California, Berkeley.

[2][3][5] From 1887, Earle contributed short stories and occasional essays in The Outlook, The Atlantic Monthly, The Century, Everybody's, Harper's Weekly, McClure's, Scribner's, as well as other magazines and papers.