Davisson Post (April 19, 1869-June 23, 1930) was an American author, 

best known for his detective stories, who was born in Harrison County, West Virginia. He became immensely popular as a writer starting with his

1896 short story collection, The Strange Schemes Of Randolph Mason
(Putnam). He continued to publish until his death. Much of his work is 

set in the 19th-century West Virginia countryside, but he used a wide variety of other settings as well.

His best-known works are the Randolph Mason series, published in three volumes, and the more successful collection, Uncle Abner: Master Of Mysteries (Appleton, 1918). Uncle Abner, a mystery solving, justice-dispensing West Virginia backwoodsman, was Post's

best-known character. The 22 Uncle Abner tales, written between 1911 

and 1928, have been called some of "the finest mysteries ever written." Post’s Randolph Mason is a ruthless New York lawyer, not to be confused with the easy-going Squire Randolph who features as a sidekick figure in the Uncle Abner

wrote other short works, mostly detective fiction, including the 

Monsieur Jonquelle series and the Walker of the Secret Service series

rising in skill and fame, Post loved horseback riding and while riding 

in 1930, he fell. He died of the injuries and was buried in Harrison