Page:Over the river, and other poems.djvu/29

Rh until her marriage, near the end of 1865. She was en gaged in the duties of the family ; and, being the eldest of the children, was helpful as a daughter and sister. At times her life was varied by occupation in a millinery store, and perhaps in other employment. During all these years she was a diligent and thoughtful reader, having access to a well-selected library which had been established in the village.

The following passages from a letter of Rev. G. A. Litchfield, formerly pastor of the Baptist church in Win- chendon, gives his impression of her character in the closing years of her life. He writes,—

"I knew Mrs. Wakefield well for several years, and officiated both at her marriage and her funeral. I knew her in health and in sickness. I met her often in public, but oftener in the quiet of her maidenhood home, and later in that of her own home, when she had become the wife and mother. She was of a singularly modest and retiring nature. She always underrated her own ability.

"In presence of strangers she withdrew within herself ; in presence of those whom she trusted as friends, she would often reveal her inner self, and charm the listener, not less by her characteristically original and imaginative mode of expression than by the choiceness of the thought expressed. . . . She was extremely happy in her use of language."

Mr. Litchfield then alludes to the fact that she had offers of assistance in extending her education, and states that it was a source of regret to those who knew