Page:Sketches of representative women of New England.djvu/316

Rh Jonathan6 Sturgis was born in November, 1782. His wife Melinda, whose maitlen name was Perkins, is dimly remembered by her grand-daughter, Mrs. Merrill, as being intellectual and refined, a gentlewoman of the olden time. She was cousin to the Hon. Reuel Williams, of Augusta, the kinship being through the Ingrahams. His maternal grandparents, Jeremiah and Abigail (Hartwell) Ingraham, who were married in Stoughton, Mass., in 1755, and removed to Augusta, Me., were hers also. As their daughter Zilpha, who married Seth Williams, was the mother of Reuel, it may be taken for granted that their daughter Tilly, who married a Mr. Perkins (see History of Augusta, Me.), was the mother of Melinda. Abigail Hartwell, it may be added, was daughter of Joseph' Hartwell, son of SamueP and grandson of William' Hartwell, an early settler of Concord, Mass. Elizabeth Hartwell, sister of Abigail, was the wife of Roger Sherman, the statesman.

The subject of this sketch received her earliest education mostly at private schools, and then attended the Augusta High School, where she was graduated. At an early age she showed marked ability as a singer, probably inheriting her love for music from both parents. At first she sang as the birds sing, for pure joy and love of singing. An uncle who played the violin took great interest in her early training, and taught her to read music unaided by an instrument.

At fifteen Miss Randall sang in a church choir in Augusta, and at the same time she began studying with representative teachers in Boston. At nineteen she married Albert Pembroke Merrill, who was connected with the large whotesale lumber house of Moses and James L. Merrill, of Portland. They took up their abode in Portland. The wetlded life of this young couple was soon blighted, as in less than a year after marriage Mr. Merrill was pronounced a hopeless invalid, and, closely following this calamity, business reverses came, the loss of fortune necessitating removal from a luxurious home and the bearing of heavy burdens.

Mrs. Merrill then began singing in church on a salary, first at old St. Luke's, now St. Stephen's, then at Congress Square Church, where she remained twelve years. The death of Mr. Merrill after an illness of nearly five years was followed some years later by that of her only child, Martha Pitts Merrill, at the age of twelve. Through these and other home trials that came, testing her faith and strength, Mrs. Merrill showed herself steadfast, keeping up her musical work as well as caring for the invalids in her family.

She was one of the charter members of the Rossini Club, one of the best known and most exclusive musical clubs of Portland, and a member of the Haydn Association. She had large voice classes, and was soloist at many large concerts throughout New England. In 1884 the position of Supervisor and Teacher of Music in the Portland public schools was proffered her. Accepting it after some consideration, she has held the position with growing favor ever since, and has brought the school music to its present high standard. This sort of teaching called for additional self-training; and each summer she has attended summer schools, thus keeping in touch with up-to-date methods. She has studied under such teachers as Professor Hugh A. Clark, of the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Zuchtmann, Professor Lyman Wheeler, Madame Herminie Rudersdorff, Mr. William H. Dennett, and Mr. Holt, for many years a leading teacher in the Boston schools. Mrs. Merrill's elder sister, Martha S. Randall, married Eben Pillsbury, and died in Minnesota, leaving a daughter, now Mrs. Keach, of Hartford, Conn. The other sister, who lives with Mrs. Merrill and skilfully manages their household affairs, is Miss Harriet Howard Randall. Mrs. Merrill is much loved and respected by her large circle of acquaintances. She is a prominent worker in St. Luke's Cathedral, of which she is a member.

ELILAH S. DAVIS, an earnest and liberal supporter of patriotic work, has been a department officer of the Woman's Relief Corps of Massachusetts for several years. Born November 28, 1833, in that part of the old town of Methuen now included in Lawrence, Mass., she was one of the twelve children, six boys and six girls,