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18 Woman's Christian Temperance Union was organized. As secretary of the department of evangelistic work she has been a member of the executive committee from its organization.

ALDRICH, Miss Susanna Valentine, author, born in Hopkinton, Mass., 14th November,

1828. She is the only child of Willard and Lucy (Morse) Aldrich. From her earliest years she showed that fondness for putting her thoughts on paper which seems to be the unerring indication of the possession of literary talents. When other children were satisfied with dolls and playthings, the little Susan was always asking for paper and pencil to use in "writing letters, as she then called her work. In her schooldays she always found it far easier to write compositions than it was for her to commit lessons to memory, and she was generally permitted to choose her own subjects for the regular "composition day" in school. Her studies were interrupted by a severe illness which lasted for several years. She was long a victim to insomnia, and she always kept paper and pencil within reach in order to be able to jot down the fancies that thronged upon her in long hours of wakefulness. The Rev. J. C. Webster, her pastor, also one of the directors of the academy which Miss Aldrich attended, being struck with the merit and quality of her compositions, selected some of them to offer to a magazine for publication. These were accepted, and Mr. Webster, who later became a professor in Wheaton College, Illinois, had the satisfaction of knowing that the author whom he introduced to the literary world had shown herself capable of holding a high rank among literary workers. For many years Miss Aldrich contributed both prose and poetry to a number of papers and magazines. Some years ago her health became impaired, and since that time she has confined her literary work to the preparation of articles appropriate to occasions in which she and her intimate friends are interested. Since 1879 she has made her home in the Roxbury District of Boston, Mass.

ALEXANDER, Miss Jane Grace, pioneer woman-banker, born in Winchester, N. H., 26th October, 1848. She is a daughter of Edward and Lucy Capron Alexander, highly respected people of Puritan ancestry and of sterling qualities. Miss Alexander was educated in the Winchester schools, and finished her course in Glenwood Seminary, Brattleboro, Vt. After graduating she taught school for a time, and then accepted the position she now holds in the Winchester National Bank. For twenty years or more she has pursued the path of her choice, until now she is the long-time assistant cashier of the National bank, and the treasurer of the savings bank of her native town. In 1881, at the time of the incorporation of the Security Savings Bank, Miss Alexander was elected treasurer, being the first woman to fill such a position. She has been a successful business woman and has always made it a point to enjoy her success. She drives her own horses and indulges in a flower garden. The bank is made cheery and bright with blossoms of her own growing, and through all the details of her official duties the woman's presence shines out, glorifying and beautifying the whole place. As superintendent of a Sabbath school and president of a Chautauqua class, she has long been a leading spirit in the village, and she has abundantly shown what a true-hearted, earnest woman may attain in the line of business.

ALLEN, Mrs. Elizabeth Akers, poet, born in Strong, Franklin county, Maine, 9th October, 1832 She inherited mental and physical vigor from her father, and delicacy and refinement from her mother, who died when Elizabeth was yet an infant. After her mother's death her father made his home in Farmington, Maine, where the poet's girlhood was passed. A weekly newspaper published in Farmington gave her poems to the public