Page:Women of distinction.djvu/364

could speak from the rostrum with much ease and readiness. At the age of fourteen she wrote a story that was much praised by her teacher. Her mother having died when Ada was only seven years old, she remained with her grandmother until fifteen, when she went to her father, who was then in charge of the A. M. E. Church at Little Rock, Ark. Still desiring to be somebody and to do something to help forward the cause of humanity and civilization, she continued in study with an earnestness that was simply surprising. She wrote another story, "The Bride of Death," when only fifteen years old. Remaining in Arkansas one and a half years, she went to New Orleans and spent one year; then going to Raleigh, N. C, with her father and step-mother, she entered Shaw University. Being a very poor, motherless girl, she could not dress herself as did the girls in her department, and, as a result, she was often held in ridicule by those who could do better. They often referred to her shabby dress and plain clothing in such a way as to try her very soul with vexation. However, she was only stimulated to greater effort, knowing that a well-cultivated brain was far more ornamental and useful than fine dress. She pushed her way on and on until she was recognized as without an equal in her class in elocution and composition, being only seventeen. At the age of eighteen her story, "The Bride of Death," was published in the North Carolina Republican, edited by William V. Turner. This called forth many congratulations from the reading public. Owing to circumstances she did not remain in the institution to graduate,