Woman of the Century/Frances Laughton Mace

MACE, Mrs. Frances Laughton, poet, burn in Orono, Me., 15th January, 1836. Her maiden name was Laughton. In 1837 her family moved to Foxcroft, Me., where Frances was reared and educated. She studied in the academy in that town. She was a bright, active, intelligent girl, and at the age of ten years was studying Latin and other advanced branches. At the age of twelve years she wrote verses that were published, and her talents in that line were cultivated and developed. The family moved to Bangor, Me., and there she was graduated in the high school and took a course in German and music with private teachers. She published poems in the New York "Journal of Commerce." At the age of eighteen she published her famous hymn. "Only Waiting," in the Waterville "Mail." Others attempted to claim the authorship of that hymn, but she proved her right to it, beyond all doubt, in 1878, after it had been rated as a classic. In 1855 she became the wife of Benjamin F. Mace, a lawyer of Bangor, remaining in that FRANCES LAUGHTON MACE. city until 1885, when they removed to San José, Cal., where they now reside. Four of the eight children born to them died. When the latest- born had entered its second year, her fountain of poetry, which had run mostly underground during twenty years, sprang up afresh, and "Israfil" was written, appearing with illustrations in "Harper's Magazine," winning for her quick recognition and advancing her toward the front rank of singers. Since then her poems have found place in the leading magazines and journals In 1883 she published a collection of poems in a volume entitled "Legends, Lyrics and Sonnets," soon followed by a second edition, enlarged and extended. In 1888, a volume of her latest work was published with the title "Under Pine and Palm," adding to her reputation.