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