She frequently produced short stories, a line of writing in which she has had probably more success, and was more prolific than most Canadian writers of the time.

Charles Fraser, who resided in Glasgow, Scotland, James was attached to a Highland regiment in his younger days, but withdrawing from the service, he came to Canada with his young wife, Christina MacLeod.

Their children -three sons, William, Charles and Andrew, and four daughters, Christina, Jessie, Elizabeth and Georgina (the youngest)- were all born in Galt.

[5] After studying the problems affecting working girls, she conceived the idea of helping them by imparting a knowledge of stenography, which she was thoroughly competent to do.

[3] In 1884, while occupying the position of Assistant Secretary to General Manager Thomas Fletcher Oakes of the Northern Pacific Railway at Saint Paul, Minnesota, she married Eugene Pier Newhall,[6] of the Pacific Express Co. in Omaha, Nebraska.

She divided her time between a home at Canton, Ohio, and a fruit farm she owned in Scarborough Township, Ontario.

[5] Newhall was successful as a writer of short stories, of magazine articles and of verse, which made her name widely-known.