[2] Her mother, a graduate of Oberlin College, was a missionary in Haiti with her first husband, and was active in temperance work.

[6][8] She won one contest from Little Corporal magazine, for writing "Mrs. Higgins's First Night in Mississippi", a story that used "i" as its only vowel throughout.

[10] She wrote new lyrics for the Marseillaise[11][12] and the Star-Spangled Banner, for the use of local temperance groups, and other occasional songs for holiday celebrations.

[13][14] She was a regular contributor to a children's religious magazine, Young Folks' Record, writing inspirational columns on nature, language, and other topics.

She assisted her mother in temperance work, and was secretary of the Young Ladies' Mission Society of Painesville.