Woman of the Century/Kate McPhelim Cleary

CLEARY, Mrs. Kate McPhelim, correspondent. born in Richibucto, Kent county, New Brunswick, 20th August, 1863 Her parents, James and Margaret McPhelim. were of Irish birth, the former, with his brothers, being distinguished for intellectual ability and business talents. They were extensively engaged in the timber business, and in 1856 her uncle, Hon. Francis McPhelim, was Postmaster-General of New Brunswick, and her father held the office of high sheriff of the county. Her father's death, in 1865, left his widow with three small children and limited means, which she devoted to their education. Kate was educated in the Sacred Heart Convent, St. John, N. B., and later attended other convent schools in KATE McPHELIM CLEARY. this country and in the old. Her pen, which had been a source of diversion and delight to her since she was a little girl, became, when necessity required, an easy means of support Her first published poem appeared when she was fourteen years old, and from that time to the present she has written almost continuously poetry and fiction. On 26th February, 1884, she became the wife of Michael T. Cleary, a young lumber merchant of Hubbell, Neb. Mr. and Mrs. Cleary have kept a hospitable home, welcoming as guests many distinguished men and women. Mrs. Cleary 's stories are largely those of adventure and incident, and are published in newspapers quite as much as magazines She has contributea prose and verse chiefly to the New York "Ledger." "Belford's Magazine," the "Fireside Companion," "Saturday Night," "Puck," the "New York Weekly," the "Current," "Our Continent," the Chicago "Tribune," "St. Nicholas," "Wide-Awake," and the Detroit "Free Press."