Woman of the Century/Martina Swafford

SWAFFORD, Mrs. Martina, poet, was born near Terre Haute, Ind. She is widely known by her pen-name, "Belle Bremer." Her parents were Virginians, and each year she spends part of her time in the South, generally passing the winters in Huntsville, Ala. She was reared in Terre Haute, and received a liberal education, which she supplemented by extensive reading and study. She is troubled by an optical weakness, which at times makes her unable to read or write, and her health is delicate. She was a precocious child and at an early age showed by her poetical productions that she was worthy to be ranked with the foremost of the rising authors of the Wabash Valley. MARTINA SWAFFORD. Her first literary work was stories for the Philadelphia "Saturday Evening Post." She became a contributor to "Peterson's Magazine" and other periodicals, east, west and south, and her poems were extensively read and copied. The Atlanta "Constitution" introduced her to its extended southern constituency, and some of her best work appeared in that journal. Much of her work has been done during her winter residence in Huntsville. In poetry she belongs to the romantic rather than to the aesthetic school, though her verse is characterized by melody and a noticeable artistic treatment. Her muse is preëminently heroic and ideal, as her subjects generally indicate. She has published one volume of poems, entitled "Wych Elm" (Buffalo, 1891). Her husband. Dr. Swafford, is a prominent physician in Terre Haute. Her home is a social and literary center, and her time is devoted to good works and literature.