Page:Representative Women of New England.djvu/463

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REPRESENTATIVE WOMEN OF NEW ENGLAND


in February, 1899, when at a few hours* notice she sang in Mendelssohn's "St. Paul," given by the Handel and Haydn Society. She has also sung in Liza Lehniann's " Persian Gar- den" several times. As a concert singer she is in constant demand, appearing chiefly in New England.

Gifted with a charming personality. Miss Ricker has a host of warm friends, social and musical. She is a true Maine girl, fond of the place of her birth. Her summers are spent at the old homestead, so full of her childhood's memories.


ADA ALEXANDER ACHORN, D.O.- LJL Mrs. Achorn was born in Juda, Wis., y %. March 1, 186L Her father, George Washington Alexander, of Scotch- Irish descent, was born in 1821 in Columbus, Ohio. In 1835 he removed with his father's family to Indiana. Her mother, whose maiden name was Ruth Little, was born in 1823 in Oxford, Ind.

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander migrating to Iowa a few years after the birth of their daughter Ada, she was educated in the public schools of that State. At the age of seventeen she began teaching school. This vocation she followed successfully until her marriage to Clinton Edwin Achorn, which took place at Cherokee, low^a, January 10, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Achorn have one son, Kendall Lincoln Achorn, born October 20, 1882. He is now a Senior in the LawTence scientific department of Harvard University.

For several years Mrs. Achorn was enthu- siastically engaged in temperance work among young people, she being in the Independent Order of Good Templars, to her the best of all organizations for its purpose, which she many times worthily represented in district and State sessions, and in which she still holds member- ship. She did her first temperance work as a member of the Woman's Christian Tem- perance Union, and she belonged to that so- ciety until her entire time was needed for her practice. She is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, E. 0. C. Ord Corps, No. 105, Department of Iowa, which she repeatedly served in the capacity of treasurer, secretary, and president. She also belongs to the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution, Dorothy Dix Chapter, W^altham, Mass., derivmg her title to membershi[) through her descent from Joseph Alexander, her father's paternal grand- father, who enlisted at Simsbury, Pa., and served under General Putnam in the Revolu- tionary War. He was a private and after- ward successively Ensign, Lieutenant, and Captain of Pennsylvania troops.

As a natural outcome of experience in other social organizations, she became a leacUng member of the Political Equality Club of her home town, and had the honor to serve on the committee which arranged the programme for the first celebration of " Foremothers' Day" ever held in the country.

Several years ago, being in ill health, her attention was directed to osteopathy as offer- ing some hope of restoration. The results were so favorable that she with her husband took up the study at the Northern Institute of Os- teopathy, in Minneapolis, Minn., and after finishing the course they each received the degree of Doctor of Osteopathy. In 1897 they located themselves in Boston for the prac- tice of their profession. Here Mrs. Achorn is a pioneer in her work, being the first woman to engage in the practice of osteopathy in New England. In June, 1897, when the Boston Institute of Osteopathy was organized, she became the secretary and treasurer and one of its instructors, and she has been actively identified with that institution to the present time.

She is a member of the American Osteopathic Association and of the Massachusetts Osteo- pathic Society. She represented the Boston Institute of Osteopathy at the sixth annual meeting of the Ainerican Osteopathic Asso- ciation, held in Milwaukee, Wis., August 6, 7, 8, 1902.

On account of its recent introduction the science of osteopathy is allowed a few words of explanation in these pages.

The following paragraphs are copied from an address delivered by J. Martin Littlejohn, Ph.D., LL.D., F.S.Sc, and F.R.S.L., Diplomate in Osteopathy, before the Royal Society