when she was four years old, and her early schooling was received in that city. Her musical education began when she was a young girl, and at the age of thirteen she gave promise of being a brilliant pianist. Her taste, however, was for vocal music rather than instrumental, and, prompted by natural inclination and the possession of a voice of remarkable sweetness and purity, she began to take lessons in singing. Mr. Aaron Taylor and Signor Agramonti were her first teachers, and on the advice of the latter she went to Paris, where she studied under Madame Lagrange and with Professor Barbot of the Conservatoire. Before leaving Paris, Miss Franklin appeared at a concert at the Salle Érard, and achieved encouraging success, which was emphasized by immediate offers of concert engagements and for a season of Italian opera. These flattering offers she was, however, obliged to decline, as she had made arrangements to go to London. Here she studied with Shakespeare and Alberto Randegger, the latter being so pleased with her voice that he besought her to remain and make a career in England. But she had been too long absent from American soil, and in her eagerness to return she declined not only this offer but one to join Carl Rosa's English Opera Company. On returning home she took an extended course of study under Madame Rudersdorff for oratorio and the more serious range of classical concert music.
Miss Franklin has appeared in the symphony concerts of Boston, New York, and Brooklyn, and in classical and other concerts in most of the large cities of the United States. Her work has been under the leadership of such men as Theodore Thomas, Walter Damrosch, Emil Paur, Karlberg, Henschel, Gericke, Nikisch, Tomlins, and Gilchrist. Her concert work was remarkable apart from her fine voice because of the extent of her repertoire. She sings in French, German, Italian, and English, and has the proud distinction of having the largest repertoire of any American singer, also the largest collection of arias and orchestra scores for the concert stage. Miss Franklin has never repeated a programme in the same place, or an aria, unless called upon at a moment's notice to sing without rehearsal.
In April, 1896, Miss Franklin married Mr. W. C. G. Salisbury, of Boston, and retired from public life to devote her time to teaching. As an instructor, she has been even more successful than as a singer. Her pupils are on the operatic, concert, and oratorio platform in Europe and America.
SARAH JANE BOYDEN was born in Chelsea, Mass., July 17, 1842, the daughter of Darius Allen and Sarah Ann (Hanson) 'Martin. When but six weeks old she was deprived through death of a mother's love and care, and, being a child of feeble health, it was feared she would not live to maturity. Her early education, obtained in the public schools of Chelsea and Boston, was supplemented by a course of study in Bradford Academy at Bradford, Mass., and in Captain Samuel Hayden's private school in Braintree, Mass.
At the age of twenty she became the wife of Robert Curtis Davidson, of Chelsea. Just previous to their marriage Mr. Davidson had enlisted in Company C, Thirty-fifth Massachusetts Regiment, to fight for the preservation of the Union. After two years' service in the army, he was wounded in the battle of Petersburg, July 30, 1864, and died at City Point, Va., on the 18th of August following. In 1872 the subject of this sketch was again married, her second husband being Walter Willington Boyden, of Roxbury. She is the mother of two daughters, Gertrude Louise, Edith Ferdinand, and a son, Walter Allen.
From her father Mrs. Boyden inherited traits of character which have made her steadfast in purpose and firm in principle. Mr. Martin held the position of State Constable for years, and was noted for his courageous acts in closing the saloons in Chelsea. Mrs. Boyden's pastor, the Rev. Dr. Albert H. Plumb, says of her: "I have known Mrs. Boyden for some thirty years. She is a living exemplification of the power to do and of the wisdom of doing two things at once, each being done better because the other is also in hand. In her own home and in the homes of the afflicted she has been a ministering angel. In the family, the church, in charitable and reformatory work, she has lived in all good#
