Page:Woman of the Century.djvu/186

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
CLEARY.
CLEAVES.
181

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."


MARGARET ABAGAIL CLEAVES. CLEAVES, Miss Margaret Abagail, doctor of medicine, born in Columbus City, Iowa., 25th November, 1848. Her father was of Dutch and English and her mother of Scotch and Irish ancestry, but by birth they were both Americans. Her father, Dr. John Trow Cleaves, was born in Yarmouth, Maine, in 1813, and her mother, Elizabeth Stronach, in Baltimore, in 1820. In 1843 they were married in Columbus City, where Dr. Cleaves practiced medicine until his death, which occurred in October, 1863. He was a man who took a deep interest in public affairs, and twice he was elected a member of the Iowa Legislature, first in 1852, and again in 1861. Margaret was the third of seven children. She inherited her father's taste for medical pursuits and as a child frequently accompanied him on his professional visits. Her education was obtained in the public schools and in the Iowa State University, but because of limited means she was unable to finish the collegiate course in the latter institution. After she was sixteen, she alternately attended and taught school for some years. In 1868 the family moved to Davenport, Iowa. There Margaret resolved to become a doctor instead of continuing a school teacher. Her choice of a profession was not regarded with favor by the various members of her family, who entertained the prevailing ideas concerning the limitations of woman's sphere, but her mind was made up, and in 1870 she began to read medicine and against their wishes entered the Medical Department of the Iowa State University. Their opposition did not continue long, for it was soon made manifest that her choice of a profession had been a wise one. In 1871 she entered the office of her preceptor, Dr. W. F. Peck, who was dean of the faculty and professor of surgery in the university. She was graduated 5th March. 1873, standing at the head of the class. Shortly after graduating, she was appointed second assistant physician in the State Hospital for the Insane, Mount Pleasant, Iowa. There she was a veritable pioneer, for up to that time only one other woman in the world had occupied the position of physician in a public insane asylum. She remained in the asylum for three years and then resigned her position to commence private practice in Davenport She was subsequently appointed one of the trustees of the asylum. While practicing medicine in Davenport, she became a member of the Scott County Medical Society, being the second woman to gain admission to that body. For several years she was the secretary of the society. She also joined the State Medical Society, where she was again the second woman to gain admission. She was the first woman to