four government! officially concerned, Mrs. McMurdo was thrust into a prominence perhaps repugnant to one of her retiring disposition. The tribunal will conclude its labors in 1892, in accordance with the terms of the protocol under which is sitting. In all her business with the State Department, with diplomatic and other officials, her great dignity, composure, ability and good sense have commanded respect and admiration. Her engagement to Frederic Courtland Penfield was formally announced, and their marriage was celebrated in the fall of 1892. Mr. Penfield is an American gentleman who has lived many years abroad and who is widely known in diplomatic, literary and social circles. He was for several years United States vice-consul-general to Great Britain It is probable that, after her marriage, Mrs. McMurdo will divide her time between Europe and America.
McPHERSON, Mrs. Lydia Starr, poet, author and journalist, born in Wamock, Belmont county, Ohio. Her father was William F. Starr, and
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LYDIA STARK McPHERSON.
her mother was Sarah Lucas Starr, a woman of English descent. The family moved from Belmont county to Licking county when Lydia was three years old. They settled near the present town of jersey. Lydia early showed poetical tastes and talents. She was precocious in her studies, learning everything but mathematics, with ease and
rapidity. When she was twelve years old the family removed to V an Buren county, Iowa, where they settled on a claim near the Des Moines river. There she grew to womanhood At the age of seventeen she became teacher of a select school in Ashland, Iowa She taught successfully and received a salary of one dollar a week, with board
among the patrons of the school. In her twenty-first year she became the wife of I). Hunter, and they settled in Keosauqua, Iowa. Five children were born to them, of whom three sons and one daughter are now living. Widowed in early life, she placed her sons in printing-offices to learn a trade and earn a living. They are now editors and publishers of newspapers. In 1874 Mrs. Hunter moved to the South, where she became the wife of Granville McPherson, editor of the "Oklahoma Star," published in Caddo, Ind. Ty. Mrs. Mcpherson's taste for literary work there found exercise. She worked on her husband's journal as editor-in-chief until 1876, when she established the "International News" in Caddo. She did the literary' work, while her two sons did the printing. Mr. McPherson had aroused hostility by his conduct of the "Star," and he was threatened with personal injury. He left Caddo and went to Blanco, Tex., where he died. Mrs. McPherson wearied of life among the tribes in Indian Territory. In 1877 she removed to Whitesboro, Tex. There she started the "Whitesboro Democrat," which was the first paper published in Texas by a woman. In 1879 the "Democrat" was moved to Sherman, Tex., where it is still published as a daily and weekly. The daily is now in its twelfth year and has long been the official paper of the city as well as the county organ. She has, with the aid of her sons, made it a paying and influential journal. Mrs. McPherson was chosen honorary commissioner to the New Orleans Exposition from her county. In 1881 she joined the State Press Association of Texas and was elected corresponding secretary. In March, 1886, she was elected a delegate to the World's Press Association, which met in Cincinnati, Ohio. In
the same month she was appointed postmaster of Sherman, which office she filled successfully for four years. Besides all her journalistic work, her society associations and her relations in numerous fields of work and influence, she has written much for publication. Her poetical productions are numerous. They have been widely quoted, and have been collected into a volume entitled "Reullura" (Buffalo, 1892). She has a number of books now in manuscript, one of which is a novel entitled "Phlegethon." She has traveled much in the United States. She spent four months of 1890 in Oregon. Nevada, Utah and neighboring States, and furnished letters of travel for Oregon journals. She is one of the busiest women of the age and country in which she lives.
MADISON, Mrs. Dorothy Payne, commonly called Dolly Madison, wife of James Madison, fourth President of the United States, born in North Carolina, 20th May, 1772, and died in Washington, D. C., 12th July, 1849. She was a granddaughter of John Payne, an Englishman, who removed from England to Virginia early in the eighteenth century. His wife was Anna Fleming, a granddaughter
of Sir Thomas Fleming, one of the pioneers of Jamestown, Va. His son, the second John Payne, Dorothy's father, was married to Mary Coles, a first-cousin to Patrick Henry. Dorothy was reared as a Quaker. In 1791 she became the wife of John Todd, a lawyer of Pennsylvania, who was a member of the Society of Friends. Mr. Todd died in 1793, in Philadelphia, Pa., during the yellow-fever scourge. In September, 1794, Mrs. Todd became the wife of James Madison, and their union was a cause of joy to President Washington and his wife, both of whom were warm friends of Mr. and Mrs. Madison. Their long married life was one of unclouded happiness. Mrs. Madison's extraordinary personal beauty, her brilliant intellect and her great social powers made her the model mistress of the White House during the two terms of her husband as President She was a conspicuous figure in society, and her knowledge of politics and diplomacy was extensive, and her brilliant
