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WOMEN OF DISTINCTION.
95

Before she could consummate her plans that much dreaded monster, yellow fever, came upon her like a raging tyrant whose grasp she could not break, and to whom she fell a victim October lo, 1867, with the following words that passed her dying lips: "I belong to God, our Father."

A tender plant, a mighty and sainted worker, like a flourishing flower, cut down in the days of a useful and glorious work, yet a conqueror, because she still lives to inspire many to follow her example.

CHAPTER XXI.

MRS. ELLA V. CHASE WILLIAMS.

This very excellent lady, who stands high among the females engaged in the work of education, was born in the city of Washington, D. C. Her father, William H. Chase, who was a blacksmith by trade, moved among the leading citizens of the District of Columbia during his day, and died in 1863, leaving a wife and six children. Her mother (whose maiden name was Miss Lucinda Seaton) was an immediate descendant of a very respectable family, of Alexandria, Va. She was a woman of strong will, energy and perseverance, as is evidenced by the career of her daughter, Mrs. E. V. C. Williams, of whom we are now writing, who was educated at the famous Howard University. In 1879 she began her much loved work as a teacher, for which she is so well