Woman of the Century/Maria Straub

STRAUB, Miss Maria, song-writer, born in De Kalb county, Ind , 27th October, 1838. She was the sixth of eight children. Her parents, who were of German origin, were Pennsylvanians. The family were greatly diversified in religious belief, representing; the extremes as well as the more moderate views. The religious proclivity of Miss Straub is strongly indicated by the numerous hymns of hers sung in churches and Sabbath-schools throughout the land. Of a studious, quiet nature, a victim to bodily affliction, she early manifested fondness for reading and study. Unable, physically, to take a regular school course, and being ambitious to lose nothing, she planned her own curriculum and made up through home study, by the assistance of her friends, what she failed to get otherwise. During those years she caught the spirit of verse-making. Especially was she aided in her endeavors in self-culture by a tender mother, who granted her all the opportunity possible to make the most of herself. After her father's death she was engaged for some time in teaching country schools in the vicinity of her home. She gradually became associated with her brother, S. W. Straub, the musician, in music-book making. In 1873 she went to Chicago, Ill., where she became a member of her brother's family. There she took a place on the editorial staff of her brother's musical monthly, MARIA STRAUB. the "Song Friend," a place she still holds, besides contributing occasionally in prose and poetry to other periodicals. She is interested in current events and especially in reforms and philanthropies. Her love for the cause of temperance prompted the words of her and her brother's first published song, "Gird On, Gird On Your Sword of Trust," in 1868. Some of her happiest effusions were inspired by her love of country, as shown in the titles of two of her highly popular pieces: "Blessed is the Nation Whose God is the Lord," and "Wave, Columbia, Wave Thy Banner." These with many others of her secular poems have found musical expression in the various singing-books in use in homes and schools.