Woman of the Century/Eliza Ellen Starr

STARR, Miss Eliza Ellen, poet, author and art critic, born in Deerfield. Mass., 29th August, 1824. She is descended from Dr. Comfort ELIZA ELLEN STARR. Starr, of Ashford, County Kent, England, who, in 1634, settled in Cambridge, Mass. On her mother's side she is descended from the "Allens of the Bars," originally of Chelmsford, England, who were prominent in Colonial history. She was carefully educated in a refined home, and in early womanhood she enjoyed the social advantages of Boston and Philadelphia. In the latter city she formed many acquaintances of note, among them Archbishop Kenrick, through whose teachings she was led into the Roman Catholic Church. While in Philadelphia, she published some of her earlier poems. Her family removed later to Chicago, Ill., where she entered upon her literary career. During the last twelve years she has given a series of remarkable lectures on art in her studio and in the homes of friends, which have been repeated in the principal art and literary centers both east and west. In 1867 she published a volume of poetry, and soon after she brought out her two books, "Patron Saints." In 1875 she went to Europe, where she remained for some time, and on her return she published her art work, "Pilgrims and Shrines," which, with her "Patron Saints," has been widely read. In 1887 she published a collection of her poems, "Songs of a Lifetime," and in 1890, "A Long-Delayed Tribute to Isabella of Castile, as Co-Discoverer of America." That has been followed by "Christmastide," "Christian Art in Our Own Age," and "What We See," the last intended especially for children. She is a woman of strong personality in every way. She is gifted in art and poetry, and her Chicago home is a center of art and education, of charitable enterprises and social influence. She has contributed to "The Magazine of Poetry" and other prominent periodicals. Her pen and voice are still busy.