Woman of the Century/Emily St. John Bouton

EMILY ST. JOHN BOUTON. BOUTON, Miss Emily St. John, journalist, born in New Canaan, Fairfield county, Conn. On her father's side she traces her ancestry to one of the partisans of William the Conqueror, who was knighted for saving the king when in danger. The family bore a prominent part in the Revolution among the Connecticut patriots. Her father moved to the West when she was yet a child. She was graduated in the public schools of Sandusky, Ohio, but had previously taught a primary school in that city when only fourteen years of age. After graduating she became assistant high-school teacher in Milan, Ohio, then in Tiffin, and then, for several years she filled the same position in the Toledo high-school. She occupied the chair of English literature in the Chicago central high school for two years, but relinquished her work on account of failing health, going to California for rest and recuperation. In 1877 she returned to Toledo and became a member of the editorial staff of the Toledo "Blade," a position she has so well filled ever since. To many American households she is endeared as the " household editor" of the paper, but the work, original and editorial, of that one department of that journal by no means measures the extent of her labors. She is a literary critic of no mean order, and is a good "all round" newspaper worker. She has done much regular editorial writing in political campaigns in the columns of the paper with which she is connected. Her leaders on political topics are marked by direct and close reasoning, her diction is clear, and her logic is convincing. Of late years she has not been called on so frequently to do that kind of writing, leaving her time free for the, to her, more congenial fields of purely literary work and the management of her own department of the paper. Her special field is in work for women. She is a believer in equal rights for her sex, and her labors are directed to the advancement of woman's sphere through the personal advancement of every individual of the sex. Her literary style is so clear and pleasing that it seems to convey an idea of her personality to her readers. She has written several successful books on topics pertaining to the home circle. Resides her work upon the Toledo "Blade," she has written stories, letters and essays for other papers and magazines. Mrs Routon has a pleasant home in the beautiful residence portion of the city of Toledo, the family circle consisting of her mother, her widowed sister and two nephews. There is dispensed a refined hospitality, and there Miss Bouton, surrounded by her books, in the prime of her days, and with an almost unlimited capacity for work, leads a busy life, devoted to what she believes to be the interests of humanity.