Woman of the Century/Julia Evelyn Ditto Young

YOUNG, Mrs. Julia Evelyn Ditto, poet and novelist, born in Buffalo, N. Y., 4th December, 1857. Her father, the late John A. Ditto, was a noted civil engineer, who twice served as city engineer of Buffalo. Her mother, Mrs. Margaret McKenna Ditto, was a woman of both literary and artistic talents, who finally chose art and became a successful painter in oils. The family on both sides is a talented one. Julia early showed that she had inherited literary talent of a high order. She was educated in the grammar and normal schools of Buffalo. After completing a thorough educational course, she became the wife of Robert D. Young, 30th December, 1876. Mr. Young is now cashier of the Erie County Savings Bank. Two sons were born to them. The older, born in 1877, died in 1882. The younger is living. JULIA EVELYN DITTO YOUNG. Mrs. Young, when a mere child, began to write stories and verses. As soon as she had learned to write, she utilized her accomplishment to commit to paper a gloomy poem, "The Earl's Bride." In 1871 she published a story in the Buffalo "Evening Post," which opened in this alarming style: "Shriek upon shriek rent the air, mingled with yells." She next published, in the Buffalo "Express," an essay on Fort Erie, which aroused protest on account of its inaccuracies. She then became a contributor to "Peterson's Magazine" and to the Frank Leslie periodicals. Recently she has written many short stories for a newspaper syndicate. These stories show many remarkable and artistic qualities in the author. She has written much poetry also, and her poems, like her stories, show her to be the possessor of vivid imagination and a master of diction. She has translated standard poems from the French and German into English. In November, 1889, she published a novel. "Adrift: A Story of Niagara," a finished work, the plot of which is laid in the neighborhood of Niagara Falls. The book was successful. She is now engaged on more important works. Her home is on Bouck Avenue, Buffalo, N. Y., and is a center of simple and cordial hospitality and of refinement and culture. In her literary work she has the encouragement of her husband, who is a man of intelligence. Her married life is an ideally happy one.