this little woman could
unravel much that seemed to be in hopeless entanglement.

Well do I remember the cheer of this our home. Simple were its duties,
simple indeed its pleasures. Well do I remember the busy troop of boys
and girls, with the busy mother at their head, directing their
exuberant energy with a rare administrative ability. Besides her own
children, four of whom reached maturity, she took during her life
seven other young people under her protection, so that the great
old-fashioned house was always filled to overflowing with fresh young
life. Pasture and stable, hennery and dairy, yard and garden, kitchen
and parlor, all were under her immediate guidance and control. Well do
I remember the pots of golden butter, fresh from her cool hand; the
delicious hams cured under her supervision; the succulent vegetables
and juicy fruits fresh from her garden--that trim, symmetrical garden,
with its well-weeded beds, its well-kept walks! Many a bright summer
morning have I seen her resting on a low bench beneath a huge
overhanging elm, overlooking the field of our labors. To a stranger
the flushed face with its irregular features, might have seemed plain;
the earnest, energetic manner might have seemed almost abrupt; but to
the children who sat on the grass at her feet looking upward, the face
was beautiful. That calm eye had pierced through so many childish
intricacies and made them clear; the firm mouth could smile so gently
at any youthful shortcoming, and the strong voice rang with a hope
which sent fear and doubt skulking away in shamefaced silence. It was
the brightest part of the day, this short respite, before mother,
marshalling her young army, led them to the study-room. This impromptu
lesson-hour was filled with a teaching so trenchant, that oftentimes,
in these lonelier days, when perplexed in the intricacies of life's
journeyings, a word spoken in some long ago summer morning, floats
down the years and rises before my troubled vision a guiding star.

When her children were grown, and the task she had undertaken years
before had been well done, our mother turned her attention for a time
to public work. She gave much thought to the Woman Question,
especially that portion of it pertaining to woman's work, and
addressed one or two meetings in New York on this subject. Miss
Anthony recently said to me: "Miss Owen, you do not know how great an
impression your mother made upon us--a woman who had lived nearly h