years study and experience determined her to have an orchestra of her ow n. Securing a young woman whose reputation as a violinist and thorough musician was well established in the city, she organized the Fadette Ladies' Orchestra, with four pieces. Then it was that her Yankee shrewdness began to serve her well. She immediately had the name of her orchestra copyrighted and, hiring an office, put out her "shingle." Finding that prompting was essential to success in dance work she went to one of Boston's best prompters and learned the business thoroughly. An elocutionist taught her to use her voice to the best advantage, and now she stands as one of the best prompters in the city and the only lady prompter in the country. Business has increased rapidly in the past few years, and now there are thirteen regular members of the orchestra who are refined young women of musical ability.
HARRIET BUNKER AUSTIN.
AUSTIN, Mrs. Harriet Bunker, author, born in Erie, Pa., 29th December, 1844, She is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Bunker, descending from New England stock. Her great-grandfather, Benjamin Bunker, was a soldier of the Revolution, and was killed in the battle of Bunker Hill. The hill from which the battle was named comprised part of the Bunker estate. On her mother's side she is related to the Bronson Alcott and Lyman Beecher families. When quite young, she removed with her parents to Woodstock, McHenry county, III., where she has since resided. Her education was received in the Woodstock high school and Dr. Todd's Female Seminary. At the close of her seminary life she was married to W. B. Austin, a prosperous merchant of that city. She has been a prolific writer, many of her poems having been set to music and gained deserved popularity. She has always taken an active interest in every scheme for the advancement of women, and is ever ready to lend her influence to the promotion of social reforms.
AUSTIN, Mrs. Helen Vickroy, journalist and horticulturist, born in Miamisburg, Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1829. She is a daughter of Edwin Augustus and Cornelia Harlan Vickroy.
HELEN VICKROY AUSTIN.
Her family on both sides are people of distinction. Her mother was a daughter of the Hon George Harlen, of Warren county, Ohio. Her father was a son of Thomas Vickroy, of Pennsylvania, who was a soldier in the Revolution under Washington and an eminent surveyor and extensive land-owner. When Mrs. Austin was a child, the family removed to Pennsylvania and established a homestead in Ferndale. Cambria county. There her early life was passed. With an inherent love of nature, she grew up amid the picturesque scenes of the foot-hills of the Alleghany mountains, a poet in thought and an ardent lover of the beautiful. She was married in 1850 to William W. Austin, a native of Philadelphia, at that time residing at Richmond, Ind., in which delightful city they lived until, in 1885, the family went East, taking up their residence at Vineland, N. I. Although Mrs. Austin is a domestic woman, she has taken time to indulge her taste and promptings and has done considerable writing. Some of her best work has been for the agricultural and horticultural press, and her essays at the horticultural meetings and interest in such matters have given her a fame in horticultural circles. As a writer of sketches and essays and a reporter and correspondent Mrs. Austin has marked capacity. She is accurate and concise. Much of her work has been of a fugitive nature for the local press, but was worthy of a more enduring place. One of the marked characteristics of her nature is benevolence. She has given much time and used her pen freely in aid of philanthropic work. She has for many years been identified with the cause of woman suffrage, and the various institutions for the elevation and protection of woman have had her earnest help. Long before the temperance crusade she was a pronounced
