What is true in this respect of a man as a part of a race may also, to an extent, be true of the whole race.
The Afro-American is moving in the line of march with other civilized races in that he is placing upon the women of the race their merited worth. Among the class of highly distinguished women is the subject of this sketch, Hallie Q. Brown, who was formerly of Pittsburg, Pa., but while quite young her parents made their abode upon a farm near Chatham, Canada. While still very young, in 1868, she began a course of study in Wilberforce College, State of Ohio, the present residence of her parents, "Homewood Cottage," from which she graduated in 1873 with the degree of B. S.
I quote below a very unique description of her early life on the memorable old farm near Chatham, Canada:
A traveler passing by a country farm house, a few miles from Chatham, Canada, a few years ago, might have seen a little girl of eight or nine summers mounted upon a colt without bridle or girth, hair given to the winds to be tossed, dashing up a lane to the pasture. There he would have seen her dismount and hastily perform the duties of dairy-maid, first calling each cow by name, and inquiring the health of each or making some playful remark. The milking finished, she now goes through the programme that absorbs her whole attention, having risen before any other one of the household so that she could not be seen. She jumps upon a stump or log and delivers an address to the audience of cows, sheep, birds, etc. Neither knowing nor caring what she says, she goes through her harangue, earnestly emphasizing by arm gesture and occasionally by a stamp of the foot. She has a separate speech for the larger animals, and special addresses to the lambs, ducklings and any other juvenile auditors that happen to be near. Having exhausted her vocabulary-, she begins a conversation in the language of the horse, cow, sheep, goose, rooster, or bird, until each is imitated; then bidding adieu to her pet auditors, she remounts her prancing steed and canters back to the house. This is her daily morning pro-
