Woman of the Century/Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward

WARD, Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, author, born in Boston, Mass., 31st August, 1844. Her father was Rev. Austin Phelps, professor of sacred rhetoric in Andover Theological Seminary. The family removed from Boston to Andover in 1848, and lived there until 1890. Professor Phelps was elected president of the seminary in 1869. and in 1879 he became professor emeritus. Elizabeth was a precocious, imaginative child, and her education was liberal and thorough. Her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, was an author of note. After the death of her mother, in 1852, Miss Phelps, who had been christened with another name, took her mother's name in full. She began to publish sketches and stories in her thirteenth year, and her literary work in Andover was mingled with charitable, temperance and general reform work. In 1876 she delivered a course of lectures in the Boston University. ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS WARD. Her published works are: "Ellen's Idol" (1864); "Up Hill" (1865); "The Tiny Series" (4 volumes, 1866 to 1869); "The Gypsy Series" (4 volumes, 1866 to 1869); "Mercy Gliddon's Work" (1866); "I Don't Know How" (1867); "The Gates Ajar," twenty editions in the first year (1868); "Men, Women and Ghosts" (1869); "Hedged In" (1870); "The Silent Partner" (1870); "The Trotty Book" (1870); "Trotty's Wedding Tour" (1871); "What to Wear" (1873); "Poetic Studies" (1875); "The Story' of Avis" (1877); "My Cousin and I" (1879); "Old Maids' Paradise" (1879); "Sealed Orders" (1879); "Friends, a Duet" (1881); "Beyond the Gates" (1883); "Dr. Zay" (1884); "The Gates Between" (1887); "Jack the Fisherman" (1887); "The Struggle for Immortality," essays; "Poetic Studies." and "Songs of the Silent World." Besides her books, she has written many sketches, stories and poems for "Harper's Magazine," "Atlantic Monthly," "Youth's Companion" and other periodicals. Her most famous work is "The Gates Ajar," which has passed through many large editions in the United States and Great Britain, and was translated into several European languages. In October, 1888, she became the wife of Rev. Herbert D. Ward. Since then she has published "Fourteen to One," a volume of stories, and, in collaboration with her husband, "The Master of the Magicians" and "Come Forth." In the summer she and her husband live in East Gloucester, Mass., and in the winter their home is in Newton Highlands. Her productions throughout are marked by elevated spirit and thoughtfulness. She is interested in all philanthropic work, and she gives much time, labor and money for benevolent interests. Her circle of readers is a large one and is constantly growing.