Woman of the Century/Laura A. Woodin Le Valley

LE VALLEY, Mrs. Laura A. Woodin, lawyer, born in Granville, N. Y., and was the only daughter of Daniel and Sarah Palmer Woodin. Her girlhood was spent in Romeo, Mich., where she attended an institute of that place, and afterwards she became a student in Falley Seminary, Fulton, N. Y. LAURA A. WOODIN LE VALLEY. She made a specialty of music, and entered Sherwood's Musical Academy, Lyons, N. Y., from which she was graduated. She soon gained the reputation of a thorough instructor in instrumental music. Finding her services in demand in her father's office, she was appointed a notary public, and assisted him for several years, especially in the prosecution of United States claims. During that time she had much business experience and began the study of stenography. She commenced to study law, and, encouraged by her father, entered the law department of the University of Michigan in the fall of 1880, from which she was graduated in the class of 1882. She was a faithful student, made rapid progress, and had barely entered upon the work of the senior year, when she applied for admission to the bar, stood a rigid examination in open court, and was admitted to practice before the supreme court of Michigan on November 12th, 1881. In the law school she first met her future husband, D. W. LeValley, from the State of New York, then a senior in the law department in the class of 1881. Mr. LeValley opened an office in Saginaw, Mich., where they have resided since their marriage, on December 28th, 1882. For five years after her marriage she gave close attention to office work, her husband attending to matters in court, and they have built up a profitable business. Since the birth of her daughter, Florence E., the nature of her employment has been somewhat changed She is now the mother of two daughters. Since her marriage she, and her husband who is the author of the historical chart entitled "The Royal Family of England," have spent nearly all their spare time in reading, chiefly history. Mrs. LeValley is a member of the Congregational Church, and for years was an active worker in the Sunday-school of that denomination.