Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1896-08-24
GAIL HAMILTON DEAD.
Famous Writer Stricken with Par
alysis and Lives Only Few
Hours.

Hamilton, Mass, Aug. 1S.-Miss Mary
Abigail Dodge, writer, biographer and
controversialist, widely known under the
pen name of Gail Hamilton, died last
evening at her home in this city.
Miss Dodge was stricken with paraly-
sis while at breakfast Sunday and inn
mediately became unconscious. While
every possible means was adopted to re-
store her she never regalned conscious
ness. Miss Dodge had, a similar shock
while in Washington about year ago.
Miss Augusta Dodge and other relatives
were at the bedside when the end came.
Too much work in mailing her last
book, ''The Valley of Death" during
the hot weather broke her strength.
Miss Mary Abigail Dodge, writer, BIZ
ographer and controversialist, widely
known under the pen name of Gail Ham
ilton. was native of the town in which
she died. having been born in 1880. At
the age Of 10 years she went to DR..
Clark's private school in Cambridge.
She was graduated from Ipswich acad-
envy at the age of 20. In 1851 she went
to Hartford as assistant in the Hart
ford high school, She refused to take
the customary examination, but was
given the position without doing so. She
was also instructor in physical science
in this school for several years, and was
subsequently governeSs in the family of
DR.. Gamaliel Bailey of Washington, ID.
c., the editor of the National Era, to
which paper she became a contributor.
In 1861 she was one of the editors OF
Our Young Folks, a magazine for chill
dren published in Boston. From 1870
until little over a year ago she lived
most of the time with her cousin, Mrs.
James G. Blaine, in Washington. In
course of this daily contact with the
Blaine family Miss Dodge was led into
very close friendship with Mr.. Blaine,
and at the death of the latter she became
his literary executor, being in possession
of all his papers and documents of value
to her as his authorized biographer. She
was engaged, as frequently as her health
would permit, on Mr.. Blaine's biography
from the time of his death until her sick
ness of last year, and it is thought her
untiring devotion to the work was in
strumental in bringing about that pros
tration.
Since the illness, which came on so sud
denly in the Blaine mansion in Washing
ton, Miss Dodge has lived very quietly
at her old home in Hamilton, Mass. Her
strength had never rallied after that i'll
ness so that she felt able to resume act
i've work, and she was for weeks unable
to see even intimate friends, but during
that time she has been able to be driven
about the town and to entertain In her
old, delightful manner the friends who
have called upon her. Her literary work
during this time has been fragmentary,
done by the help of an amanuensis, as
diversion, or when some current event
has specially attracted her interest.
Gail Hamilton was a frequent contrib
utor to prominent magazines and her
published works, written in a witty and
aggressive style, consist largely of selec
tons from her contributions. Her books
include:
Country Living and Country Think
ing" Scala Days New Atmosphere
and Stumbling Blocks" "Skirmishes and
thorp and Summer Rest" wool Gath
Irritant.' .'Battle of the Books" "Wom-
ans Worth and Worthliness," Little
Folk Life" "Child World" ''Twelve
ings,', Sermons for the Clergy First
Love is Best" "What Think Ye of
Christ?' 'Our Common School System"
''Divine Guidance, 'Memorial to Allen
w. Dodge" and 'Insuppressible Book"
In 1887 she wrote a series of letters on
civil-service reform for a New York
paper. Letters on a wide range of pub
lie questions written for the Boston Jour
nal were widely copied throughout the
United States.
Miss Dodges one novel, 'First Love is
Best" had not the success which attend
ed some of her other works.
During recent years she engaged in po-
itical writing, and many famous review
articles and political interviews" have
been accredited to her which have reused
much warm discussion and have eXerted
more or less influence upon national poll
tics.