MISS ETHEL ATWOOD

ATWOOD, Miss Ethel, musician, born in Fairfield, Maine, 12th September, 1870. Her parents were Yankees, and possessed sterling thrift and independence. The first fifteen years of Miss Atwood's life were passed in a quiet, uneventful way in her native town, but the desire to branch out and do and be something led her to migrate to Boston, where she has since resided. She began the study of the violin when eight years old, but lack of means and competent teaches in her native place prevented her from acquiring any great proficiency as a soloist.  After going to Boston she turned her attention to orchestral work.  Two years study and experience determined her to have an orchestra of her own. 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.

(American Women, Fifteen Hundred Biographies, Vol 1, Publ. 1897. Transcribed by Marla Snow.)