William T. Coggeshall

“ Her power of imitation is very strong. Of all the attempts that have been made to copy the construction and flow of Poe's " Raven," hers is the most successful by far. It occurs in a poem on Poe's Death, and one or two of the stanzas are equal not only to the verse of the " Raven,"' but also to its poetry.
In 1850 the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Free and Accepted Masons of Indiana presented Mrs. Bolton a silver cup, as a prize for an ode written by her, and sung at the laying of the corner-stone of Masonic Hall at Indianapolis. ”

“ That glows on holier altars; what we sought
With thought, heart, mind, seems dust, and we aspire
To win some sure good, some guerdon holier, higher.
Thou art an altar, where the human soul
Pays God the tribute of its prayer and praise ”

“ SARAH T. BOLTON.
Sarah T. Barritt was born at Newport, Kentucky, in the year 1820. Her father was the youngest son of Lemuel Barritt, who distinguished himself as an officer in the American War for Independence. He was an experienced soldier when the war began. When Earl of Dunmore was Governor of the Colony of Virginia, he conferred upon him the command of an exploring expedition to the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. Mrs. Barritt, Sarah's mother, was a daughter of one of the Pendletons of Virginia, who was a cousin to James Madison. ”

“ Bolton, with a son and daughter, resides still at Indianapolis. She possesses property Avhich affords her family competent support.
Wliile in Europe, Mrs. Bolton wrote graphic letters for the Cincinnati Commercial, and contributed numerous poems to its columns and to those of the New York Home Journal, which were suggested by observations or experiences in Switzerland. She publishes rarely now. Her poems have never been collected. We trust she will collect them, and, before another year has elapsed, gratify her friends with a volume. ”

“ Mr. Biddle leads a somewhat retired life at his residence, "The Island Home," near Logansport, but has not altogether abandoned the practice of law. He has a well-selected library and a good collection of musical instruments, which occupy a large portion of his leisure hours. He has frequently delivered lectured on literary and scientific topics. It is understood that he is preparing for the press a work on the musical scale, for which original merit is claimed.
HAPPY HOURS.
They say that Time, who steals our hours. ”

“ Bolton's poetry, written for the Columbian and Great West in 1850, William D. Gallagher, alluding to this "Invocation," said:
Her adjuration was answered, and since then (1845) the Muse has been her constant companion. .... Some of her poems are among the most beautiful of the day, and are entitled to an hon- orable place in the poetical literature of her country She sings, not because she has a demand from either the book trade or the magazine trade, but because song is the language of her heart, and she mmt sing, or her heart must ache with its suppressed emotions. ”

“ He was not well satisfied with frontier life, and while Sarah was yet a little girl, changed his residence to Madison. There his daughter was given the best education which that town afforded. Before she was fourteen years of age, she wrote verses of which her friends were proud. When not more than sixteen years old, several of her poems were published in a newspaper at Madison, which was edited by Nathaniel Bolton. Writing for the paper led to an acquaintance with the printer, and that acquaintance resulted in marriage. ”

“ Human liberty is well worthy of a mother's fostering care.
Mr. Bolton was appointed consul to Geneva, Switzerland, by President Pierce, in the spring of 1855. Mrs. Bolton and her daughter, Sallie Ada, accompanied him to Eui'ope. They spent the summer of 1856 in Italy, and the autumn of the same year in Germany. In the spring of 1857 Mrs. Bolton and daughter returned to Indiana. They had been home but a few weeks, when a letter was received from Mr. Bolton, which stated that he had been ill, but was convalescent. Mrs. ”

“ Such blossoms should produce fine fruit." In 1858, an enlarged edition was published at Cincinnati, [1] with an essay entitled "What is Poetry?" The author elaborately discusses the definitions that have been given by eminent thinkers, and then decides that "poetry is beautiful thought, expressed in appropriate language—having no reference to the useful."
An active and prosperous professional life has not prevented Mr. Biddle from being drawn into the political arena. On the nomination of Henry Clay for the presidency, he advocated his election, and was placed upon the electoral ticket. ”

“ Bolton, who had written a stirring poem to him in 1849, manifested deep interest in his mission to America, and was chosen by the ladies of Indianapolis to present him a purse con- taining one hundred and fifty dollars, which they had contributed. At the close of an address by Kossuth, to a large audience, on the characteristics of the people of Ilun- gary, a committee of ladies, among whom was the wife of Joseph Wright, then Gov- ernor of Indiana, was presented, and Mrs. ”

“ Bolton's manners, is a characteristic arising from the independence and force of character displayed when she abandoned poetic pleasures for domestic duties, and the spirit which then animated her, a spirit worthy of her patriotic ancestors, breathes nobly m many of her poems.
AWAKE TO EFFORT.
Awake to effort, while the day is shining. ”

“ It attracted the attention of Washington Irving, who, in a letter to the author, said, "I have read your poems with great relish: they are full of sensibility and beauty, and bespeak a talent well worthy of cultivation. ”

“ The presentation ser- vices were public. The largest church in Indianapolis was crowded. The Grand H. P, stated the object of the convocation, when James Morrison presented the cup, in an appropriate address. Mrs. Bolton accepted it, with a few words of thankfulness, which the State Sentinel said were "in the best taste, delivered in womanly style, clear and effective."
On the evening of the second of March, 1852, we heard IMrs. Bolton make a speech. Louis Kossuth was then the guest of the State of Indiana. ”