|
Part of the American
History & Genealogy Project |
Cynthia Westover Alden 1858 ~ 1931
Mrs. Alden's grandfather was Alexander
Campbell, founder of the Campbellites and her father, who was a
noted geologist and expert miner, was a descendant of the
Westovers of Virginia, who settled early in 1600 near the site
where Richmond now stands. Her mother died when Mrs. Alden was
so young that she has no memory of her, but from her earliest
girlhood she accompanied her father on all his prospecting tours
from Mexico to Canada. Naturally, from these early surroundings
she became an expert shot and horsewoman, and she also acquired
an intimate knowledge of birds and flowers, the habits of wild
animals, and many other secrets of nature.
She was born in Iowa, in 1858, but her education was gained in
whatever place she and her father happened to be, and was the
result of his companionship as much as anything else, until she
went to the State University of Colorado. After graduating there
she took a four-year course in a commercial college, where she
was considered a skilled mathematician, and after going to New
York this practical side of her nature asserted itself, and she
took the civil service examination for custom house inspector.
She was promptly appointed, and with her usual force and energy
began to learn French, German, and Italian. She acquired a
general knowledge of languages which placed her, in an
incredibly short time, on speaking terms with most of the
immigrants of all nationalities coming to her shore.
When Commissioner Beattie came into the Street Cleaning
Department of New York City he appointed her his private
secretary, she being the only woman, up to that time, who had
held a position by appointment in any of the city departments.
During the illness of the Commissioner, for several weeks, she
managed successfully the force of the entire department. Many
Italians were on the force, and for the first time in their
experience they could air their grievances at headquarters in
their own language. As a further illustration of her active mind
she invented a cart for carrying and dumping dirt, for which the
Parisian Academy for Inventors conferred upon her the title of
Membre d'Honneur with a diploma and a gold medal. She was joint
author of a book entitled, "Manhattan, Historic and Artistic,''
which was so favorably received that the first edition was
exhausted in ten days. She afterwards became a newspaper writer
and secretary of the Women's Press Club of New York City. Her
latest work is one of tender benevolence, having organized a
Shut-in Society, by which bed-ridden and chair-ridden invalids
correspond with one another through her medium, and try to make
of their pitiful lives a Sunshine Society.
Women of
America
Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
|