This is a transcription of the Mary A. (Holbrook) Stearns biography from New Hampshire Women: A Collection of Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Daughters and Residents of the Granite State, Who are Worthy Representatives of their Sex in the Various Walks and Conditions of Life, The New Hampshire Publishing Co., Concord, NH, 1895, page 13.

Mary A. (Holbrook) Stearns

A conspicuous figure in the social life of New Hampshire’s capital city, the true and worthy helpmeet of one eminent alike in business and public life, the center of a delightful family circle, whose guests, often among the most distinguished, never forgot its charming influence, no woman in the state has been more favorably known during the past thirty years than Mrs. Onslow Stearns. Mary A. Holbrook, daughter of Aden and Polly Holbrook, was born in Athol, Mass., February 10, 1819. She was educated in Mrs. Burrill’s school at South Boston and united in marriage with Mr. Stearns June 27, 1845. They removed to Concord in 1847, where they ever after had their home. Mr. Stearns became a dominant spirit in the railroad operations of the state, and a strong factor in its political life, receiving the highest honor in the gift of the people, having been encouraged in his career by the sympathy and devotion of a wife ambitious for his success and proud of his achievements, and by her womanly tact and grace of manner contributing to the same in large degree. Mrs. Stearns not only met all the requirements of domestic life, the demands of an enlarged hospitality, and the responsibilities of social leadership, but gave time and effort in abundant measure to the cause of benevolence. During the War of the Rebellion she was active in every work for the aid and encouragement of the Union soldiers. She was vice-president of the Home for the Aged in Concord, from its organization until her death, July 27, 1895; was a director of the Margaret Pillsbury General Hospital, of the Concord Female Benevolent Association, and an earnest worker in the interests of the Unitarian church and society, with which she was associated. Above all and embracing all, it may be said, she was a true woman in the fullest sense of the term. Mrs. Stearns left a son, Charles O. Stearns of Boston, and four daughters, Mary, wife of Gen. John R. Brooke, U. S. A.; Margaret, wife of S. W. Ingalls of New York; Sarah, and Grace, wife of Col. R. H. Rolfe of Concord.