This is a transcription of the Belle Marshall Locke 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 153.
Belle Marshall Locke
ONE of the most successful of the few worthy teachers of expression and vocal culture in New Hampshire is Belle Marshall Locke, a native of Lancaster, wife of City Marshal C. Scott Locke, of Concord. In her early school days she was noted for the facility and power which she manifested in recitation. Favored also with fine musical gifts, she was a prominent figure on the local operatic stage when a mere child. She also early developed decided literary talent, and was a prolific contributor to popular publications while yet in her teens. After her marriage, which was an early one, she determined to thoroughly it herself for the field of labor toward which her natural endowments so strongly impelled her. A year of study under the celebrated Edna Chaffee-Noble was followed by a complete course and graduation with the highest honors from the N. E. Conservatory College of Oratory, under Prof. S. R. Kelley, in 1884, and this supplemented by a year of special instruction by the renowned Leland T. Powers. With such equipment, it is not strange that Mrs. Locke should win the remarkable success which has characterized her labors as a teacher of dramatic and elocutionary art. Aside from her numerous pupils in Concord and vicinity, she has taught large classes for several years in Lawrence, Mass., and is now similarly engaged in Haverhill. Many of her pupils in elocution have won wide public favor, and some of her dramatic pupils are sustaining leading parts in popular companies. Last season she was engaged at Hanover in “coaching” the prize-speaking contestants, and was the instructor of the Dartmouth Dramatic club, which acceptably presented “David Garrick” under her direction, as she has also successfully directed the presentation of numerous plays and operas in various places in the past few years. Nor has her pen been neglected. She has written ballads, operas, and comedies, her last important production, “A Modern Desdemona,” being pronounced by the best critics one of the brightest of American comedies.