This is a transcription of the Abbie Ellen (Beal) Morey 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 213.
Abbie Ellen (Beal) Morey
ABBIE ELLEN BEAL, or Nellie Beal, as she was familiarly called, was born in Orfordville, N. H., of parents who were descended, on both sides, from Pilgrim stock, while the family lineage has been traced back for several generations in England. When a mere child she evinced that passion for music which has been the dominating influence in her life, playing from memory at four years of age selections from one of Palestrina’s masses, which she had heard her father perform upon the pipe organ, then, as now, a part of the family establishment, and becoming, at eleven, organist of the village church. Before fifteen she had fitted herself, with her mother’s assistance, to enter one of the best schools in Massachusetts. which she did one year in advance of the usual course. At eighteen she commenced the study of music with Junius W. Hill of Boston. In 1874 she married Mr. Herbert E. Morey of Malden, going abroad two years later to pursue her studies in piano forte, organ, and theory, with Paul and Reinecke of Leipsic, and Dr. Theodore Kullak of Berlin. Subsequent seasons were spent in Rome, Florence, Milan, and London, in the study of vocal music and instrumentation. Returning to America, Mrs. Morey organized a chorus and orchestra, which she herself conducted, being the first woman in America to use the conductor’s baton. For 20 years she has played the organ and had charge of church music, teaching unremittingly during the week. Her extensive travel has brought her thoroughly in touch with the musical and artistic centres of Europe, while her intense disinclination to the life of a public performer has caused her to give up many opportunities which would have made her name a famous one. She has five children, the eldest being at school in Europe. Mrs. Morey is in the very prime of life, a vigorous, handsome woman, entirely free from self-consciousness. Her summers are generally spent among the Alps, yet her heart is loyal to her own, “Switzerland of America”-—New Hampshire.