This is a transcription of the Laura (Wentworth) Fowler of Somersworth, NH and Boston, Mass. 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 163.
Laura (Wentworth) Fowler
No woman is better known in Boston’s musical and club circles than Laura Wentworth Fowler, daughter of Amasa and Susan (Nowell) Wentworth, born in Somersworth, June 11, 1837. She is a descendant of Elder William Wentworth, from whom Lieutenant-Governor John, and Governors Benning and John, Wentworth also descended. Four of her ancestors fought at Bunker Hill, which admits her to the Daughters of the American Revolution. She early displayed rare musical ability, and at the age of eleven began to play the organ in church. Graduating from Abbot Academy, Andover, Mass., in 1860, where she taught music during her course, she took charge of the musical department of Lagrange Female College, Tennessee, but returned North in a year on account of the war, and became teacher of mathematics, languages, and music in the Concord (N.H.) High School. During her second year here, she was called to the musical department of Monticello seminary, Illinois, remaining four years. Returning East she took charge of the departments of music and painting in Elmira College, New York, which she directed successfully until her marriage, six years later, with William Fowler, a gallant officer of the Union army during the war, who died November 26, 1874. Subsequently she taught eight years in Kentucky. Mrs. Fowler has superior literary as well as musical abilities, and is a prominent member of the N.E.W.P.A. She is a life member of the Bostonian Society, being the first woman admitted; a member of the New Hampshire’s Daughters, director of the Massachusetts Federation of Woman’s Clubs, and vice-president of the General Federation of Clubs of America. She is also connected with a score of other clubs and organizations, among which her favorite is the Abbot Academy Club, of which she is president and founder. Mrs. Fowler is endowed with a charming personality, and her chief characteristics are tact, will, energy, and enthusiasm.