Adelaide Day Rollston Explained

Adelaide Day Rollston (Kidd; February 23, 1854 – January 7, 1941) was an American poet and author.

Early life and education

Adelaide Day Kidd was born near Paducah, Kentucky, February 23, 1854.^[1] Her earliest years were spent in the countryside.^[2] Her parents were, William Henry Kidd (1819–1864), a physician of good standing, and Elvira (Roberts) Kidd (1823–1895). Her siblings were, Sarah, Mary Marcellus, Cincinnatus, Eliza, Fannie, Edmonia, William, and John.^[3]

At the age of twelve, her talent for writing verse began to manifest itself in brief poems published in the local press. Later, several appeared in the Saturday Star-Journal, of New York City. After the family moved to Paducah when Adelaide was twelve years old, she was educated in that city's St Mary's Academy.^[4]

Career

After completing her education, Rollston continued her contributions to the neighboring press, and frequently verses over her name appeared in The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky. They attracted little or no attention, until she found a friend and helper in the veteran of the Kentucky press, Col. H. M. McCarty, who provided her with critical review of her work. Still, her writing career was a struggle. In 1877, she began to contribute to the Current, and later received wide recognition as a contributor to Once a Week, Youth's Companion, Godey's Lady's Book, and other eastern periodicals. She also wrote several novelettes. Her poems of note included, "His Second Wife", "One Woman's Story", "A Fragment", "If I Had Known", and "The Wanderers".^[5]

Death

In December 1874, in Massac County, Illinois, she married Joseph L. Rollston (1850–1931). They had four children, Guy, Vera, Ina, and Edward.

Adelaide Day Rollston died at her home in Paducah, Kentucky January 7, 1941. Burial was in the city's Oak Grove Cemetery.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Book: Herringshaw . Thomas William . Local and National Poets of America: With Biographical Sketches and Choice Selections from Over One Thousand Living American Poets . 1890 . American publishers' association . 478 . 29 June 2022 . en.
2. Moulton . Charles Wells . ADELAIDE DAY ROLLSTON, by C. J. O'M. . The Magazine of Poetry and Literary Review . 1890 . 2 . 147 . 29 June 2022 . C.W. Moulton . en.
3. Web site: Adelaide Day Kidd 23 February 1854 – 7 January 1941 • LHJV-DC9 . ident.familysearch.org . 29 June 2022.
4. Book: Willard. Frances Elizabeth. Frances Willard. Livermore. Mary Ashton Rice. Mary Livermore. A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. 1893 . 621–22. . ROLLSTON, Mrs. Adelaide Day.
5. Contents . The Current . 1887 . VII . 877–880 . 29 June 2022 . Edgar L. Wakeman . en.
6. News: Rites Held For Mrs. Adelaide Rollston . 29 June 2022 . The Paducah Sun-Democrat . Newspapers.com . 9 January 1941 . 13 . en.