Perhaps Mrs. Sophia Goodrich Ashton, daughter of Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, led this band in richness of character. She was a deep scholar and a ready writer. Her "Women of the Bible" is an authority in religious biography. Her life was transfigured by a faith that made Heaven just as real to her as Earth, and her home was a centre that drew thither friendship of the richest minds. All her gifts were consecrated, and her exquisitely beautiful hands were diligent in dispensing help, not less to orphan children than to her own. The void she left was so wide it has never closed, and some hearts that leaned on her will always suffer sense of loss [History of the Ely re-union, held at Lyme, Conn., July 10th, 1878. Salem, Mass. : Higginson Book Co., reprint, pg. 63]