Bottome, Margaret (McDonald)

BOTTOME, MARGARET (McDONALD): Founder of the King's Daughters; b. in New York City Dec. 29, 1827; d. there Nov. 14, 1906. She was educated at a private school in Brooklyn, and in 1850 married the Rev. Frank Bottome. She had already become interested in religious and philanthropic work, and in 1876 began to give Bible talks in the homes of prominent New York women, continuing them for twenty-five years. In 1886 she organized the order of King's Daughters, basing her system on Edward Everett Hale's Ten Times One is Ten. In the following year the society was enlarged to include men, and the name was changed to the present International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons. In 1896 she was elected president of the women's branch of the International Medical Mission. She was also an associate editor of the The Ladies' Home Journal, and in addition to a few pamphlets and a large number of contributions to religious magazines wrote The Guest Chamber (New York, 1893); Crumbs from the King's Table (1894); and A Sunshine Trip to the Orient (1897).