laura catherine redden graduated from the missouri school for the deaf, a secondary school, in 1858. she did not enroll in college. her literary skills and unmarried status made it acceptable at the time for her to enroll at certain colleges. however, there were no colleges that accepted deaf women. the national deaf-mute college (now gallaudet university) was established in 1864 and did not admit female students until 1881. to supplement her education, she toured europe from 1865-69. while there, she studied german, french, spanish, and italian. she became engaged to michael george brennan in 1867, but the engagement ended shortly after. laura catherine redden married edward whelan searing, a lawyer, in 1876, to become laura catherine redden searing. they had one child, elsa waller searing, on may 4, 1880. in 1887, laura redden searing and her daughter settled near santa cruz, california. edward searing stayed in new york and they divorced in 1894. redden searing died in 1923 and was buried in colma, california.