"BLUE BOOK OF NEBRASKA WOMEN;" BY WINONA REEVES (1916); PAGES 102 - 150 The following information was transcribed by Charmaine Keith from "The Blue Book of Nebraska Woman" by Winona Evans Reeves, Missouri Printing and Publishing Company (1916). Submitted to the USGenWeb Nebraska Archives, February, 1999, by Charmaine Keith (charmain@southwind.net). USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial researchers, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for presentation in any form by any other organization or individual. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express written permission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist. *************** --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 102 MRS. R. E. McKELVIE Surnames: McKelvie, Sadler, Louis, Baker, Braddock Blanche Louis McKelvie was born at Braddock, Pa., the daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Flora Jane (Sadler) Louis. Her father is a direct descendant of Genreal Andrew Louis, who was with Genreal Braddock, which is now Pittsburg. More than a hundred years later Mrs. McKelvy was born at Braddock, on the site where her illustrious ancestors had fought. Her maternal grandfather was the Rev. Isaac Sadler, a well known Pennsylvania clergyman, and her great grandfather, Isaac Sadler, a major in the War of the Revolution, whose grave at Carlistle, Pa., bears a marker telling of his patriotic service. Mrs. MeKelvie was educated in a private school at Pittsburg. She was married on October 26, 1880, at Braddock, Pa., to Russell E. McKelvie. They have two children, Isabelle Treat McKelvie and Blanche Russell McKelvie baker. For twenty years Mrs. McKelvie has been actively engaged in newspaper work. She is a writer of children's stories, which have appeared in the leading magazines. She has two books of children's stories now in the hand of the publishers. She is vice-president of the Omaha Woman's Club and has been leader of the history department and the department of parliamentary law. She is state secretary of the Nebraska Daughters of the American Revolution and has the honor to be regent of the Maj. Isaac Sadler Chapter D. A. R., named for her ancestor. In religious faith she is an Episcopalian. She takes an interest in politics and is president of the Nebraska Women's Democratic Club and of the Omaha Woman's Democratic Club. And is an enthusiastic suffragist. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 104 MRS. LENA MEAD Surnames: Mead, Adams, Brown, Williams, Lena Brown Mead was born May 9, 1851, at Coxsackie, New York, the daughter of Isaac and Juliaette (Adams) Brown. She received her education in a private school and later attended an academy at Coxsackie on the Hudson. On June 18, 1872, she was married at Coxsackie to William Dwight Mead, whose death occurred July 3, 1910. To them were born five children, Charlotte B., Juliaette A. (now Mrs. M. B. Williams), Arthur Elting, Adelia May and William Dwight. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, active in the missionary work and in all the adult societies of the church. She was the first president of the York Woman's Club, a department club of two hundred and seventy-five members. Organized in 1911. She served as president for two years and afterward was first vice-president. For two years she was secretary of the Nebraska Federation of Woman's Clubs and is now, for the second time, chairman of the Fourth District N. F. W. C. She has attended many state conventions of the Federation and had a prominent part in them. The only other organization, aside from club and church societies, to which she belongs, is the Order of the Eastern Star. She believes in equal suffrage and has given her aid and influence for suffrage in Nebraska. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 105 MARY MUNCHOFF Surnames: Munchoff, Niklass, Kempner, Marchesi, Cowen, Balling, Suter, Hegar, Noren, Shumann, Gewandhaus, Safonoff, Mengelberg, Weingarter, Steinbach, Housegeer, Panzer Mary Munchoff was born in Mt. Vernon, Ind., of German-American parents, later moving to Omaha. She began study in Berlin with Frau Prof. Selma Niklass-Kempner and continued her studies in Paris with Mme. Mathilde Marchesi for two years, to whom she also returned each fall for several years to give her repertoire an artistic standard, which secured for her a prominent place among the first concert singers of the day. Numerous concert tours through Germany, russia, Switzerland, Great Britain, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, etc., gave the feted singer an opportunity to display her phenomenal art, and seldom has a singer so comquered by storm the hearts of the public as did Mary Munchhoff. She sang in numberous symphony concerts under the most celebrated conductors of the day, such as Arthur Nikisch in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Safonoff in Moscow, Mengelberg in Amsterdam, Weingarter in the Kaim concerts of Munich, Steinbach in the Gurzenich concerts in Cologne, Hausegeer in the Museum concerts of Frankfort, Panzer in Bremen, Dr. F. Cown in Liverpool, London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, Herz in New York, Herbert in Pitsburg, Balling in Karlsruhe, Suter in Basel, Hegar, in Zurich, Gottlieb Noren in Krefeld, Prof. Shumann in Berlin, etc., etc., etc., and gave many song recitals in the principal musical societies of Great Britian and the continent, besides singing in oratorio. She has sung in many eities in America and received always the most favorable criticism. She is a member of the Omaha County Club, The Tuesday Morning Musical Club, and the Drama League, and maintains a studio in Omaha. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 106 MRS. CHARLES F. MOREY Surnames: Morey, Turner, Riordan Anna Riordan Morey, artist, of Hastings, was born in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 12, 1859, the daughter of Henry Clay and Stella (Turner) Riordan. She attended the Chicago public schools, the Dearborn Seminary and studied in the Chicago Art Institute. She was married in Chicago, June 27, 1883, to Charles Freeman Morey. They have one son, Olive Riordan Morey. Mrs. Morey is an artist and lecturer of not on art subjects. She has had paintings hung in a number of Chicago exhibits and has had ceramic work displayed at many exhibits, notable among them being at the Columbian Exposition at which she received two medals, one for work exhibited in the Woman's building and the other for an exhibit in the Mereantile building. Her china and pottery have received awards at state fairs and at the Omaha Exposition. She has delivered illustrated lectures on art and travel in public schools and before many clubs and conventions. She has contributed many articles on various art subjects to newspapers, magazines and art journals. She was for several years chairman of the art committee of the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs and a member of the art committee of the General Federation. She has on several occasions traveled with an art collection and furnished in this way delightful club programs. In religious faith she is an Episcopalian. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She maintains two studios, one in Hastins and one in Chicago. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 107 MRS. PHILIP POTTER Surnames: Potter, Clark, Andrew, Williams, Polk, Mather, Franklin, Pierce Fannie May Clark Potter of Omaha was born in La Porte, Ind., April 11, 1855, the daughter of Elias Hicks Clark and Phebe Ann Andrew Clark. The family came to Nebraska from Indiana in April, 1856. Mrs. Potter's father was a lawyer, and having some knowledge of civil engineering, surveyed and plotted the town, Ft. Calhoun, and induced many relatives and other families to settle there. Among the latter were such names as Polk, Mather, Franklin and Pierce. Mrs. Potter is descended through her father from Philadelphia Quakers and through her mother from Dr. John Andrew, who served as surgeon through the full seven years of the Revolutionary War. She has a just pride in her grandfather, Dr. J. P. Andrew, a man of spotless character, whose life and labors in Washington County, Nebraska, in pioneers days, stand pre-eminent among his contemporaries. Mrs. Potter was graduated from Brownell Hall in 1873, at that time the only institution of learning in Nebraska giving diplomas. She received in that school the gold medal for scholarship. On Sept. 29, 1874, at Ft. Calhoun, she was married to Philip Potter, a descendant of roger Williams. Five children were born to them, Meta Temple (deceased), Aubrey, Faith, Cedrick, and Arthur Cuthbert. Mrs. Potter is an Episcopalian and one of the most prominent church women in the state.. She is president of the Woman's Auxiliary of the dioces of Nebraska and is president of the Omaha Sociel Settlement. She has been one of the most active supporters of the settlement since its organization. She is the author of a "History of Brownell Hall," which covers the history of the first fifty years of the institution. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 108 MRS. JAMES N. PAUL Surnames: Paul, Mitchell, Mary Frances Paul, who is president of the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs, was born at St. Joseph, Mo., April 20, 1850, the daughter of Samuel and Elmira (Mitchell) Paul. She was educated at the convent of Loretto, from which she was graduated in 1867. On Dec. 23, 1868, at Kansas City, Mo., she was married to James N. Paul, now judge of the District Court at St. Paul, Neb. They have four sons, Charles Howard Paul, Herbert J. Paul, James Leonard Paul, and Willard Samuel Paul. Mrs. Paul has her financial interest in the banking business. She was vice-president of the St. Paul National Bank; is president of the Oconto (Wis.) State Bank, and a stock holder in the Overton Bank, Kearney Central National Bank and the Twin Falls (Idaho) Commercial Savings Bank. She has been chairman of the Sixth District N. F. W. C., was vice-president of the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs and in 1915 was elected to the presidency. She has been a delegate at the last six biennial meetings of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. She is a P. E. O. and was a charter member of the Self Culture Club and its president for six years. She is a member of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Paul feels very strongly on the question of equal suffrage and counts it a blot on our national honor as a democracy that women have not long ago been given the franchise. Judge and Mrs. Paul came to Nebraska in early days and endured the hardships of the pioneer and have seen the growth of the state from territorial days, to its present high standard among other states. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 109 MRS. EDGAR BYRON PENNEY Surnames: Penney, Freeman. Kellison Minnie Mae Freeman Penney was born at Raymond's Corner, Pa. Feb. 25, 1868, the daughter of William Elder and Sarah Loviea Freemen. The family came to Nebraska in 1871 and were among the first settlers in Howard county, where they lived for many years. She received her education in the Nebraska Wesleyan University and was a member of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority. She taught school for several years and was married on April 22, 1891, in Omaha to Edgar Byron Penny. Their home is in Fullerton. They have two children, Freeman Seth Penny, and Fredric Doyle Penney. Mrs Penny is a member of the Episcopal church, the D. A. R. and the O. E. S. She is president of the Fullerton Civic Improvement Club, which founded the public library and was instrumental in having Home Economics introduced in the public schools. She is state chairman of the Literature department N. F. W. C. and is a member of the Literature Committee of the General Federation. Mrs. Penny's name belongs among the list of heroines of the state because of having saved the lives of the seventeen children who made up her school at Myra Valley district on Jany. 12, 1888. The date is memorable in Nebraska because of the terrible blizzard which swept across the state, the worst storm in its history. Minnie Mae Freeman was then only a girl in her teens but she rose to the emergency with heroism and good judgment, which made her name famous everywhere at the time. The morning of January 12th was fair and unusually warm for the season of the year; toward noon the clouds gathered and at the close of the noon recess the storm broke with awful fury. The door of the schoolhouse was blown from its hinges and the snow blew into the room, making the fire in the stove a little value in keeping the children warm, had there been enough fuel to keep the fire. The shriek of the wind made it almost impossible for the teacher's voice to be heard, but she gathered the children about her and told them of how serious the situation was; the children in Nebraska in the early days knew for themselves what a blizzard meant. The young teacher realized that they would perish from cold before morning if they stayed in the school house; the nearest farm house was a mile waya, and she concluded that the best chance for life was to try to reach the farm house. She cautioned the children to keep together and to stay with her saying, "We will live or die together." Just how the journey was made, groping in the darkness of that blinding snow, driven by the fierce wind which swept across the prairie, no one was able to tell, until more dead than alive the children with their brave teacher, fell into the door of the Kellison farm house from the tip of a high snow drift before the door. The teacher has always said that, He who watches over His own, guided that little band. "Through the desert and illimitable air. Lone, wandering but not lost" to safety. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page111 MRS. WARREN PERRY Surnames: Perry, Wilder, Correll, Van Borsen, Dorenms, Van Rensselaer, Van Der Hoof, Van Der Cook, Van Horns, Van Ness, Van Lude, Rubens, Jans, Jansen, Bunkers, Sherwood Lulu Correll Perry was born in Hebron, Neb., the daughter of Erasmus M. and Lucy (Wilder) Carrell. Her Mother is descended from the Bunkers of Charleston, Mass., George Bunker having come to America from France in 1630, and from whose ownership in the Historical Bunker Hill received its name. In the sixth generation she is a descendant of Benjamin Bunker, armorer and seaman, serving through the Revolutionary War. In her father's family they have the records of direct lineal descent since 1503, of the Van Der Cook family of Selandt, Holland, and of the Van Lude and the Rubens families. Also records of direct lineal descent from Prince William, of Orange, through his granddaughter, Annekeje Jans, in two lives; first from her first husband, Roelof Jansen, through the families of Van Borsen, Dorenms, the Van Rensselaer and Capt. Van Der Hoof, who is her Revolutionary ancestor, whose daughter married Ensign Simon Van Der Cook, also a Revolutionary ancestor. Then through Annekeje Jans and her second husband, Evardus Bogardus, she has direct lineal descent through the Van Horns and Van Ness of Haarlem, Holland, whose daughter, Cornels Van Ness, married her patriot ancestor, Michael Van Der Cook, of New York. These ancestors had six sons and thirteen grandsons who served in the Revolutionary War. Their grandson, Michael Van Der Cook, served as Major during the war of 1812. Mrs. Perry specialized in music, studying in the Nebraska Conservatory of Music, at the Chicago Conservatory with William Sherwood and with private teachers. On Oct. 26, 1898, she was married to Dr. Warren Perry at Hebron. Their home now is in Fairbury, Neb. Mrs. Perry is a member of the Christian church and for twenty-five years has been a teacher in the Sunday school and assisted with the music of the church for the same length of time. She is a very prominent Nebraska D. A. R., she has been regent of her local chapter, state vice regent four years, and state regent two years. She was vice-president of the Oregon Trail Commission, which marked the trail across the state. She is now engaged in compiling a book, "Reminiscences and Anecdotes of Early Nebraska," to be published by the Nebraska society of D. A. R. She is a member of the P. E. O. sisterhood; of the Woman's Club and the leader of its home and music departments; of the United Stated Daughters of 1812; of the State Historical Society and of the local Library Board. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 113 MRS. W. A. POYNTER Surnames: Poynter, Kice, McCorkle, Bickford, Campbell Maria Josephine McCorkle Poynter, of Lincoln, wife of the former governor of the state, is one of Nebraska pioneers, having located in Boone county in 1879, before there were railroads in that part of the state. She was born in Washington, Ill., April 4, 1849, the daughter of Joseph Byram and Cynthia Ann (Kice) McCorkle. Her father and grandfather were ministers, her father's family moving to Illinois from Kentucky in 1830. Her paternal grandmother was a Campbell and traced her ancestry to the Campbell Clan of Scotland. Her mother's people were also Illinois pioneers, going to that state from Virginia in about 1830. Mrs. Poynter was educated in Eureka College, graduating in 1868. On Oct. 12, 1869, she was married at Eureka, Ill., to William A. Poynter. Two children were born of them, Charles W. McCorkle Poynter and Josephine Mary (Poynter) Bickford. Mrs. Poynter is a member of the Church of Christ, and active in all of its interests. She is a member of the Century Club of which she has been president. For several years she was vice-president of the Lincoln Woman's Club; for ten years she has been a member of the board of Directors of the Y. W. C. A.; she is a member of the W. C. T. U.; an active worker in the City Improvement Society and served on the advisory boards for state institutions. She is a member of the Nebraska Ladies' Legislative League, by virtue of her husband having been a member of the Legislature, a state senator and governor of Nebraska. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 114 ELIA W. PEATTIE Surnames: Peattie, Cahill, Wilkinson, Ershine, Towne While Elia W. Peattie lives now in Chicago, she began her literary work in Nebraska, and was one of the pioneer workers in the club movement of that state. Elia Wilkinson Peattie was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., Jany. 15, 1862, the daughter of Frederic and Amanda (Cahill) Wilkinson. She received her education in the public schools. On May 10, 1883, she was married in Chicago, to robert Burns Peattie. They have four children, Edward Cahill, Barbara (Peattie{ Erskine, Roderick and Donald. She began newspaper work in the Chicago Tribune, and after the family moved to Omaha she was for eight years editorial and writer for feature articles for the "Omaha world Herald." Among her first magazine stories was "Jim Lancy's Waterloo," a story of the Nebraska prairies and of the hot winds which used to blight the corn. The story was widely read and she was seriously taken to task by the realestate dealers, who said that her story had done much to keep eastern people from locating in the wind-swept prairies. For the past twelve years Mrs. Peattie has been literary editor of the "Chicago Tribune," and her book reviews are among the best published anywhere. She is a short story writer and has written or "Century," "Scribner's," "Harper's," and most of the other high-class magazines. She has written a dozen or more books, among them, "A Mountain Woman," "The Story of America," and others, On May 8, 1893, when the Omaha Woman's Club was organized, Mrs. Peattie was one of the charter members, and she and Mrs. Harriet Somers Towne represented the club at the biennial of the General Federation in Philadelphia in 1894. She was one of the first librarians of the Nebraska federation and did much to establish traveling libraries in Nebraska. As long as she lived in the state she had an active part in the work of the federation. She is a member of the colonial Dames and belongs to the Episcopal church. She is an active suffragist and is a member of Illinois Equal Suffrage Association. She is much interested in settlement work and is a woman very democratic in her views. She has an attractive personality; is unusually gifted as a speaker as well as a writer and is famed for her clever conversational powers. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 116 SUSAN PAXSON Surnames: Paxson, Williams, McHugh Miss Susan Paxson was born in Manchester, Iowa, in the same house which she still calls "home." It was this beautiful Iowa town-site that her father, Charles Paxson, coming "out West" from Chester county, Pa., chose as his home, holding Chicago, then a mere cranberry patch, in much less esteem. Here he engaged successfully in banking and other business enterprises and later married Miss Mary Jane Williams, and here, in the beautiful cemetery, in the silent company of Manchester's revered pioneers, they both are now sleeping. Miss Paxson was graduated from the Manchester High School and the State University of Iowa. She studied at Colorado Springs and the University of Chicago, receiving her M. A. from iowa, in 1903. She is Phi Beta Kappa, Kappa Kappa Gamma, a member of the Easten Star Lodge, and a charter member of the Omaha Political Equality League, being its first corresponding secretary. She is a member of the Methodist church. From early childhood Miss Paxson had always desired to be a teacher, the kind of teacher Agassiz had in mind when he exclaimed: "I wish to be remembered for having trained one real thinker" and agreeing with Dt. Hoffman that "Latin is the most logically constructed of all the languages, and will help more effectually than any other study to strengthen the brain centers that must be used when any reasoning is required." She set to work to perfect herself in the art of teaching Latin. Immediately upon her graduation she was chosen principal of the LeMars, Iowa, High School. Her success was remarkably conspicuous. Three years later she was called to Manchester by the death of her father and was prevailed upon to take the principalship of the High School there. But LeMars would have her back and she returned. Going later to Omaha, where for eighteen years she has taught German and Latin in the Central High School. Miss Paxson's articles on pedagogical subjects have attracted wide attention. Her pamphlet, "Hints for Latin Teachers," was published by America's leading book company and sent free by them to 5,000 teachers. Equally pleasing is her article, "Latin, A Live Factor in Mental Insurance." But Miss Paxson is best known through a work that is distinctively hers alone, the writing of suitable Latin plays for high school and college pupils. No one before had though of the possibility of simple plays, all in Latin, as a means of stimulating interest and enthusiasm in this important branch of learning. The success of "A Roman School," and "A Roman Wedding," has been far greater than their author dreamed of. They have been staged in hundreds of schools and colleges and have been sent for from Pekin, China, and London, England. Miss Paxson has tow other plays, "A School Girl's Dream," and "Roma non delenda est," about ready for the publishers. She has also prepared a Handbook to be used by teachers in conducting a Latin society. Miss Paxson enjoys travel. In 1900 she made a tour of Europe in company with Miss Kate McHugh and other friends. Miss Paxson has two unfulfilled hopes. She wishes to see the privilege of the ballot given to both men and women, but upon a literacy qualification only, and she wishes to see a course of Bible instruction in the grade schools. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 118 MRS. LAURA BIDDLECOMBE POUND Surnames: Pound, Biddlecombe, Mathewson, Read, Williams, Brown, Field, Harris, Southwick, Angell Laura Biddlecombe Pound, wife of the late Judge Stephen Bosworth Pound, Lincoln, Neb., was born in Phelps, N. Y., May 15, 1841. She is a daughter of Joab Stafford Biddlecombe and his wife, Olivia Mathewson, who were of colonial stock, the families both having come to America from England in 1630 with the Boston colonies. Sarah Read, the mother of Joab Biddlecombe, was a descendant of Col. Thomas Read, of Salem, and Laurence and Cassandra Southwick, the Quaker marthyrs. Mrs. Biddlecombe's ancestors upon her mother's side, originally from the Boston colony, followed Roger Williams to Providence, R. I., where they established a settlement. The names of thomas Angell, the Rev. Chad Brown, John field, and Thomas Harris, ancestors of Mrs. Pound, all appear upon the first agreement for the government of the City of Providence made in 1636, said to be the first declaration of religious tolerations ever made in the world. Mrs. Pound was educated in the public schools and later attended the Macedon (N. Y.) Academy, and Lombard University in Galesburg, Ill. She was married Jan. 21, 1869, to Stephen Bosworth Pound, and in February removed to Lincoln, Neb. Where Mr. Pound had resided for two years. For ten years, from 1880, and to 1890, she was a member of the board of directors of the Lincoln public library. She was a member of the Ingleside Literary Club, and retained her membership as long as the club existed. This was the first literary club in Lincoln to have a constitution and keep a record of its proceedings. She was a charter member of the Haydon Art Association, afterwards nerged into the Nebraska Art Association, and of the City Improvement society; also a charter member of the Women's Club, in which she served for a time as leader of the science department. Mrs. Pound is a prominent member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Nebraska, and has for times been elected state regent, in 1896, 1897, 1901, 1902. She is a charter member of the local chapter, in which she has held the offices of historian and registrar. She is also a member of the State Historical Society. Mrs. Pound is the mother of three children, Roscoe Pound, Professor of Law in Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.; Louise Pound, Professor of the English Language, University of Nebraska; Olivia Pound, teacher of Latin, Lincoln, Nebraska High School. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 120 MRS. LILLIAM POLLOCK PARMELE Surnames: Parmele, Pollock, Kerr, Renick, Dovey Lily Kate Pollock, daughter of Thomas Pollock and Mary Renick Kerr, was born in Madison, Ind., Sept. 28, 1862; married at Plattsmouth, Neb., Dec. 18, 1889, to Charles Clavin Parmele, a banker; died in Plattsmouth, March 17, 1915. Lily Kate Poloock attended the public schools of her home town and afterwards was a student at Parsons College, Fairfield, Iowa. Later she became a teacher in the Plattsmouth schools and continued in this work until her marriage. Early in life she united with the Presbyterian church and always afterwards was active in the work of the church and the Sunday school. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the line of descent being through her great, great grandfather on her mother's side, Alexander Renick, a soldier in the War of the Revolution. For many years she was an active member of the P. E. O. society, president of its local chapter in Plattsmouth, and later of the state organization; she afterwards devoted much of her time and strength to the work in which the society was engaged, in assisting young women of limited means and high ambitions, to opportunities for higher education. In this work she acted as the society's secretary, and she applied herself to its requirements with that conscientious devotedness to duty, which was a part of her life, and long after her failing health admonished her to cease. For two years she was recording secretary of the Supremem chapter of P. E. O. Mrs. Parmele was the mother of two children, Hallie Adele, who married Geo. O. Dovey, and lives in Plattsmouth, and Pollock, still at home. Mrs. Parmele had traveled through the eastern and western pates of the United States and in western Canada, and early in 1914 the family took a trip to Japan and China, hoping that the sea air and a change in surroundings might be beneficial to her failing health. While yet a young woman, and after concluding her education, she visited for part of a year with relatives in Maryland and Virginia, and letters which she wrote home at this time are treasured in her family as showing her strong descriptive powers and her cheerful and animated spirit. She has indeed a rare gift as a letter-writer, an art now often deplored as being lost. Her style was easy and graceful, full of the insight and apprehension of her quick mind, always natural, and her letters conveyed so truly and vividly the impressions made upon her that she herself seemed to speak out from the written page. Mrs. Parmele was queenly in her presence, her stature tall and graceful, her features regular and beautiful, and her expression sweet and winning. The key to her character was her unselfish and generous nature and her devotion to others-always thoughtful, tender and loving. Domestic in her taste and devoted to her home, bright and vivacious in conversation, the center and leader of those with whom she was associated; she was a wife and mother to pattern after, a sister always to be remembered with the tenderest affection, and an ornament to woman-kind. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 122 LOUISE POUND Surnames: Pound, Bosworth, Biddlecombe, Angell, Brown, Southwick, CLAPP Louise Pound, professor of the Latin language, University of Nebraska, was born in Lincoln, Neb., June 30, 1972, the daughter of Judge Stephen Bosworth and Laura (Biddlecombe) Pound. Her ancestors on both sides were of colonial stock, many being prominent in public affairs of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Among them may be mentioned Tomans Angell, the Reverend Chad Brown, of Providence, and Laurence and Cassandra Southwick, the Quaker martyrs. She was educated at University of Nebraska; B. L., 1892; A. M., 1895. Graduated student, University of Chicago, summer quarters, 1897, 1898. Student University of Heidelberg, Germany, 1899-1900 (two semesters), Ph. D., University of Heidelberg, 1900. She is a graduate of (piano) Department of Music, University of Nebraska, 1892. A fellow in English Literature, University of Nebraska, 1895-96; Assistant Instructor, 1897-1912; Professor, 1912-. She was tennis champion of Nebraska, women's singles, 1891; tennis champion of Nebraska, women's singles, 1891; tennis champion, University of Nebraska, both in men's and women's singles, 1890-91. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa scholarship fraternity (local corresponding secretary, 1905-1910) of Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity (province- president, 1915) of various class-societies; of various local social; Literary, and philanthropic organizations, and of the Lincoln Country Club. She is a member of the Modern Language Association of America; of the American Folk Lore Association; of the American Dialect Society (district secretary); of the International Phonetic Association; of the Association of Collegiant Alumnae (director, Nebraska Branch, 1904-1898; national councillor, 1912-13); of the National Council of English Teachers; of the Daughters of the American Revolution; of the National Association of American University Professors. She is the suthor of the following books: "The Comparison of Adjectives in English in the XV and XVI Centuries," Heidelberg, 1900 (Anglistische Forschungen series); "Blends: their Relation to English Word-Formation," in same series, 1914. She has prepared editions of Goldsmith's "The Deserted Village" and Gray's " Elegy," Ginn and Company, 1909; Shakespeare's "Henry VI," MacMillian, 1912 (Tudor Shakespeare series); Tennyson's "Lancelot and Elaine," American School Supply Company, Lincoln, 1905. She is the author of the following pamphlets: "Collegiant Basket-Ball rules for Women," (with Mrs. R. G. Clapp) 1908; "Outlines of the History of English Literature," "The Southwestern Cowboy Songs and the English and Scottish Popular Ballads," Modern Philology, October, 1913; "Traditional Ballads in Nebraska," She is a woman of very unusual ability, and a critic in speaking of her Nebraska folk-songs, says: "Dr. Pound is the collector of folk-songs sung in Nebraska and has compiled a work on this topic which took the labor and investigation of ten years. It was her endeavor to get the songs which went by word of mouth and would pass away with the death of the singers. Many of these songs were of early settler or cowboy origin and of local inspiration and dwelt upon some particular incident or situation of pioneer or homestead life. Dr. Pound is equally interested and an accepted authority upon early English, especially the pronunciation of early Saxon words, and the various dialects of the old Heptarchy. Dr. Roscoe Pound, dean of the Harvard Law School, is a brother to Dr. Louisa Pound." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 125 MRS. THEODAORE C. PARKS Surnames: Parks, Spencer, LeBette, Cadwell, Rager, Richardson Florence Adalaide Spencer Parks was born Jany. 16, 1857, in the town of Nantucket, Nantucket Island. Her father, Rhodes G. Spencer, was a sea captain. Her mother was Elizabeth Bunker (LeBrette) Spencer, born on Nantucket Island and possessed very strong characteristics of the Puritans and Quakers. When Mrs. Parks was a little girl five years old the family made a journey from Nantucket Island around Cape Horn up to San Francisco, then across to Hawaii, where they lived from 1861-1865. They returned to Rhode Island by the way of the Isthmus of Panama. In 1870 the family moved to Nebraska. Her school days began in Honolulu, Hawaii, after which she attended in Rhode Island, and in Ashland, Neb., followed by a course in the Nebraska State Normal in Peru. For several years she taught school very succ4essfully. On Dec. 24, 1881, she was married to Theodore C. Parks, who is a successful farmer in Cass county. Mr. and Mrs. Parks were married on Christmas eve in the schoolhouse where Mrs. Parks had been teaching. They have eight children. Lulu (Parks) Cadwell, Addie (Parks) Rager, Grace Parks, Carl Harrison Parks, Pearl (Parks) Richardson, Sedwick Rhodes Parks, Daisy Irene Parks, and Mattie Violet Parks. Mrs. Parks has served the South Ashland Woman's Club (organized in 1904) as president and in other offices. This is a rural club and furnishes the social activities for the community. She is now parliamentarian of the club. In religious faith she is as Congregationalist and is president of the Ashland High School Alumni Association. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 126 MRS. A. G. PETERSON Surnames: Peterson, Clark, Kendall No woman in Nebraska is more widely known among club women than is Mrs. Carrie M. Peterson, of Aurora. She has held many places of responsibility for the Nebraska Federation of Women, she has been district chairman, vice-president-at-large and state president and editor of the "Nebraska Club Bulletin." In the General Federation she has been State Secretary and is now one of the directors. She is a P. E. O., well know in a national way, was treasurer of the Nebraska Grand Chapter and was president of the Nebraska Grand Chapter of two terms. For two years she held the highest office in the P. E. O. sisterhood, that of Supreme President. She was chairman of the revision committee for the Supreme chapter, which formulated a new ritual. She was born June 28, 1860, at DeKalb, Ill., the daughter of Charles and Jane (Clark) Kendall. She was educated in the schools of Beloit, Wis., and was married Sept, 19, 1882, at Beloit, to Andrew G. Peterson. Mrs. Peterson is a member of the Christian church and for many years has been a member of the Executive Board as a Trustee. She is a good business woman, is a bank director, and has managed very successfully a number of business enterprises. She has traveled over this country, has crossed the ocean ten times, and traveled in Europe, Asia and Africa. She is a woman of broad charity and of the greatest kindness of heart and modest of her own attainments. She is a strikingly handsome woman and possessed of many social graces. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 127 DR. INEZ C. PHILBRICK Surnames: Philbrick, Brackett, Sewell Inez Celia Philbrick was born May 14, 1866, at Bloomington, Wis., the daughter of Philetus Harvey and Malah P. (Brackett) Philbrick. Her father was for years Professor of Civil Engineering in the State University of Iowa and was an engineer and mathematician of marked ability. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan in the class of 1868. Dt. Philbrick's ancestors on both sides come to New England about 1640. On both sides of the family her ancestors fought in the Revolutionary war and she had a number of relatives in the Civil war. John D. Philbrick, for many years superintendent of the Boston schools, May Wright Sewell, who was Honorary President of the International Council of Women, are relatives. She received her education in the State University of Iowa, B. S. 1886, and M. A. 1889. Her professional education she received in the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, graduating M. D. in 1891. She was one of the very early women physicians to receive a hospital appointment as medical intern. She obtained the appointment on a civil service examination and was intern in Blockley Hospeital, Philadelphis, from November 1891, to March, 1893. Her service included one month as ambulance physician. She is a member of the American Medical Association; the Nebraska State Medical Society of which she is vice- president; of the Lancastar Co. Medical Society of which she is secretary, and she is president of the Woman's Medical Club in Lincoln. For four years she was president of the Nebraska Equal Suffrage Association and has been president of the Lincoln Equal Suffrage Association. In religious faith she is a Unitarian, a member of All Souls' church, Lincoln, and is an active supporter of the church service, thoroughly enjoying the freedom of its fellowship and ideals. Dr. Philbrick has practiced her profession in Lincoln since April, 1893. She has been active in her professional work, has written many papers for various medical conventions and associations and has contributed to the leading medical journals. She was instrumental in having the medical school inspection established on its present basis in Lincoln. She is one of the most efficient suffrage workers in Nebraska, and has often written and spoken in public, relative to the advancement of women. She did her full share in having women members elected to the school board in Lincoln. She considers woman suffrage as the most necessary next step in obtaining good government and for the broadening and enlightening of American women. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 129 E. RUTH PYRTLE Surnames: Pyrtle, Davis Miss e. Ruth Pyrtle of Lincoln was born near Charleston, West Va., the daughter of James lee and Elizabeth S. (Davis) Pyrtle. She received her preparatory education in the high school at Lexington, Neb., after which she attended the University of Nebraska from which she was graduated in 1904, received her Master's degree in 1907 and is working for a Ph. D. degree. For twelve years she has been a principal of the public schools of Lincoln and is now principal of the McKinley Junior High School, having seven hundred pupils under her jurisdiction; this is the largest grade school in Lincoln. For several years she has been an institute instructor, having taught teachers' institutes in all sections of Nebraska. She counts her most interesting business experience, homesteading a farm of one hundred and sixty acres at Herrick, South Dakota, in 1905-06. She has written a "History of the Public Schools of Lincoln." Which is now in the library of the University of Nebraska. She is a member of St. Paul's M. E. church of Lincoln, and superintendent of the Junior Department of the Sunday school. She is auditor of the Lincoln Woman's Club; chairman of the School and Home garden work of Lincoln. She is a member of the Y. W. C. A., W. C. T. U., the Social Service Club, of the Equal Suffrage League, beside church societies. She is an extensive traveler, having been in all but four states of the United States, traveled in Canada and Mexico and through eight European countries. She finds her chief recreation in travel. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 130 MRS. MARY PLEAK Surnames: Pleak, MacMurphy From the pen of Mrs. Harriet S. MacMurphy comes the following history of Mrs. Pleak, who died July 17, 1916, at the age of eighty years: "Thirty-five years ago Mrs. Mary Pleak and her son, Robert, eight years of age, come to Omaha from new York state. Within a week she had rented some rooms in an old house of Tom Murray's on Davenport, near Sixteenth street, set up a blackboard outside and wrote on it, 'Home Bakery.' Another week saw her bread so much in demand that it was always sold out by night. The roof leaked and the rooms were small, there were no modern conveniences, and of the number that came to see and buy, many discouraged her by work or manner. But she was not built to fail. Sturdy, well-poised, bright-eyed, alert, she accepted encouragement and its opposite alike, and for more than twenty years the substantial homes of Omaha bought Mrs. Pleak's bread. Very few knew, even among those who formed a more than business acquaintance with her, that she was a cousin of William Dean Howells, the writer; that her family were people of means, culture and standing in the eastern home she came from. ;I had my son and myself to care fore,' she said, 'I did not choose to be dependent on my family; I did not care to have my son compare his simpler mode of life with the more luxurious one of his relatives, so I did what so many were doing, came to the west where there were opportunities for me and my boy when he grew into them.' After a time she moved with the growing business to a better location and finally bought a home near the High School, built a little bake shop back of it, had a flower bordered entrance to the little shop in the house which supplied the homes of Capitol Hill with bread and cakes and pies. When the Trans-Mississippi expositions was held in Omaha a model kitchen was built in the Agricultural building of sacks of flour in the form if a windmill. It was Mrs. Pleak's task to bake about twenty loaves of bread a day from those flours and demonstrate to the multitude the methods and the flours. This she did and demonstrated at the same time that a woman can go out in the world and by well planned, carefully executed home work, make her way. And not alone for herself but others. Her son, grown to manhood, because of her loving teaching, showed the same quiet devotion to duty that she had manifested and taught him. A little girl that needed care was made a member of her household and always shared its loving life. She did not leave a legacy, but much more than money could give is the beautiful silvery line of good deeds that will shine down the pathway which her spirit has taken as it left her earth home." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 132 SARAH MINIER SANBORN WEAVER Surnames: Weaver, Minier, Sanborn, Brown, Goodale Sarah Minier Sanborne Weaver was born in Elmira, New York, May 2, 1886. She is the daughter of George Gandby and Imogen (Minier) Sanborne. Her father who resides in Philadelphia was born in Gandby, Conn., Oct 15, 1852, and whose ancestors came to Massachusetts and Connecticut prior to 1700. Imogen Minier Sanborne was born in Minier, Illinois, Aug. 9, 1852, and died in Philadelphia, Aug. 2, 1905. Her father, George W. Minier, was a pioneer educator, farmer, and minister, was the first man in the United States to accept a nomination on the Prohibition ticket, running for Congress, after being assured that there was no danger of his election. Mrs. Weaver received her preparatory education in the Girls' Classical high school of Philadelphia, after which she attended Bryn Mawr College, being graduated A. B. in 1908, majoring in Latin and Mathematics. For three years she taught mathematics at Brownell Hall, Omaha, and for four years taught in the Omaha schools, teaching civics in the Omaha High School of Commerce. She is an Episcopalian. During her residence in Omaha she was secretary of the Story Tellers' League, and did a good deal of social settlement work. She is a member of the D. A. R., joining on the service of Daniel Minier, Lieut. Obediah Brown and Chester Goodale. Her journalistic experience includes a history of Bryn Mawr, a series of outlines of literature work for grammar schools. She is the author of "The Bridges of the World," and "The Indian Room." She was married in February, 1916 to Mr. Walter Gerald Weaver, an attorney of Alice, Texas, where they reside. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 133 MRS. J. R. EVANS Surnames: Evans, Townsend, Burgess Pearl Esther Townsend Evans was born May 3, 1884, at Marshalltown, Iowa, the daughter of Haron Wallace Townsend and Julia Ellen (Burgess) Townsend. She received her education in the University of Iowa and in the University of Nebraska. She is a member of the Delta Zeta sorority. For thirteen years she practiced the profession of dentistry and has contributed papers and articles to dental journals and magazines. On may 14, 1913, she was married at Lincoln, Neb., to Mr. Jesse Reamer Evans, of David City, where they still reside. She is a member of the First Baptist church. She is a member of the Ingleside Club, and a member of the Civic Improvement Club. She is State Chairman of the Conservation Committee of the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs, and is a member of the Conservation Committee of the General Federation. In that capacity she is working for the establishment of the national park in the Pine Ridge region of Nebraska, and for a "Pioneer Women's Memorial Mile." On the Lincoln Highway. She is vice-president of the Board of Directors of the Public Library of David City. Her father traces his lineage in a direct line to the year 1066 when William the Conqueror granted a large estate in the northwest part of the county of Norfolk, Eng., to the Baron Townsend, in return for military service. The estate was known as Raynham. Raynham Hall is still in the possession of the Twonsend family and is still in a splendid state of preservation. Mrs. Evans' mother was a portrait painter and her brother, Louis A Townsend is the inventor of the Auscultophone, a medical instrument for testing heart and lungs. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 134 ROS ROSICKY Surnames: Rosicky, Among the Nebraska newspaper women Miss Rose Rosicky holds a unique postion. She is on the editorial staff of the "Osveta Americka," a Bohemian newspaper, one of the greatest of its kind in this or any other country. She is the daughter of John Rosiicky, a veteran Bohemian publisher of Omaha, who published "Osveta Americka," a prominent and popular newspaper among Bohemians everywhere. The paper was originally a weekly, established in 1892. It was purchased by John Rosicky, who combined it with the "Kanihavna Americka," keeping the name of the former. Rose Rosicky was her father's secretary, and upon his death continued to work in the editorial department of the paper. Her brothers, John G. and Walter Rosicky, have charge of the business management. They also published "The Hospodar," a farm paper, established in 1890. Miss Rosicky designs the special covers which are executed by an artist. She edits the special departments, the Woman's World, and the family page. Her work is all well done; she had the diligence and particular exactness about her work which characterized her father and his work. She is very modest of her attainments, and indeed, having grown up in the newspaper office, she scarcely realizes the extent of her influence over a very wide reading public. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 135 MISS BELLA ROBINSON Surnames: Robinson, Foster Miss Bella Robinson, concert pianist and composer, was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Feby, 27, 1870, and has resided in Omaha for the past seventeen years. At the age of ten years she was considered a child-wonder, playing from memory programs beginning with Bethoven's Moonlight Sonata and ending with Liszts' Palonaise in E. For five years she studied with Neally Stevens, of Berlin, who was a pupil of Franz Liszts; at the same time she studied harmony and composition with Frederick Grant Gleason and Prof. Charles Balten, of the Cincinnati College of Music. When she was a young woman less than twenty years old, she composed an opera, "The Smugglers of Senovton;" she organized the plot, composed both music and libretto, worte the orchestra score, produced the opera and conducted the whole thing successfully. It was a very unusual musical achievement and on the occasion of the presentation of the opera in Council Bluffs, her birthplace, she was presented with a handsome gold medal by the city. In Europe she studied with Prof. Lesehetizky, of Vienna, Austria. While in Europe she traveled extensively, visiting many places of artistic and historic interest. Returning to Omaha she took up concert work and teaching in Omaha, St. Joseph, Mo., and in Sioux City. In her concert work she is accompanied by her sister, Virginia Robinson Foster, a violinist. She was a charter member of the Tuesday Morning Musical Club and of the Clef Club, the latter being composed of the professional musicians of Omaha. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 136 EDITH LUCILE ROBBINS Surnames: Robbins, Haskell, Fergusson, Foght Edith Lucile Robbins, concert singer and teacher of voice, is well known in Nebraska, not only for her success as a mucician, but also for her deep interest in education for women. From her parents, who were self-made college graduates, Alphonso Marsh Robbins, Lawyer, and Cynthia Haskell Robbins, teacher, Miss Robbins received sympathetic stimulation to her educational ambitions. At the age of seven her studies in music were begun. These continued through her school and college life. Miss Robbins holds two degrees from the University of Nebraska. As an aid to her son interpretation, Miss Robbins specialized in English Literature, taking her M. A. degree in this work. After graduate and post-graduate studies in voice, Miss Robbins studied in Chicago. She then made a second trip abroad for further voice study. The years 1910-11-12-13, were spent in Germany, under the guidance of the voice master, George Fergusson, of Berlin. During these years she not only carried on her own voice studies but she was privileged to hear the daily lessons given by Mr. Fergusson to his artist pupils. Miss Robbins has traveled in nearly every country in Europe in son research. One summer was spent in Norway in study of Norwegian songs. Her programs are the result of active research in many lands. Since her return from Europe she has been a member of the faculty of the University School of Music. She has been actively engaged in concert, oratorio, and lecture-recital work, besides her studio classes in voice. She is an active member of the Matinee Musicale, the Musical Art Club, the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, and the Woman's Club. Of Lincoln. Although born in Dixon, Ill., Miss Robbins has lived from childhood in Nebraska. She is truly a Nebraska woman. She belongs to a family whose members have always been interested in professional work. Her twin brothers, H. A. and H. W. Robbins, of Lincoln, and of Omaha, are graduates of the U. of N. Law college. Her sister, Dr. Emma E. Robbins, of the P. and S. College, of Chicago, is the head of the Lettie Mason Quine Hospital, Chinkiang, China. Her brother, F. W. Robbins, concert pianist, is the director of the piano department of the Horner Institute of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Mo. Her sister, Alice Robbins Foght, is the wife of H. W. Foght, specialist in rural education, Bureau of Education, Washington D. C. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 138 MRS. CHARLES B. RUSTIN Surnames: Rustin, Wilkins, Wood, Lowe, Bailey Mrs. C. B. Rustin of Omaha before her marriage was Mary Elizabeth Wilkins, born at West Union, Ohio, in 1836. Her parents were Daniel Putnam Wilkins and Susannah Bailey (Wood) Wilkins. Her father was a lawyer in Ohio and practiced when his circuit covered the greater part of the state. He was also editor of a newspaper published in West Union, Ohio. Her mother was descendant of Richard Bailey, who was one of the company which established the first cloth mill in America at Rawley, Mass. While Mrs. Rustin was still a child her father died and her mother moved to Keosauqua, in Van Buren Co., Iowa, and here it was that she received her early education. After completing the course of study in a school of which the Rev. Daniel Lowe was principal, she taught school in Troy and in Bloomfield, nearby towns. While teaching in Bloomfield she received an offer to open a school at Sioux City. There had been no schools in Northwestern Iowa and it was her privilege to establish the first school in that section. It is interesting to not how she had to make the journey, as it was long before there were railroads. She went down the Des Moines River to Keokuk, then down the Mississippi to St. Louis, and up the Missouri river to Sioux City. After traveling in this way to twenty-seven days she arrived at Sioux City, April 27, 1857. She taught here for two years, resigning to be married on June 29, 1859, at Keosauqua, to Charles Bradley Rustin. Their children are Claire, James W., Henry, Frederic and Wilkins. Their first home was at Sioux City and they began their home-making in the turbulent days of the Civil War and when the Indians were dissatisfied with the white settlers coming into new territory and were much of the time on the war-path. Their home was a center open to refugees who came into the settlement, driven by fear of the Indians. The settlers about Sioux City were not prepared to defend themselves, so Mr. Rustin volunteered to ride on a pony to Council Bluffs, the nearest telegraph station, to telegraph to Gov. Kirkwood for troops to protect the settlers. He was a young man then twenty-five years old, a good horseman and fearless. Mrs. Rustin stood that evening at Seven o'clock with her baby in her arms, and watched her husband ride away into the thick woods alone, in his effort to save the lives and property of his neighbors, and at nine o'clock the next morning he rode into Council Bluffs. The telegram was at once dispatched and Gov. Kirkwood ordered that the regiment at Council Bluffs, just ready to start for the south, should be sent to Sioux City. Accordingly they marched to the north, bringing protection to the harassed settlers and driving the Indians back to their own reservations. The Governor ordered the organization of the Northern Border Brigade and Mr. Rustin was made Adjutant. When safety was assured the Rustins decided to move to Omaha, where the conditions were more normal and the Indians less troublesome. Mrs. Rustin has had a part in the growth and progress of Omaha since pioneer days. She is a member of the Congregational church, is president of the Omaha Garden Club, a member of the Tuesday Morning Musical Club, the Omaha Society of Fine Arts, the Y. W. C. A., the Social Settlement Association and the Visiting Nurse Association. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 140 MRS. MAUDE E. REMINGTON Surnames: Remington, Downing, Gray Mrs. Maude E. Remington, state secretary of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, was born Feby, 1, 1871, at Xenia, Nodaway county, Mo., the daughter of John Pierson Downing and Louisa (Gray) Downing. Her father and grandfather both fought in the Civil War; her grandfather, George A. Downing, was captain of a company, and her father Adjutant General. When she was fifteen years of age the family moved to Frontier county, Nebraska, where she taught school and attended the Malalier University at Bartley, Neb. On Feby, 1 1889, she was married to George A. Remington on the homestead in a sod house six miles south of Stockville, Neb. She lived the first ten years of her married life in a sod house and here her three children were born. One child died in infancy, her two sons are Hugh Downing Remington, age twenty-four years, and Omar Austin Remington, age twenty-one years. Mrs. Remington is on of the active temperance and suffrage workers of Nebraska. She is president of the local W. C. T. U. at Cambridge, president of the Furnas County organization and state recording secretary of the W. C. T. U. She belongs to a Union Church organization, has for years been a teacher in the neighborhood Sunday school and has been organist and chorister for twenty-three years. She was president for two years of the Cambridge Tourist and belongs to the O. E. S. Mrs. Remington might be taken almost as a type of western woman, one who endured pioneer hardships, triumphing over every difficulty and coming at last to the enjoyment of every comfort in a modern home and all the whilde doing her share in the progress of the little world about her. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 141 MRS. JOHN M. RAGAN Surnames: Ragan, Hall, Shallenberger Pauline Shallenberger Ragan was born at Toulon, Ill., April 6, 1855, the daughter of Martin and Eliza (Hall) Shallenberger. Mrs. Ragan attended school in Toulon and in Cincinnati, Ohio. On Dec. 20, 1882, she was married at Toulon to Mr. John M. Ragan, an attorney of Hastings, Neb., to which city they came to live immediately after their marriage. They still live in the same house to which she came as a bride. Their home has always been open to entertainment of their friends and is one of the centers of the social and literary life of Hastings. They have two sons, John M., Jr., and Paul Ragan. Mrs. Ragan is a member of the Hastings Woman's Club, of which she has been president, and of the Goerge Eliot Club. She has been for four years chairman of the State Committee of Forestry and Waterways of the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs. For ten years she served as a trustee on the Library Board of the first public library established in Hastings. She is a member of the Board of Education, a director of the Sunnyside Home and of the Civic Board of Charity. She has traveled in every section of the United States and through much of Canada, has made one trip to Cuba and three extended journeys over Europe. She is an omniverous reader and has one of the largest private libraries in the state. She organized in 1889 one among the first literary clubs in her home town. She has been especially interested in the young women and for more then fifteen years has had one or more groups of girls studying literary topics under her direction and meeting at her house. She is one who gives daily the best that is in her for the good of the community in which she lives. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 142 MRS. JOHN M. RAGAN Surnames: Ragan, Hall, Shallenberger Pauline Shallenberger Ragan was born at Toulon, Ill., April 6, 1855, the daughter of Martin and Eliza (Hall) Shallenberger. Mrs. Ragan attended school in Toulon and in Cincinnati, Ohio. On Dec. 20, 1882, she was married at Toulon to Mr. John M. Ragan, an attorney of Hastings, Neb., to which city they came to live immediately after their marriage. They still live in the same house to which she came as a bride. Their home has always been open to entertainment of their friends and is one of the centers of the social and literary life of Hastings. They have two sons, John M., Jr., and Paul Ragan. Mrs. Ragan is a member of the Hastings Woman's Club, of which she has been president, and of the Goerge Eliot Club. She has been for four years chairman of the State Committee of Forestry and Waterways of the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs. For ten years she served as a trustee on the Library Board of the first public library established in Hastings. She is a member of the Board of Education, a director of the Sunnyside Home and of the Civic Board of Charity. She has traveled in every section of the United States and through much of Canada, has made one trip to Cuba and three extended journeys over Europe. She is an omniverous reader and has one of the largest private libraries in the state. She organized in 1889 one among the first literary clubs in her home town. She has been especially interested in the young women and for more then fifteen years has had one or more groups of girls studying literary topics under her direction and meeting at her house. She is one who gives daily the best that is in her for the good of the community in which she lives. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 143 MRS. J. ROWAN Surnames: Rowan, Lamphere, Dudley Helen Mar rowan was born in New Haven, Mich., Feby, 25, 1871, the daughter of Ezra and Celestine (Lamphere) Dudley. She received her education in the public schools of Michigan and Nebraska; is a graduate of the Kearney High School and afterward took normal training. For several years she taught in the public schools of Nebraska. On Feby 15, 1896, she was married in Chicago to Jerry Rowan. She is a member of the Alliance Woman's Club and was for four years its president. For several terms she was state treasurer of the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs. From 1910 to 1913 she was chairman of the Library Extension department of the N. F. W. C. She is a past Worthy Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star. In 1903 she held the office of Grand Vice Chancellor of the Pythian Sisterhood. Since its organization in 1909 she has been a trustee of the Alliance Public Library Board and was one of the little group of women who secured for Alliance the Carnegie Library. She has traveled extensively in the United States, Canada, and in Mexico. She believes in the justice of equal suffrage, questions its expediency but is emphatic in saying she is not an "anit." She is interested in the issues of the day; thinks out present day questions, to what is to her a logical conclusion and then lines up strongly on one side or the other, she says 'usually with the minority." She is not one to seek the easy tranquil way of life but prays rather, "Grant me the struggle, that my soul may grow." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 144 HELEN LUCILE STEIN Surnames: Stein, Shane Helen Lucile Stein of Hastings, reader and interpreter of literature, was born in Caly Center, Neb., June 9, 1889, the daughter of Herman E. and Jennie Grafton (Shane) Stein. Her father is a leading merchant of Hastings and her mother is a leader in the society and club life of their home city. Miss Shane was graduated from the Hastings High School, she took a course in the Milwaukee Downer School for Women, then attended the Comnock school in Los Angles, and in 1914 was graduated with honors from the North Western School of Oratory at Evanston, Ill. She has natural ability as a reader, having won first place in a state declamatory contest when she was only a little girl. Her natural ability, supplemented by her study, has made her a finished reader and a successful teacher of dramatic art. She is a member of the Episcopal church and an active faithful church woman. She is a member of the Woman's Club and is an enthusiastic worker for woman suffrage, to which cause she has given much time. She is interested in social service work in its various phases, and has both sympathy and understanding for all classes of people, and has done work along this line greater than one would expect in so young a woman. In her professional work she is ambitious and her friends believe that the future holds much for her along this line. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 145 GRACE SORENSON Surnames: Sorenson, Brown, VanCamp Grace Sorenson, author and editor, was born in Omaha, which city is still her home. She is the daughter of Alfred and Mary R. (Brown) Sorenson. Her father, a graduate of the Harvard Law School, is on of the well known newspaper men in the middle west. He is editor of the "Omaha Examiner," a weekly publication, and is the author of the "History of Omaha" Her mother's father, William D. Brown, was the original ferryman between Omaha and Council Bluffs, and was the real founder of Omaha. He was one of the seven original owners of the town- site of Omaha. Her mother's sister, Helen A. Brown Van Camp, was a writer of short stories and poems, which have appeared in leading magazines. With this heritage back of her it is not strange that Grace Sarenson should have developed into an editor and writer. She was graduated from the Portland, Oregon High School, after which she entered the University of Michigan, from which she was graduated A. B. in 1909. That same year she published a book of humorous verse, "Home-Made Jingles," which had a side sale. Her work as an editor and publisher began in her teens. For several years she edited "The Children of the United States," a monthly magazine for boys and girls. She sold this to devote her time to the completion of her college course. She has edited the children's page on a half dozen of the Sunday issues of Eastern city papers. She is at present editor, publisher and sole owner of "Every Child's Magazine," a monthly periodical which has thousands of readers in all parts of America. She is a member of the League of American Pen Women, and of the Omaha Woman's Press Club. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 146 EUNICE STEBBINS Surnames: Stebbins, Stubbs 1.Miss Enice Stebbins, teacher in the english department of the Omaha High School, was born in Omaha, Dec. 24, 1872. She is the daughter of Charles Sumner and Sara Ann (Stubbs) Stebbins. Her father is of English descent, his ancestors coming to New England in Colonial days. Her mother is also of English descent, the Stubbs family being Pennsylvania Quakers. Miss Stebbins received her preparatory education in the Omaha High School, after which she attended the University of Nebraska and was graduated B. S. from Cornell University. She is a member of Sigma Xi, an honorary scientific fraternity. She is a member of A. C. A. and other self- culture and philanthropie clubs. She is interested in social settlement work. She is one of the active suffrage workers in the state and is a member of the Omaha Equal Suffrage Association, of the Equal Franchise Society and of the Political Equality League. She has done all sorts of work to advance woman suffrage in Nebraska, has done house to house visiting, street speaking during the campaign. Her father and mother are also much interested in the cause of suffrage for women. Professionally she is a teacher, having taught successfully for twenty-one years. She has spent much time in travel, visiting England, Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, and almost every part of the United States. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 147 DR. MARY STONG Surnames: Strong, Page, Bayley Mary Strong was born Dec. 4, 1854, in Oxford, New Hampshire, and died March 21, 1916, in Omaha. In the years of her life she accomplished much for humanity and in her death left an enduring name and permanent influence. She was the daughter of Ephriam B. and Amanda J. (Page) Strong. Her father was descended from on of the first settlers of Connecticut, his emigrant ancestors landing at Newburgport, Mass., in 1630, going through the wilderness to Connecticut. Nine of her ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, one of them, Gen. Jacob Bayley, of Vermont, holding commission from Gen. Washington. Her mother's father was Capt. Enoch Page, of the War of 1812. She had the honor too, to be a May Flower descendent. Dr. Strong attended the Oxford public schools and academy and was graduated in 1877 from the State Normal School of New Hampshire. She taught school for several years in New Hampshire, Vermont, Kansas, and in Nebraska. In 1888 she was graduated from the Medical School of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Continuously from that time until her death she practiced medicine in Omaha. She was for years professor of Clinical Obstetrics in Creighton Medical College. From 1889 she was attending physician to the Salvation Army Rescue Home and lost not one mother in attending seven hundred cases in that home. She was a woman of strong Christian character, was a Bible teacher and a deaconess in the Plymouth Congregational church. Miss Emily Strong of the State Normal School of Milwaukee is her sister. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 148 MRS. DRAPER SMITH Surnames: Smith, Taylor, Woodward Mrs. Draper Smith, president of the Nebraska Woman Suffrage Association from 1912 to 1915, was Henrietta Ingram Woodward before her marriage, She is the Daughter of Clement and Mary A. (Taylor) Woodward. In 1876 she was married to Draper Smith of Cover, Mass., who died in 1909. She has one son, Arthur Draper Smith, who is married and has three daughters. She is a member of the Omaha Woman's Club and served as its president, 1898-1900. She was leader of the Social Science Department from 1905-1910. She was president of the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs from 1901-1903. In 1907 she was appointed by the Governor of Nebraska as one of five State Labor Inspectors, which position she held for five years. When the bill for the Mothers' pension law was being agitated she was vice-president of the Mothers' Pension League, organized to secure the passage of the bill. In 1912 she was elected president of the Nebraska Equal Suffrage Association. In 1912 she was vice-president of the Nebraska State Charities and Correction Conference. She is chairman of the Juvenile Court Committee of Douglas county by appointment of the Judge of the District Court. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Nebraska Association for the prevention of tuberculosis. She is secretary of the Board of Directors of the Omaha Associated Charities. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Omaha Settlement Association and a member of the Board of Directors of the Omaha Play Ground Association. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 149 MRS. ARTHUR C. SMITH Surnames: Smith, Tewkesbury, White Harriet Foster White Smith was born June 28, 1868, in Boston, Mass. She is the daughter of Joseph Huntington and Ellen Danforth (Tewkesbury) White. Her father is a direct descendant of Samuel Huntington, on of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. She was educated in a private school in Boston. On Nov. 2, 1892, she was married at Brookline, Mass., to Arthur C. Smith. Six children were born to them, Harriet Huntington Smith, Joseph Huntington Smith, Helen Danforth Smith, Grace White Smith, Arthur C. Smith, Jr., and Esther Smith. Their home is at Maple Lawn on Park Ave. Omaha. Mrs. Smith is a communicant of All Saints church. She is a member of the Omaha Society of Fine Arts, of which she was president in 1913 and 1914. She organized the Tuesday Morning Musical Club in February, 1893, which is one of the most prominent clubs of the city. She is vice-president of the club. On June 15, 1908, she organized the Colonial Dames and is president of the Nation Society of Colonial Dames resident in Nebraska. She also organized the Anti Suffrage Society in Nebraska. She is a member of the Omaha Civic League and has tried to rid the city of dandelions by offering prizes to the school children for several years, for exterminating this weed. For many years she has been a member of the Creche board; she is a member also of the Drama League, the Y. W. C. A., the social Settlement and of the Visiting Nurse Association. She is very fond of music and enjuoys outdoor sports, horseback riding, skating, and swimming, and has traveled extensively in this country and in Europe. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 150 MRS. R. G. WALSH Surnames: Walsh, Akers, Karns, DeAcer, Edison, Walsh, Beardsley Mrs. R. G. Walsh, of Morrill, Neb., whose maiden name was Cora Akers, was born May 4, 1869, in Millersburg, Ia., the daughter of William R. and Susan (Karns) Akers. The history of the Akers family is traced to the days of the Crusades. One of the soldiers under the command of King Richard, distinguished himself for bravery in battle near the city of Acer. In reward, the king gave him the city and the plains surrounding it, and gave him the name, John De. Acer. The name has been changed in its spelling from time to time until this Western branch bears the name Aker. Mrs. Walsh's father, William Aker, an attorney by profession, was born in Ohio but came to Iowa when a child. He was educated at Cornell College and served with the Seventh Regiment Iowa Volunteers during the Civil War. Mr. Akers represented the thirteenth district in the Senate and drafted the first Nebraska irrigation laws. Mrs. Walsh attended the Des Moines High School, after which she attended Hasting College. She taught school in Scotts Bluff county, being one of the pioneer teachers in that part of the state. In 1892 she was married to Robert G. Walsh, who is a second cousin to Thomas Edison. To them were born seven children, Irene Beardsley of Billings, Mont., John G. of Los Angeles, Marguerite E., William R., Mildred K., Esther M. and Ruth A. Mrs. Walsh is a member of the Methodist church and for nine years has been a trustee. For eight years she has been a member of the Board of Education, is a member of the O. E. S., and is president of the Woman's Literary Club, and belongs to the Twentieth Century Club. (End of File)