Gere, Mariel Clapham (1874-1960). Cather’s university friend; a teacher. Mariel Gere, eldest daughter of Charles H. and Mariel C. Gere, born in Lincoln, NE, entered the University of Nebraska's prep school in the same year Cather did. She and her sisters visited Cather several times in Red Cloud, NE. Both were members of the Union Literary Society until Gere joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority in 1892. Gere graduated in the science course and taught chemistry at Lincoln High until 1941. She also served on the Lincoln City Library board for many years. Cather and Gere remained friends and correspondents; Gere defended Cather from accusations that she had been arrogant and friendless during her university years.

Gere, Ellen Bladen (1875-1941) (“Ned” or “Neddums”). Cather's friend. Ellen Gere, the second daughter of Charles H. and Mariel C. Gere, was born in Lincoln, NE. She visited Cather in Red Cloud, NE, with her sisters, and Cather included her in her correspondence in the 1890s. Ellen Gere entered the University of Nebraska in Lincoln around 1892, but graduated with the class of 1899. In the 1920s she adopted two children, believing, with her friend Dorothy Canfield, that women who wanted to be mothers did not have to be married.

Gere, Frances C. (1877-1965). Cather's friend. Frances Gere, the youngest child of Charles H. and Mariel C. Gere, was born in Lincoln, NE. She entered the University of Nebraska in 1894 and graduated in 1898. Like her sisters, Mariel and Ellen, she joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and lived in Lincoln the remainder of her life.

Gere, Ellen Bladen (1875-1941) (“Ned” or “Neddums”). Cather's friend. Ellen Gere, the second daughter of Charles H. and Mariel C. Gere, was born in Lincoln, NE. She visited Cather in Red Cloud, NE, with her sisters, and Cather included her in her correspondence in the 1890s. Ellen Gere entered the University of Nebraska in Lincoln around 1892, but graduated with the class of 1899. In the 1920s she adopted two children, believing, with her friend Dorothy Canfield, that women who wanted to be mothers did not have to be married.

Cather, Charles Fectigue (1848-1928). Cather’s father. Charles Fectigue (possibly Fectique) Cather was born in the Back Creek Valley of Virginia, north of Winchester. His family were sheep raisers who were largely, but not entirely, Union supporters during the Civil War. He married Mary Virginia Seibert Boak, daughter of Confederate supporters, in 1872. In 1883 he and his family followed his parents, William and Caroline Cather, and brother George to Webster County in Nebraska, where various cousins and uncles had also settled. Initially he ran a ranch in the county but soon moved his family into the town of Red Cloud, where he had an insurance and real estate business. Four of his children, Willa, Roscoe, Charles, and Jessica, were born in Virginia, while three, James, Elsie, and John, were born in Nebraska. Cather’s relationship with her father was very warm: she made regular visits to her parents in Red Cloud and especially enjoyed her father’s letters expressing appreciation of her novels. A week after she concluded a visit to her ailing father in Red Cloud, he died of heart disease. He served as the prototype for Hillary Templeton in “Old Mrs. Harris” (1932).

Bessey, Carl Athearn (1879-after 1960). American electrical engineer. Born in Iowa, one of three sons of botanist Charles E. Bessey and his wife Lucy, Carl grew up in Lincoln, NE, where his father was professor of botany at the University of Nebraska. He earned an A.B. (1897) and then his B.Sc (1899) in electrical engineering from the university by the time he was twenty. Like his two brothers, Carl was elected to Phi Beta Kappa; Cather jokingly referred to the Bessey brothers as boring people with “their learnedness” (#0014). After teaching two years at Oklahoma A & M College in Stillwater, Carl worked as an electrical engineer in New York and Chicago. He married Elizabeth Haines in 1921.

Bessey, Edward Athearn (1875-1910). American electrical engineer. Born in Iowa, one of three sons of botanist Charles E. Bessey and his wife Lucy, Edward grew up in Lincoln, NE, where his father was professor of botany at the University of Nebraska. He earned an A.B. (1896) and a B.Sc. (1898) in electrical engineering at the University of Nebraska. Like his two brothers, Edward was elected to Phi Beta Kappa; Cather jokingly referred to the Bessey brothers as boring people with “their learnedness” (#0014). Edward worked for Colorado power companies before being appointed to teach electrical engineering at the Colorado State Agricultural College in Ft. Collins, CO, in 1909. He married Marion Trotter of New York in 1908, and they had one child, named for Edward’s father.

Bessey, Ernst Athearn (1877-1957). American botanist and educator. Born in Iowa, one of three sons of botanist Charles E. Bessey and his wife Lucy, Ernst grew up in Lincoln, NE, where his father was professor of botany at the University of Nebraska; he later collaborated with his father on a college botany textbook. Ernst earned an A.B. (1896) and an A.M. (1898) at the University of Nebraska. Like his two brothers, Ernst was elected to Phi Beta Kappa; Cather jokingly referred to the Bessey brothers as boring people with “their learnedness” (#0014). He took his PhD at the University of Halle in Germany, and then taught botany at the University of Nebraska, the University of Louisiana, and at Michigan State College, where a building is named after him. His wife, Edith Higgins, was a 1901 graduate of the University of Nebraska; they had two sons, who also became university professors.

Julius Caesar (c. 102 BCE-44 BCE). Roman statesman and general. In the 58-49 Gallic Wars (58 BCE-49 BCE) Caesar brought all of Gaul under Roman control, establishing his reputation as a military leader. At the time of his assassination by C. Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, he was dictator for life of Rome. In a number of Willa Cather’s works, most notably The Song of the Lark (1915) and The Professor’s House (1925), characters read Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War.