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.

Axtell, James Wickliffe (1852-1909). Partner in Axtell, Orr, and Company, owner of the Home Monthly. Born in Waynesburg, PA, the first son and third child of Reverend Philip Axtell and Eliza Gibbons Axtell, James W. Axtell graduated from Waynesburg College in 1870 and married Mary Minor in 1874, with whom he two children who survived infancy, Clara and Philip. After establishing the Waynesburg Independent, Axtell moved to Pittsburgh, PA, in 1877 where he was a partner in the publishing firm Axtell, Rush, and Company, and founded the National Stockman and Farmer magazine. In partnership with Thomas E. Orr, Axtell purchased the Ladies’ Journal and changed the name to the Home Monthly. On the recommendation of Charles Gere, Axtell hired Cather to edit the Home Monthly. She stayed with the Axtells briefly on her arrival in Pittsburgh in June 1896 and edited the Monthly until June 1897. The Axtells left Pittsburgh for Nashville, TN, in 1899, where James managed the Cumberland Presbyterian publishing house until his 1909 death in Lincoln, NE, at the home of his daughter, Clara Axtell Poynter.

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).

Cather, Mary Virginia Boak (1850-1931) (“Virginia” or “Jenny”). Cather’s mother. Born in the Virginia to William Lee Boak and Rachel Seibert Boak, Virginia was educated in Baltimore, MD, and was a schoolteacher until her marriage to Charles Fectigue Cather in 1872. Her husband’s family were primarily Union supporters during the Civil War while her family supported the Confederacy (three brothers served in the Confederate Army although their mother opposed slavery). After her marriage she tried to help unite the divided family. Four of her children, Willa, Roscoe, Charles Douglas, and Jessica Virginia, were born in Virginia, while three, James Donald, Elsie Margaret, and John Esten, were born in Nebraska after the family moved there in 1883. Despite occasional differences, Cather remained in affectionate contact with her mother, who remained in Red Cloud, NE, where the family settled in 1884. After her husband’s death in 1928 Virginia Cather suffered a stroke while visiting her children and their families in California. She spent nearly three years in a sanitarium in Pasadena, CA, unable to speak. Willa Cather visited her there several times but was unable to travel quickly enough from Grand Manan to Red Cloud for her funeral and interment after she died in Pasadena in 1931. Virginia Cather was the prototype for Victoria Templeton in “Old Mrs. Harris” (1932), which Willa Cather completed shortly before her mother’s death.

Archer, Frederic (1838-1901). British composer and organist; director of Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh. Born and educated in England, Frederic Archer moved to Pittsburgh, PA, where he was the city organist, the director of Carnegie Music Hall, and the conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He gave over 400 public organ concerts at Carnegie Music Hall, one of which Willa Cather attended on June 27, 1896.

Hall, Pauline Fredrika Schmidgall (1860-1919). American singer and actress. Born in Cincinnati, OH, Pauline Schmidgall began her stage career in 1875 as a dancer. She toured with actress Mary Anderson in legitimate drama, then in 1880 joined Edward Rice’s company, where she performed both male and female parts in operetta. Her biggest hit on Broadway and on tour was in Erminie (1886-88). In 1890 Hall formed her own touring company; Cather saw her perform in Lincoln, NE, on several occasions, and in 1894 defended Hall vigorously when she was attacked by a minister in Sioux City, IA. In The Song of the Lark (1915) the Moonstone Orchestra plays selections from Erminie (book I, ch. 8) at a town concert, and a picture of Pauline Hall in tights is mentioned (book II, ch. 11).

Tucker, Carlisle F. (1875-1941) (“Carl”). Cather’s university classmate. Born in Massachusetts to Francis C. and Emily Tucker, Carlisle had three brothers and one sister, Louise. The family moved to Lincoln in the early 1890s, where his father was an engineer for the Burlington Railroad. Carlisle attended the University of Nebraska with the class of 1895 but did not graduate. In 1896 Carlisle was teaching music in Lincoln, but the family apparently left Lincoln soon thereafter. Cather mentions Tucker in her review of a student performance of classical plays in 1894.