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.

Howlett, William Joseph (1848-?). American Catholic priest and author. William Howlett taught in Rev. Joseph Machebeuf’s parochial school in Denver, CO, before being ordained as a Catholic priest in 1876. He served as chaplain of the Sisters of Loretto beginning in 1913. Howlett’s Life of the Right Reverend Joseph P. Machebeuf, D.D. (1908) was Cather’s primary source for creating Father Joseph Vaillant in Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927). Howlett’s other books include Historical Tribute to St. Thomas Seminary at Poplar Neck, near Bardstown, KY (1906) and Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx (1915).

Raverdy, Jean Baptiste (1831-1889). French-American priest. Born in the city of Rheims, France, Jean Baptiste Raverdy was educated at Chalons and, volunteering for missionary work, came to Santa Fe, NM, in 1859. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Lamy, then accompanied Father Machebeuf to Colorado territory in 1860. Machebeuf’s letters noted that Raverdy was ill at ease preaching in English, and around 1867 he made Raverdy his secretary and chief administrator, and eventually Vicar-General of the new diocese. Raverdy died after returning from a visit to France, shortly after Machebeuf’s own death. Cather knew of Raverdy through her research for Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927), whose main characters are based on Bishops Lamy and Machebeuf.