Hills, Laura Coombs (1859-1952). American painter. Born in the coastal town of Newburyport, MA, Hills began studying painting as a child. Early in her career she exhibited works in oil, watercolor, and pastel, illustrated children’s books, and undertook design work. From the 1890s she became a noted painter of miniatures on ivory; in the 1920s diminishing eyesight caused her shift to pastels of flowers. Throughout her life Hills spent her summers in Newburyport. In 1903 she moved her winter studio to 66 Chestnut Street in Boston; artist Karoline Bernheimer shared the space while Hills’ sister Lizzie handled domestic duties. When Cather was on assignment in Boston for McClure’s Magazine in 1907, she took an apartment on Chestnut Street, leading to a lifelong friendship and correspondence.

Lewis, Edith Labaree (1881-1972). Magazine editor, advertising copywriter, and Cather's domestic partner. Born in Lincoln, NE, to Henry Euclid Lewis and Lillie Gould Lewis, Edith Lewis attended the preparatory school associated with the University of Nebraska, earning college credits from the University before transferring to Smith College in Northampton, MA, in 1899. She received an A.B. in English from Smith in 1902 and returned home to teach elementary school. She met Willa Cather in the summer of 1903 at the home of Sarah Harris, publisher of the Lincoln Courier. Moving to New York City soon afterward, Lewis settled into a studio on Washington Square and found work at the Century Publishing Company. Cather was her guest when she visited the city from Pittsburgh. In 1906, at Cather's suggestion, Lewis applied for a position as an editorial proofreader at McClure's Magazine, and the two women worked together on the McClure's staff for six years. In 1908, they moved into a shared apartment at 82 Washington Place, and then, in 1912, to Five Bank Street. Lewis left McClure's in 1915 to become managing editor of Every Week Magazine, where she stayed until the magazine folded in 1918. In 1919 she began a long career as an advertising copywriter at the J. Walter Thompson Co. In 1926 Edith Lewis acquired the land on which she and Cather built their cottage on Grand Manan Island. When they lost their apartment on Bank Street to subway construction in 1927, they shared quarters at the Grosvenor Hotel when they were both in New York City. In 1932 they took an apartment at 570 Park Avenue. Throughout their relationship, Lewis was closely involved in Cather's creative process, reading and editing her work in pre-publication forms. Cather's will appointed Lewis as executor of her literary estate and a beneficiary of her literary trust. Lewis authorized E.K. Brown as Cather's first biographer and published her own memoir of Cather, Willa Cather Living (1953). She remained in their Park Avenue apartment after Cather's death and died there after a long period of illness and invalidism. She is buried at Cather's side in Jaffrey, NH.

Mellen, Mary Virginia Auld (1906-1982) (“Virginia,” “M.V.”). Cather's niece. Born in Red Cloud, NE, to Jessica Cather Auld and James William Auld, Mary Virginia graduated from Red Cloud High School in 1924 and then spent a year at Dana Hall in Wellesley, MA, to qualify for admission to Smith College in Northampton, MA. In 1929 she received an A.B. in psychology from Smith and then moved to New York City, where she found work at Lord & Taylor before telling her aunt of her arrival. In 1930, probably with Willa Cather's help, she secured a position in the Circulation Department of the New York Public Library. In 1931, she entered the library's internal training school and in 1932 was assigned to the Tremont branch library in the Bronx. After Mary Virginia’s parents divorced in 1933 Cather took a quasi-parental role. She paid for vacations and when, in 1935, Mary Virginia married Richard (Dick) Mellen, a graduate of Harvard Medical School and roommate of her brother William Thomas Auld at Amherst College, she supervised wedding arrangements. After Dick was commissioned as a doctor in the Air Force, Mary Virginia—much to Cather’s regret—accompanied him to Chattanooga, TN, where he was assigned. In Cather's will, Mary Virginia was designated a beneficiary of the literary estate.

Williams, Nola Ruby Nicholas Menuhin (1919-?). Australian socialite Born in Australia, daughter of George and Ruby Nicholas, Nola Nicholas met Yehudi Menuhin in London, England, in 1938; they were married two months later. Nola’s brother George Lindsay Nicholas married Yehudi’s sister, Hephzibah Menuhin. Yehudi and Nola had two children before divorcing in 1947. She subsequently married Wing-Commander Anthony Williams.

Hills, Lizzie Bayley (1862-before 1952). Sister of Laura Coombs Hills. Born in Newburyport, MA, third daughter of Philip K. Hills and Mary Hills, Lizzie Hills lived first with her parents, and then, after 1900, with her sister, artist Laura Coombs Hills. At their summer home in Newburyport, Lizzie Hills grew many of the flowers which Laura became famous for painting in pastels. Cather knew Lizzie Hills through her acquaintance with Laura Coombs Hills.