Seeing Green Lawn Through Women's Eyes

Mary Minor Wharton

Mary Miner Wharton (1821-1909)

Daughter of one of the original pioneer families to settle Franklin and Madison Counties, Mary Wharton was a woman of independent thought. In an era when women could not vote and were expected to "keep within their sphere" of domestic life, Mary personally lobbied the Ohio Legislature for a bridge over the Scioto River at Green Lawn, and for a flood levee on the west side of the river. Her efforts were successful. She helped establish Green Lawn Cemetery on land that had once been her father's -- the Old Miner Farm. At her death, she was mourned as the oldest living settler in Franklin County.

Leonora Perry (1848-1848)

She was the first resident to be buried in Green Lawn. The infant daughter of one of the new cemetery association trustees Aaron Perry, Leonora was interred on 7 July 1848, but her body was subsequently removed to another cemetery.

Peggy Thompson (? - 1807)

Nothing much is recorded concerning the life of Peggy Thompson. Her fame has come down to us only through her death, which caught the imagination of Green Lawn trustee, P. W. Huntington. When Green Lawn Chapel was built in 1902, Mr. Huntington donated the funds to have a Tiffany window created in her honor. The inscription of the North window states:

To the glory of God and in sacred memory of Peggy Thompson, who died in Franklinton, Ohio, in the year 1807, this window is dedicated, January 9, 1902. She was the first white woman whose death is of record within the territory now occupied by the City of Columbus. Of her brief residence nothing is known, except that she was a communicant in the First Presbyterian church organized in Franklin County. Her body rests in an unmarked grave, but her spirit dwells in the unfading light of immortality.

Elizabeth Phelps Goodale (1744-1809)

Elizabeth Goodale was the daughter of Captain John Phelps, a veteran of the French and Indian Wars and the wife of Nathan Goodale, a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Living in Massachusetts at the time of the Revolution, Elizabeth was left to provide for her family of five small children while Nathan was occupied with the war. Afterwards, Elizabeth and her band of eight children became part of a risky migration when Nathan decided to accompany his commander General Rufus Putnam on an expedition to the Ohio Country.

Traveling across the Allegheny Mountains in wagons drawn by oxen, then floating down the Ohio River by flatboat, the first group of settlers arrived on the 19th of August 1788 at a settlement they named Marietta. Fighting famine and Indian attack, and trying to meet the needs of their children, pioneer women like Elizabeth lived lives of hardship. Elizabeth's situation was made all the more difficult when Nathan disappeared one day while ploughing. He was never seen again. Later it was learned that a white prisoner of the Indians had died of pneumonia near Sandusky and the assumption was that it was Nathan Goodale. In 1800, the Goodale family moved to Franklinton where eldest son Lincoln began to practice medicine. The children Elizabeth left behind at her death became active contributors in the founding of both Columbus and Worthington.

Sarah Starling Sullivant (1781-1814)

Arriving in Franklinton in 1801 as the 16 year old bride of Lucas Sullivant, Sarah faced a daunting life. As the sheltered daughter of a prosperous plantation owner in Kentucky, she was not acquainted with the harsh manual labor required by frontier living. Not one to complain, Sarah accomplished with her own hands much of the work she had always seen assigned to slaves. An attack of malarial fever in 1805 weakened her health so acutely that she no longer had the energy to attend to her tasks. In spite of poor health, however, she was a ministering spirit to all. When General William Henry Harrison made Franklinton his headquarters during the War of 1812, soldiers flocked to the settlement. Many of the Kentucky militiamen were old friends and relatives of Lucas and Sarah. The men were invited to camp in front of the Sullivant house, and Sarah provided food and nursed them when illness struck. It was toward the end of the war when typhus broke out in the camp. As Sarah nursed its victims she contracted the disease and died on April 28. She was only thirty-three and left behind four small children, William Starling, Michael Lucas, Joseph, and a little girl, Sarah Anne, who died the following month.

Sally Wait Merion (1789-1856)

Sally arrived in Franklinton in 1805 with her father Jinks Wait and eventually caught the eye of newcomer William Merion who asked her to be his wife. Sally was much admired throughout the community for her fearless spirit, her boundless energy, and her mouthwatering biscuits, battercakes, and corn bread. She and her husband were friends to homeless children, especially little boys, and usually had four or five living with them at any one time. Many children were made orphans in the early decades of the 19th century by the ravages of the ague (malaria) and cholera. Despite the responsibilities of caring for her own brood of five surviving children, Sally never turned a child away. They were taken in, given food and clothing, and told they could stay as long as they liked providing they abided by the rules. Sally worked late into the evening and liked to have the boys read aloud to her by the light of the tallow-dipped candle. There was a standing offer in the household that whoever could read the Bible through aloud would win $5.00. While no one actually made it all the way through, a few $1 prizes were awarded. Imagine how the lives of these children were changed by Sally's love and caring.

Jane Woods Hoge ( -1861)

Despite having eleven children of her own to attend as well as the many duties the wife of a frontier minister was expected to perform, Jane Hoge worked ceaselessly for many causes. Jane and her husband, the Reverend James Hoge, were passionate advocates of free, public education for the children of pioneer Columbus and spent much time entertaining prominent and influential men in their home who they felt could further the cause. Within the first year of their marriage in 1810, the Hoges established the first Sunday School in Columbus. It was held in their home and math and reading were taught.

There was much opposition at this time to free education, even among thoughtful persons of influence who could not see its benefits for the residents of a frontier settlement. The Sunday School collapsed because Reverend Hoge's congregation objected to teaching the children secular matters on the Lord's day. But Jane was not deterred and continued to work for the rest of her life to bring free education to the community. She was a driving force behind the establishment in Columbus of state schools for the deaf and blind as well as a hospital for those afflicted with mental disease. In 1835, Jane established the Female Benevolent Society to care for the children made homeless orphans by the cholera epidemic in 1833 which carried off one-third of the Columbus population. The Hoge children often testified to the ability of their mother, despite her many responsibilities, to have at the ready her sense of humor and an appropriate witty retort.

Hannah Schwing Neil (1794-1868)

In Columbus this name has become synonymous with the care of homeless women and children. Hannah was married to William Neil who established the first stage-coach company and a chain of coach lines along the major thoroughfares of pioneer Ohio earning him the title of "Stage-Coach King." When railroads began to appear, William switched his attention from coaches to railroad building. He owned the prestigious Neil House, one of Columbus' finest hotels and the Old Vance Farm where OSU would later be located. In short, William Neil was the wealthiest, most influential man of his day.

One would think that the wife of such a man would be content to live quietly in the midst of luxury and comfort insulated from the cares of ordinary folk. But that was not Hannah Neil. While her husband was busily accumulating a fortune, she found her greatest pleasure in giving all of her worldly possessions to the poor and needy. She was even known to give the clothes she was wearing to a needful person. In fact, her granddaughter stated that Hannah had given away every dress she ever owned "except for one black silk." Hannah made her rounds visiting the homes of the poor with such regularity, that her horse Billy knew each alley and each stop of her route. Hannah aided Jane Hoge in her work with the Female Benevolent Society, and she also started her own charitable society. It was first established in 1858 as an industrial school where poor children could learn a skill, but when the numbers of homeless women and children continued to increase, the school evolved. It became the Hannah Neil Home for Women and Children where the spirit and vision of this remarkable women continues yet today. When Hannah died of pneumonia in 1868, crowds of poor folks turned out to pay her tribute. There were so many, in fact, that the church could not hold them all, and they lined both sides of the street in sorrow as the funeral procession passed.

Jane Marshall Sullivant (1808-1823)

Green Lawn claims the distinction of having as residents many heroes from our various wars. But not often noted, are the women who died as a result of complications in childbirth - a peril for them as dangerous as combat. Countless women were sent to an early grave through childbearing. One of these was Jane Marshall. Born in Washington, Mason County KY, she was the daughter of Alexander Keith Marshall and the niece of the renowned first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall. With her mother, Jane came to Franklinton for a visit in the spring of 1824 and captivated young William Starling Sullivant. They were married almost immediately on April 15, 1824. Jane was only 16 and William 21. Their marriage lasted less than a year when Jane died giving birth to her first child, a daughter, on January 7, 1825. Her young husband was inconsolable.

Sarah McDowell Sullivant (1808-1844)

The two other Sullivant brothers married sisters from another prominent family in Kentucky -- the McDowells. Second son Michael married the eldest sister Sarah McDowell in 1827. He brought his 19-year old bride to the home his father Lucas had built for his Sarah and which William had abandoned after the painful death of Jane. Michael was a busy man with large farms to manage and the latest machinery to test. He founded the Ohio Agricultural Society and the Ohio State Fair. One can imagine the many duties of the wife of such a man, and because of Sarah's influence their home became noted for its hospitality and gaiety.

Adding to Sarah's responsibilities was the birth of 10 babies within 17 years and the care of four surviving children. Sarah died giving birth to her 10th child. Constant childbearing had left Sarah exhausted and in ill health and her babies too weak to live for very long. The birth records of her children bear this out: Lucas born 1828 (died within a year), Sally in 1829 (died within a year), Joseph McDowell in 1832, Ann Maria in 1834, Michael Lucas in 1835 (died within two years), Sarah McDowell in 1837, and Lucy Jane in 1839. Sarah's last three children each lived only a few months: Mary Starling born 1841 (lived 3 months), Magdelen McDowell in 1842 (lived 10 months), and "infant son" who died at birth along with his 36-year old mother on 12 December 1844. A portrait of Sarah McDowell Sullivant hangs in COSI's Street of Yesteryear in the Sullivant room.

Margaret Irvin McDowell Sullivant (1810-1831)

Sarah McDowell's younger sister Margaret became Joseph Sullivant's bride. She was 20 and he was 21. They were married only a year when Margaret also died in childbirth leaving Joseph a baby daughter whom he named Margaret in memory of her mother.

Eliza Griscolm Wheeler Sullivant (1817-1850)

The second wife of William Sullivant, a native of New York City, was 14 years younger than her husband. She came to Columbus in 1834 as a bride of 17. The somewhat timid girl was awed by her new surroundings -- a large, white brick residence on the country estate 'Sullivant Hill' that William had built on the west edge of the small frontier town. Eliza was described as a lady of rare ability as well as personal charm. Although she was the mother of five children and presided over a large and hospitable home, she found time to assist her husband in his study of mosses and become an expert botanist and bryologist. Without formal education in the subject, Eliza had learned sufficient Latin, German, and French to easily read botanical terminology and had mastered the difficult skill of dissecting the delicate microscopic entities of mosses. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for botanical studies amazed even her husband.

For the next 16 years Eliza and William worked and traveled together in Ohio and in southern and eastern United States in their botanical pursuits. They conducted field work and prepared many specimens. Many excellent illustrations are believed to have been drawn and arranged into plates by Eliza. Within little more than a decade, her contributions as part of her husband's accomplishments in bryology became recognized in this country and abroad. Eliza Sullivant is regarded as the first woman botanist of Ohio. William lost his second wife suddenly when she contracted cholera at the age of 33 --the same age of his mother when she died of typhus.

Dr. Alice Davidson Gillespie Allen (1855-1924)

Great-granddaughter of Catherine and Abraham Deardurff, early Franklinton pioneers, Alice Davidson Gillespie Allen became one of the first women doctors to practice in Columbus. She became a nurse while she was still a young girl and spent four years at the Imbecile Asylum as governess and two years at the Southern Hospital in Dayton. When her first husband, Robert Gillespie of Dayton, died before she was thirty years old, Alice took over the support of her two daughters, Carol and Bernice, and her widowed mother Malinda Deardurff Davidson.

Longing for a chance at higher education, Alice entered the University of Medicine and Surgery at Cleveland and in 1893 graduated with honors securing a grade of 100-plus and winning a prize of $25 in gold for the best thesis on gynecology. Her post-graduate work was done at the Electro-Therapeutic Institute in New York and upon its completion she returned to Columbus to practice as a specialist in nervous disorders and women's diseases. In 1895 she married Dr. Oswald Allen of Cleveland. Dr. Alice lived for many years on Gift Street not far from where she was born in the old post-office built by her grandfather David Deardurff in 1807. The house in which she set up her practice is still standing on the corner of North Gift and Scott Streets.

Martha Hartway Lawrence (1852-1924)

Ella Kelton Watson (1848-1891)

Born a slave in Powhattan County, Virginia, Martha Hartway at the age of 11 or 12 fled bondage with her sister Pearl and came north on the Underground Railroad. Taken in by the Kelton family, she remained in the care of their household at East Town street until her marriage in the Kelton's Front Parlor in 1874.. Unique bonds of friendship developed between Martha and the Kelton children, especially with Arthur and Ella who were near to Martha's age. The two girls remained solid friends for the rest of their lives. Martha's husband Thomas Lawrence bought two tracts of land from Ella's husband Colonel James Watson. While Ella and James had no children of their own, they took a great interest in those of the Lawrences. Martha and Thomas named their son Arthur Kelton Lawrence after Arthur and their daughter Sarah ("Sadie") Ella Lawrence after their special friend Ella. Going by the name Kelton, the son of Martha and Thomas became an influential physician in Columbus' black community. Martha and Ella shared family experiences, money, clothing, books, and momentos such as photographs for the remainder of their lives. They served as a unique example of how friendship could transcend the racist hatred so prevalent in their time.

Louisiana Ransburgh Briggs (1849-1950)

Louisiana was an original. Her father John Ransburgh of Franklin County had moved to the South in the 1840s, married a southern girl, and settled on a plantation on the Mississippi River at New Madrid, Missouri. Louisiana, named after her mothers' home state, was a true daughter of the South. When the Civil War came to New Madrid in 1862 and Yankees raided his plantation, John decided to send his young daughter North out of harm's way to live with his relatives. But, Louisiana never forgot where her loyalties lay. And she never forgot the sight of those uncouth Yankees standing on her mother's piano.

At the age of 14, she was sent to school at Ohio Wesleyan where she brought her own stool refusing to sit on the same benches with "dirty Black Republicans." She staged a public celebration in the streets of Delaware when Lincoln was assassinated that nearly touched off a riot. After the war, Louisiana met young Joseph Briggs, a Union veteran and a wealthy farmer with a large estate west of Columbus near her father's old homeplace. The marriage progressed happily with the pleasures of children and the duties of a large farm. However, Louisiana secretly nursed her sympathies for the lost Southern cause - an immensely unpopular sentiment to have in Columbus at the turn of the century. Near the Briggs farm was Camp Chase an old prisoner-of-war camp whose cemetery contained the bodies of more than 2,000 Confederate soldiers. It became Louisiana's custom to walk by the cemetery just after dark sometimes accompanied by her children. Clad in a heavy black veil to conceal her identity, she would throw bouquets of flowers into the neglected tangle of weeds and vines that had grown up over the graves. Gradually, such homage earned her the title of "The Veiled Lady of Camp Chase," and through her efforts and those of Union veteran William Knauss, the Confederate cemetery was saved from ruin.

Alice Schille (1869-1955)

Born with exceptional powers of observation, a nimble talent, and a mother who recognized and nurtured both, Alice was destined for greatness. In her day, Alice was considered to be one of the best American water colorists. Her work was nationally recognized, and she received many prestigious prizes including the gold medal for watercolor at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exhibit in San Francisco. Leaving Columbus behind in 1897 to study art in New York, she then moved on to Europe in 1902 to complete her education by absorbing all the art Europe had to offer. Paris soon became her passion. She felt more at home there than anywhere. While she returned to Columbus in 1904 to teach at the Columbus Art School, the lure of Paris continued to draw her. For more than 30 years, Alice returned to France at the end of each school term. While in Paris, she became acquainted with many of the avant-garde artists and intellectuals of the era - Piccasso, Matisse, Gertrude Stein, Juan Gris and translated many of their ideas into her art.

Eager to absorb avant-garde ideas and to share her experiences and her art with both the public and her students, Alice became a cultural catalyst. She was one of the first artists to effectively bring many modern artistic concepts directly from France to the Midwest. As an instructor at the Columbus Art School for nearly 50 years and the doyenne of Columbus artists, Alice helped to broaden the tastes and enrich the artistic vocabulary of Columbus at a time when the community was distrustful of modern art.

Mamie Fisher Thurber (1866-1955)

Columbus humorist James Thurber is often mentioned as being a resident of Green Lawn. But less often mentioned is the fact that his headstone is only one of many that lie nestled within the protection of Fisher family plot. Those eccentric Fishers, especially his mother Mary Agnes or Mamie, were an endless source of wonder and amusement to Thurber. He once stated in an interview with Alistair Cooke that he never really made a conscious decision to become a writer of humor:

My mother made it for me. She was a born comedienne and her antics were pretty well known in Columbus in the eighty-nine years she lived. They're too elaborate to go into here, but a great many of the things I've written were either inspired by her or deal with her .

Thurber's wit, his odd sense of humor, and his uninhibited imagination all were legacies of Mamie. Also Thurber's sense of dramatic flair came directly from his mother who held a secret ambition to be an actress. But in late 19th century America, the status of actresses was akin to that of streetwalkers, so for Mamie to remain respectable her desire for fame on the stage had to be thwarted. Her family, however, was often treated to one of her unannounced performances. One such occasion was noted by Thurber friend Stephen Vincent Benet who recounted the time that Mamie Thurber staged an impromptu performance of Ophelia in Penn Station for the embarrassed benefit of a ticket agent who didn't believe she was James Thurber's mother.

Belle Coit Kelton (1856-1956)

Isabella Coit had little choice but to become an advocate of women's rights. It was her destiny. From the time she could remember, her mother Elizabeth Greer Coit had been involved in enlarging "woman's sphere," and her home served as the meeting place of the Columbus Women's Suffrage Association with her mother presiding as President. A story was told about Belle. Having suffered cruel teasing at school over her mother's outspoken views, eight-year old Belle ran home to ask with tears in her eyes, "Mother are you strong-minded and do you wear pants?" "Well, my dear," Elizabeth replied, "I hope I am strong-minded. I should very sorry to have had children if I were feeble-minded."

While overcoming opposition to her application to the newly opened Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical School in 1874, Belle became one of a group of seven who were the first women to attend the new college. Belle married Frank Kelton in 1883 and moved in with his family at the 586 East Town Street residence. A year later with her mother, who was serving as a delegate, Belle attended the state women's suffrage convention held in Columbus. From 1885 until her death in 1901, Elizabeth served as Treasurer of the state organization. Meanwhile, Belle and her husband moved from their Town Street house after the death of her mother-in-law in 1888. They exchanged houses with Frank's older brother and took up residence on Monroe Street bringing Frank's sister Anna Kelton Pearce, a struggling novelist, along with them. Mother Elizabeth joined the group after the death of her husband and the little house on Monroe Street fairly teemed with feminist energy.

In August of 1912, 5,000 women from all over the state arrived by train to participate in the 100th anniversary of Columbus by demonstrating for the right to vote. A new state constitution was being drafted that year, and Ohio women wanted their rights included. Belle helped to manage the largest parade of suffragists Columbus had ever seen. While the march was a success, the constitutional amendment granting women the vote failed the ballot in November. It would take eight more years before this right was realized. Belle continued to champion the cause. After the 19th Amendment was ratified, she became an active member of the Franklin County League of Women Voters until her death at age 100. A plaque entitled "The Role of Honor" bearing the name of Belle and her mother along with many other Ohio women's rights advocates was erected at the State House by the League in 1930 to commemorate those who dedicated their lives to improving the station of women.

For those women mentioned here and for the countless others whose lives remain unknown to us, let us remember the words from Peggy Thompson's window: -- Her body rests in an unmarked grave, but her spirit dwells in the unfading light of immortality.