from The Iola Register, Iola, Kansas, October 19, 1955, Wednesday, pg 1:
Florence Snow Dies at Age of 94
(From the Lawrence World)
Miss Florence L. Snow, 94, died Monday night at her home, 711 W. 13th St., in Lawrence, after an illness of several months. Miss Snow, an author, had lived in Lawrence 35 years,
She was proud of the fact that she was the same age as the state of Kansas. She was born near Belleville, Ind., June 18, 1861, and was taken to Baldwin by her parents, George C. and Lydia Harlan Snow, when she was a year old.
The family later moved to Neosho Falls, where her father was an Indian agent. Miss Snow attended high school in Neosho Falls and was graduated in 1883 from Baker University at Baldwin. With other members of her family she conducted the private banking business of Sain and Snow. In 1920 she and her sister, Emily, moved to Lawrence and Miss Snow studied writing under the late Prof. Leon Flint at K.U.
The following year the sisters purchased the home overlooking the K.U. Stadium which they named "The Brown Cot." The house has been a mecca for literary persons from all over the United States.
Miss Snow was the author of three books, "Lamp of Gold" (a sonnet sequence), "Sincerely Yours," (also a book of poetry), and "Pictures on My Wall," an autobiography in the form of letters, which also contain stories of many well known persons. It was published in 1945 and was the first literary book printed by the University Press. Her poetry had also been widely published in newspapers and magazines.
Miss Snow was one of the founders and first president of the Lawrence Art Club, was a charter member of the National Poetry Society, the Kansas Author's Club, and of the First Methodist Church.
She is survived by Miss Lydia Sain, her niece, of the home; Mrs. Olive T. Castle, Los Angeles, a niece who had often visited here, and two other nieces and two nephews, all of the state of Washington; a great niece, Mrs. Carter Brookhart of Chanute, and great nephew, Dr. John Sain Helmick of Princeton, N.J., director of high school, college and professional testing for the Educational Testing Service.
Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. today at the First Methodist Church, conducted by Dr. Edwin F. Price. Burial will be in the Neosho Falls Cemetery. The family requests no flowers.
from the Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri, April 8, 1945:
"Pictures on My Wall" Is Story of Early Day Kansas History
Miss Florence L. Snow, Lawrence, Mas. (sic), Born the Year the Sunflower State Entered the Union, Records Her Life in Letters.
Eighty-four years, to date, has comprised "a life-time in Kansas" for Miss Florence L. Snow, who since 1920 ha lived in what she terms "The Little Brown Cot" in Lawrence, Kas. From the large front windows of her home she can see Mt. Oread and from the side view the stadium where each spring the seniors, in stately parade, march down "the hill" at commencement.
"Pictures on My Wall," her book recently published by the University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, Kas., was begun when she wrote a letter to her only brother, Cyrus Cushion Snow of Eatonville, Wash., soon after he broke his hip. His letter, "Topsy Time," is the first chapter in her new book.
"When reminiscing to friends, especially younger people," she said in an interview at her home last week, "they would ask why I did not write my stories." So, once started, the book progressed from this first letter.
A Simple Story of Life.
"It is a simple story which my book tells," Miss Snow said. "it is the story of a comfortable life, for which I should be ashamed to have paid so small a price for what I have received."
Although to her, it may be a simple story, the book gives a vivid picture and awakens personal interest in the developments of the early days of Kansas. The descriptions of the visit of President Rutherford B. Hayes to the Neosho Valley District fair in 1879, her early days at Baker University where she was a classmate of Bishop W.A. Quayle, her visit to Washington with her uncle, James Harlan, formerly in Lincoln's cabinet, and her impressions of Lincoln's son, lend life and color to her narrative a a record of the past.
This week the saddening news reached "The Little Brown Cot" that Pvt. Charles Paxton, to whom the chapter "Student-At-Large" was written was killed in Germany March 14, one day before Miss Snow's book came off the press. Charles Paxton was "the little boy next door" to whom Miss Snow wrote:
"And while it seems too bad, in one way, to give up your university course midway, the sacrifice enables you to give more efficient service in this world cause, just as the army training will make you a better student when you return,"
While written to "the boy who grew up to enter a war," the chapter expresses Miss Snow's feelings toward all students who have left their college work to enter service and to the many young men in uniform who pass her home daily on a short-cut through the grove up the side of Mt. Oread.
A visit from Lee-Hamilton.
"In regards to Eugene Lee-Hamilton," a letter written to Roscoe Meade, attorney, Rozecrantz, Ok., is more than a historical account of an event--it reads like fiction. Lee-Hamilton, notable English poet and friend of the Brownings, visited the Snow home in Neosho Falls in 1897 following a long correspondence between Miss Snow and the Englishman. Eight of Lee-Hamilton's books are in a prominent place in the personal bookcase of Miss Snow.
In June, 1941, when Miss Snow planned to assemble the book for publication, she fell and broke her hip and for some time was unable to continue the work. Finally, with the assistance of John Hankins, editor of the Kansas Press and professor of English at the University of Kansas, the book was ready to go to press and the first copies were expected March 15. Even then, fate seemed against Miss Snow, for the press broke down, and she says:
"By the skin of the teeth, I received some copies by the date set, but it was a tremendous amount of fun, anyway."
Today, Miss Snow appears in the doorway of the living room of her home to greet guests by the aid of what she terms "my Pegasus without wings" a waist-level walker. Her only regret of her accident is not being able to walk among the students at the university as she has done during her quarter century in Lawrence.
When questioned as to her favorite chapters in the book, Miss Snow replied, "No, I haven't read the book. Someday, when I have time to get back to normal times, I'll read the book critically."
Portrait by Helen Hodge
Helen Hodge, Topeka, painted the original of the portrait of Miss Snow which appears in the front of "Pictures on My Wall." Before the outbreak of the present World War, a great-nephew by marriage, Col. Charles Murray, U.S. marine corps, and his wife, lived in Guam. They sent Miss Snow yards of Chinese silk, native scenes printed in blue on a gray ground. This fabric, combined with blue lace, was used for the dress she wore in the portrait. A coral necklace and buttons were added for the color effect. Although the picture is printed in black and white, it is a true likeness of Miss Snow.
Soon after Miss Snow was graduated from Baker University, Baldwin, Kas., at the twenty-fifth commencement in 1883, she says she was "filled with a desire to write, hoping to be an interpreter of great knowledge."
Two books of poetry, "The Lamp of Gold" and "Sincerely Yours," were published throughout the following years and she was chosen as president of the Kansas Academy of Language and Literature. To one of her dearest friends, Nora B. Cunningham, Chanute, Kas., she writes the letter of the story of the Academy. The University of Kansas with other colleges in Kansas all had interested representatives at the meetings which were held on Mt. Oread. This chapter and the final chapter are a virtual storehouse of names of people who have written the history of Kansas, both in prose and fiction. Miss Snow is known in practically every literary circle in the state for the inspiration and aid she has given them.
Mrs. Cunningham, on receiving a first edition of "Pictures on My Wall," wrote Miss Snow: "I am sure I couldn't be as happy if this new book were my own writing." Miss Helen Rhoda Hoopes, teacher of English to thousands of K.U. students, has been a favorite friend of Miss Snow's since her early days with the academy. On the fly-leaf of Miss Hoopes' "Contemporary Kansas Poetry" she has inscribed to Miss Snow the following tribute, "Who knows so well the power of beauty that she writes it, loves it and lives it."
Book Has Historical Value.
Miss Lydia Sain, niece of Miss Snow, has lived with her aunt since June, 1941. She is one of the two nieces to whom Miss Snow dedicated the second chapter, "The Year the President Came." The other niece is Mrs. Jane Sain Helmick, Chanute, Kas. This chapter and the "Daily Due" present a vivid picture of early-day history in Neosho Falls.
Since the letters were first written Miss Snow's brother, Cyrus Snow, and Miss Rosemary Ketchaam, chairman of the department of design in the school of fine arts at the university have died. Miss Snow's one regret is that they did not live to see the published book.
Others of the eight chapters are dedicated to Dr. Homer Kingsly, Ebright, professor of Biblical literature and college historian at Baker university, a letter on "Baker Days" and Charlotte Conkright Kinney, Baldwin, Kas., the letter on "Daily Due," the account of the struggle to finance and build a new church.
The dedication of the book, "To the memory of my sister, Emily Snow" is felt throughout the entire group of letters.
From their early years, they were inseparable friends and on Emily's death in 1933 she described her passing as "The empty places against the sky."
Many books would be necessary to contain all the "pictures on my wall" in the life of Florence L. Snow. She moved to Kansas from Indiana in the spring of 1862 at the age of 1 year. The state at that time also was one year old and the two have grown together for eighty-three years.
"These chapters are the reminiscences of her long life," writes Kirke Mechem in the preface, "one that has been lived gracefully and observantly, and they also are among the brighter pages of the story of her distinguished contemporary, the state of Kansas" M.A.B,
Florence Snow Dies at Age of 94
(From the Lawrence World)
Miss Florence L. Snow, 94, died Monday night at her home, 711 W. 13th St., in Lawrence, after an illness of several months. Miss Snow, an author, had lived in Lawrence 35 years,
She was proud of the fact that she was the same age as the state of Kansas. She was born near Belleville, Ind., June 18, 1861, and was taken to Baldwin by her parents, George C. and Lydia Harlan Snow, when she was a year old.
The family later moved to Neosho Falls, where her father was an Indian agent. Miss Snow attended high school in Neosho Falls and was graduated in 1883 from Baker University at Baldwin. With other members of her family she conducted the private banking business of Sain and Snow. In 1920 she and her sister, Emily, moved to Lawrence and Miss Snow studied writing under the late Prof. Leon Flint at K.U.
The following year the sisters purchased the home overlooking the K.U. Stadium which they named "The Brown Cot." The house has been a mecca for literary persons from all over the United States.
Miss Snow was the author of three books, "Lamp of Gold" (a sonnet sequence), "Sincerely Yours," (also a book of poetry), and "Pictures on My Wall," an autobiography in the form of letters, which also contain stories of many well known persons. It was published in 1945 and was the first literary book printed by the University Press. Her poetry had also been widely published in newspapers and magazines.
Miss Snow was one of the founders and first president of the Lawrence Art Club, was a charter member of the National Poetry Society, the Kansas Author's Club, and of the First Methodist Church.
She is survived by Miss Lydia Sain, her niece, of the home; Mrs. Olive T. Castle, Los Angeles, a niece who had often visited here, and two other nieces and two nephews, all of the state of Washington; a great niece, Mrs. Carter Brookhart of Chanute, and great nephew, Dr. John Sain Helmick of Princeton, N.J., director of high school, college and professional testing for the Educational Testing Service.
Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. today at the First Methodist Church, conducted by Dr. Edwin F. Price. Burial will be in the Neosho Falls Cemetery. The family requests no flowers.
from the Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri, April 8, 1945:
"Pictures on My Wall" Is Story of Early Day Kansas History
Miss Florence L. Snow, Lawrence, Mas. (sic), Born the Year the Sunflower State Entered the Union, Records Her Life in Letters.
Eighty-four years, to date, has comprised "a life-time in Kansas" for Miss Florence L. Snow, who since 1920 ha lived in what she terms "The Little Brown Cot" in Lawrence, Kas. From the large front windows of her home she can see Mt. Oread and from the side view the stadium where each spring the seniors, in stately parade, march down "the hill" at commencement.
"Pictures on My Wall," her book recently published by the University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, Kas., was begun when she wrote a letter to her only brother, Cyrus Cushion Snow of Eatonville, Wash., soon after he broke his hip. His letter, "Topsy Time," is the first chapter in her new book.
"When reminiscing to friends, especially younger people," she said in an interview at her home last week, "they would ask why I did not write my stories." So, once started, the book progressed from this first letter.
A Simple Story of Life.
"It is a simple story which my book tells," Miss Snow said. "it is the story of a comfortable life, for which I should be ashamed to have paid so small a price for what I have received."
Although to her, it may be a simple story, the book gives a vivid picture and awakens personal interest in the developments of the early days of Kansas. The descriptions of the visit of President Rutherford B. Hayes to the Neosho Valley District fair in 1879, her early days at Baker University where she was a classmate of Bishop W.A. Quayle, her visit to Washington with her uncle, James Harlan, formerly in Lincoln's cabinet, and her impressions of Lincoln's son, lend life and color to her narrative a a record of the past.
This week the saddening news reached "The Little Brown Cot" that Pvt. Charles Paxton, to whom the chapter "Student-At-Large" was written was killed in Germany March 14, one day before Miss Snow's book came off the press. Charles Paxton was "the little boy next door" to whom Miss Snow wrote:
"And while it seems too bad, in one way, to give up your university course midway, the sacrifice enables you to give more efficient service in this world cause, just as the army training will make you a better student when you return,"
While written to "the boy who grew up to enter a war," the chapter expresses Miss Snow's feelings toward all students who have left their college work to enter service and to the many young men in uniform who pass her home daily on a short-cut through the grove up the side of Mt. Oread.
A visit from Lee-Hamilton.
"In regards to Eugene Lee-Hamilton," a letter written to Roscoe Meade, attorney, Rozecrantz, Ok., is more than a historical account of an event--it reads like fiction. Lee-Hamilton, notable English poet and friend of the Brownings, visited the Snow home in Neosho Falls in 1897 following a long correspondence between Miss Snow and the Englishman. Eight of Lee-Hamilton's books are in a prominent place in the personal bookcase of Miss Snow.
In June, 1941, when Miss Snow planned to assemble the book for publication, she fell and broke her hip and for some time was unable to continue the work. Finally, with the assistance of John Hankins, editor of the Kansas Press and professor of English at the University of Kansas, the book was ready to go to press and the first copies were expected March 15. Even then, fate seemed against Miss Snow, for the press broke down, and she says:
"By the skin of the teeth, I received some copies by the date set, but it was a tremendous amount of fun, anyway."
Today, Miss Snow appears in the doorway of the living room of her home to greet guests by the aid of what she terms "my Pegasus without wings" a waist-level walker. Her only regret of her accident is not being able to walk among the students at the university as she has done during her quarter century in Lawrence.
When questioned as to her favorite chapters in the book, Miss Snow replied, "No, I haven't read the book. Someday, when I have time to get back to normal times, I'll read the book critically."
Portrait by Helen Hodge
Helen Hodge, Topeka, painted the original of the portrait of Miss Snow which appears in the front of "Pictures on My Wall." Before the outbreak of the present World War, a great-nephew by marriage, Col. Charles Murray, U.S. marine corps, and his wife, lived in Guam. They sent Miss Snow yards of Chinese silk, native scenes printed in blue on a gray ground. This fabric, combined with blue lace, was used for the dress she wore in the portrait. A coral necklace and buttons were added for the color effect. Although the picture is printed in black and white, it is a true likeness of Miss Snow.
Soon after Miss Snow was graduated from Baker University, Baldwin, Kas., at the twenty-fifth commencement in 1883, she says she was "filled with a desire to write, hoping to be an interpreter of great knowledge."
Two books of poetry, "The Lamp of Gold" and "Sincerely Yours," were published throughout the following years and she was chosen as president of the Kansas Academy of Language and Literature. To one of her dearest friends, Nora B. Cunningham, Chanute, Kas., she writes the letter of the story of the Academy. The University of Kansas with other colleges in Kansas all had interested representatives at the meetings which were held on Mt. Oread. This chapter and the final chapter are a virtual storehouse of names of people who have written the history of Kansas, both in prose and fiction. Miss Snow is known in practically every literary circle in the state for the inspiration and aid she has given them.
Mrs. Cunningham, on receiving a first edition of "Pictures on My Wall," wrote Miss Snow: "I am sure I couldn't be as happy if this new book were my own writing." Miss Helen Rhoda Hoopes, teacher of English to thousands of K.U. students, has been a favorite friend of Miss Snow's since her early days with the academy. On the fly-leaf of Miss Hoopes' "Contemporary Kansas Poetry" she has inscribed to Miss Snow the following tribute, "Who knows so well the power of beauty that she writes it, loves it and lives it."
Book Has Historical Value.
Miss Lydia Sain, niece of Miss Snow, has lived with her aunt since June, 1941. She is one of the two nieces to whom Miss Snow dedicated the second chapter, "The Year the President Came." The other niece is Mrs. Jane Sain Helmick, Chanute, Kas. This chapter and the "Daily Due" present a vivid picture of early-day history in Neosho Falls.
Since the letters were first written Miss Snow's brother, Cyrus Snow, and Miss Rosemary Ketchaam, chairman of the department of design in the school of fine arts at the university have died. Miss Snow's one regret is that they did not live to see the published book.
Others of the eight chapters are dedicated to Dr. Homer Kingsly, Ebright, professor of Biblical literature and college historian at Baker university, a letter on "Baker Days" and Charlotte Conkright Kinney, Baldwin, Kas., the letter on "Daily Due," the account of the struggle to finance and build a new church.
The dedication of the book, "To the memory of my sister, Emily Snow" is felt throughout the entire group of letters.
From their early years, they were inseparable friends and on Emily's death in 1933 she described her passing as "The empty places against the sky."
Many books would be necessary to contain all the "pictures on my wall" in the life of Florence L. Snow. She moved to Kansas from Indiana in the spring of 1862 at the age of 1 year. The state at that time also was one year old and the two have grown together for eighty-three years.
"These chapters are the reminiscences of her long life," writes Kirke Mechem in the preface, "one that has been lived gracefully and observantly, and they also are among the brighter pages of the story of her distinguished contemporary, the state of Kansas" M.A.B,
from The Iola Register, Iola, Kansas, October 19, 1955, Wednesday, pg 1:
Florence Snow Dies at Age of 94
(From the Lawrence World)
Miss Florence L. Snow, 94, died Monday night at her home, 711 W. 13th St., in Lawrence, after an illness of several months. Miss Snow, an author, had lived in Lawrence 35 years,
She was proud of the fact that she was the same age as the state of Kansas. She was born near Belleville, Ind., June 18, 1861, and was taken to Baldwin by her parents, George C. and Lydia Harlan Snow, when she was a year old.
The family later moved to Neosho Falls, where her father was an Indian agent. Miss Snow attended high school in Neosho Falls and was graduated in 1883 from Baker University at Baldwin. With other members of her family she conducted the private banking business of Sain and Snow. In 1920 she and her sister, Emily, moved to Lawrence and Miss Snow studied writing under the late Prof. Leon Flint at K.U.
The following year the sisters purchased the home overlooking the K.U. Stadium which they named "The Brown Cot." The house has been a mecca for literary persons from all over the United States.
Miss Snow was the author of three books, "Lamp of Gold" (a sonnet sequence), "Sincerely Yours," (also a book of poetry), and "Pictures on My Wall," an autobiography in the form of letters, which also contain stories of many well known persons. It was published in 1945 and was the first literary book printed by the University Press. Her poetry had also been widely published in newspapers and magazines.
Miss Snow was one of the founders and first president of the Lawrence Art Club, was a charter member of the National Poetry Society, the Kansas Author's Club, and of the First Methodist Church.
She is survived by Miss Lydia Sain, her niece, of the home; Mrs. Olive T. Castle, Los Angeles, a niece who had often visited here, and two other nieces and two nephews, all of the state of Washington; a great niece, Mrs. Carter Brookhart of Chanute, and great nephew, Dr. John Sain Helmick of Princeton, N.J., director of high school, college and professional testing for the Educational Testing Service.
Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. today at the First Methodist Church, conducted by Dr. Edwin F. Price. Burial will be in the Neosho Falls Cemetery. The family requests no flowers.
from the Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri, April 8, 1945:
"Pictures on My Wall" Is Story of Early Day Kansas History
Miss Florence L. Snow, Lawrence, Mas. (sic), Born the Year the Sunflower State Entered the Union, Records Her Life in Letters.
Eighty-four years, to date, has comprised "a life-time in Kansas" for Miss Florence L. Snow, who since 1920 ha lived in what she terms "The Little Brown Cot" in Lawrence, Kas. From the large front windows of her home she can see Mt. Oread and from the side view the stadium where each spring the seniors, in stately parade, march down "the hill" at commencement.
"Pictures on My Wall," her book recently published by the University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, Kas., was begun when she wrote a letter to her only brother, Cyrus Cushion Snow of Eatonville, Wash., soon after he broke his hip. His letter, "Topsy Time," is the first chapter in her new book.
"When reminiscing to friends, especially younger people," she said in an interview at her home last week, "they would ask why I did not write my stories." So, once started, the book progressed from this first letter.
A Simple Story of Life.
"It is a simple story which my book tells," Miss Snow said. "it is the story of a comfortable life, for which I should be ashamed to have paid so small a price for what I have received."
Although to her, it may be a simple story, the book gives a vivid picture and awakens personal interest in the developments of the early days of Kansas. The descriptions of the visit of President Rutherford B. Hayes to the Neosho Valley District fair in 1879, her early days at Baker University where she was a classmate of Bishop W.A. Quayle, her visit to Washington with her uncle, James Harlan, formerly in Lincoln's cabinet, and her impressions of Lincoln's son, lend life and color to her narrative a a record of the past.
This week the saddening news reached "The Little Brown Cot" that Pvt. Charles Paxton, to whom the chapter "Student-At-Large" was written was killed in Germany March 14, one day before Miss Snow's book came off the press. Charles Paxton was "the little boy next door" to whom Miss Snow wrote:
"And while it seems too bad, in one way, to give up your university course midway, the sacrifice enables you to give more efficient service in this world cause, just as the army training will make you a better student when you return,"
While written to "the boy who grew up to enter a war," the chapter expresses Miss Snow's feelings toward all students who have left their college work to enter service and to the many young men in uniform who pass her home daily on a short-cut through the grove up the side of Mt. Oread.
A visit from Lee-Hamilton.
"In regards to Eugene Lee-Hamilton," a letter written to Roscoe Meade, attorney, Rozecrantz, Ok., is more than a historical account of an event--it reads like fiction. Lee-Hamilton, notable English poet and friend of the Brownings, visited the Snow home in Neosho Falls in 1897 following a long correspondence between Miss Snow and the Englishman. Eight of Lee-Hamilton's books are in a prominent place in the personal bookcase of Miss Snow.
In June, 1941, when Miss Snow planned to assemble the book for publication, she fell and broke her hip and for some time was unable to continue the work. Finally, with the assistance of John Hankins, editor of the Kansas Press and professor of English at the University of Kansas, the book was ready to go to press and the first copies were expected March 15. Even then, fate seemed against Miss Snow, for the press broke down, and she says:
"By the skin of the teeth, I received some copies by the date set, but it was a tremendous amount of fun, anyway."
Today, Miss Snow appears in the doorway of the living room of her home to greet guests by the aid of what she terms "my Pegasus without wings" a waist-level walker. Her only regret of her accident is not being able to walk among the students at the university as she has done during her quarter century in Lawrence.
When questioned as to her favorite chapters in the book, Miss Snow replied, "No, I haven't read the book. Someday, when I have time to get back to normal times, I'll read the book critically."
Portrait by Helen Hodge
Helen Hodge, Topeka, painted the original of the portrait of Miss Snow which appears in the front of "Pictures on My Wall." Before the outbreak of the present World War, a great-nephew by marriage, Col. Charles Murray, U.S. marine corps, and his wife, lived in Guam. They sent Miss Snow yards of Chinese silk, native scenes printed in blue on a gray ground. This fabric, combined with blue lace, was used for the dress she wore in the portrait. A coral necklace and buttons were added for the color effect. Although the picture is printed in black and white, it is a true likeness of Miss Snow.
Soon after Miss Snow was graduated from Baker University, Baldwin, Kas., at the twenty-fifth commencement in 1883, she says she was "filled with a desire to write, hoping to be an interpreter of great knowledge."
Two books of poetry, "The Lamp of Gold" and "Sincerely Yours," were published throughout the following years and she was chosen as president of the Kansas Academy of Language and Literature. To one of her dearest friends, Nora B. Cunningham, Chanute, Kas., she writes the letter of the story of the Academy. The University of Kansas with other colleges in Kansas all had interested representatives at the meetings which were held on Mt. Oread. This chapter and the final chapter are a virtual storehouse of names of people who have written the history of Kansas, both in prose and fiction. Miss Snow is known in practically every literary circle in the state for the inspiration and aid she has given them.
Mrs. Cunningham, on receiving a first edition of "Pictures on My Wall," wrote Miss Snow: "I am sure I couldn't be as happy if this new book were my own writing." Miss Helen Rhoda Hoopes, teacher of English to thousands of K.U. students, has been a favorite friend of Miss Snow's since her early days with the academy. On the fly-leaf of Miss Hoopes' "Contemporary Kansas Poetry" she has inscribed to Miss Snow the following tribute, "Who knows so well the power of beauty that she writes it, loves it and lives it."
Book Has Historical Value.
Miss Lydia Sain, niece of Miss Snow, has lived with her aunt since June, 1941. She is one of the two nieces to whom Miss Snow dedicated the second chapter, "The Year the President Came." The other niece is Mrs. Jane Sain Helmick, Chanute, Kas. This chapter and the "Daily Due" present a vivid picture of early-day history in Neosho Falls.
Since the letters were first written Miss Snow's brother, Cyrus Snow, and Miss Rosemary Ketchaam, chairman of the department of design in the school of fine arts at the university have died. Miss Snow's one regret is that they did not live to see the published book.
Others of the eight chapters are dedicated to Dr. Homer Kingsly, Ebright, professor of Biblical literature and college historian at Baker university, a letter on "Baker Days" and Charlotte Conkright Kinney, Baldwin, Kas., the letter on "Daily Due," the account of the struggle to finance and build a new church.
The dedication of the book, "To the memory of my sister, Emily Snow" is felt throughout the entire group of letters.
From their early years, they were inseparable friends and on Emily's death in 1933 she described her passing as "The empty places against the sky."
Many books would be necessary to contain all the "pictures on my wall" in the life of Florence L. Snow. She moved to Kansas from Indiana in the spring of 1862 at the age of 1 year. The state at that time also was one year old and the two have grown together for eighty-three years.
"These chapters are the reminiscences of her long life," writes Kirke Mechem in the preface, "one that has been lived gracefully and observantly, and they also are among the brighter pages of the story of her distinguished contemporary, the state of Kansas" M.A.B,
Florence Snow Dies at Age of 94
(From the Lawrence World)
Miss Florence L. Snow, 94, died Monday night at her home, 711 W. 13th St., in Lawrence, after an illness of several months. Miss Snow, an author, had lived in Lawrence 35 years,
She was proud of the fact that she was the same age as the state of Kansas. She was born near Belleville, Ind., June 18, 1861, and was taken to Baldwin by her parents, George C. and Lydia Harlan Snow, when she was a year old.
The family later moved to Neosho Falls, where her father was an Indian agent. Miss Snow attended high school in Neosho Falls and was graduated in 1883 from Baker University at Baldwin. With other members of her family she conducted the private banking business of Sain and Snow. In 1920 she and her sister, Emily, moved to Lawrence and Miss Snow studied writing under the late Prof. Leon Flint at K.U.
The following year the sisters purchased the home overlooking the K.U. Stadium which they named "The Brown Cot." The house has been a mecca for literary persons from all over the United States.
Miss Snow was the author of three books, "Lamp of Gold" (a sonnet sequence), "Sincerely Yours," (also a book of poetry), and "Pictures on My Wall," an autobiography in the form of letters, which also contain stories of many well known persons. It was published in 1945 and was the first literary book printed by the University Press. Her poetry had also been widely published in newspapers and magazines.
Miss Snow was one of the founders and first president of the Lawrence Art Club, was a charter member of the National Poetry Society, the Kansas Author's Club, and of the First Methodist Church.
She is survived by Miss Lydia Sain, her niece, of the home; Mrs. Olive T. Castle, Los Angeles, a niece who had often visited here, and two other nieces and two nephews, all of the state of Washington; a great niece, Mrs. Carter Brookhart of Chanute, and great nephew, Dr. John Sain Helmick of Princeton, N.J., director of high school, college and professional testing for the Educational Testing Service.
Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. today at the First Methodist Church, conducted by Dr. Edwin F. Price. Burial will be in the Neosho Falls Cemetery. The family requests no flowers.
from the Kansas City Star, Kansas City, Missouri, April 8, 1945:
"Pictures on My Wall" Is Story of Early Day Kansas History
Miss Florence L. Snow, Lawrence, Mas. (sic), Born the Year the Sunflower State Entered the Union, Records Her Life in Letters.
Eighty-four years, to date, has comprised "a life-time in Kansas" for Miss Florence L. Snow, who since 1920 ha lived in what she terms "The Little Brown Cot" in Lawrence, Kas. From the large front windows of her home she can see Mt. Oread and from the side view the stadium where each spring the seniors, in stately parade, march down "the hill" at commencement.
"Pictures on My Wall," her book recently published by the University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, Kas., was begun when she wrote a letter to her only brother, Cyrus Cushion Snow of Eatonville, Wash., soon after he broke his hip. His letter, "Topsy Time," is the first chapter in her new book.
"When reminiscing to friends, especially younger people," she said in an interview at her home last week, "they would ask why I did not write my stories." So, once started, the book progressed from this first letter.
A Simple Story of Life.
"It is a simple story which my book tells," Miss Snow said. "it is the story of a comfortable life, for which I should be ashamed to have paid so small a price for what I have received."
Although to her, it may be a simple story, the book gives a vivid picture and awakens personal interest in the developments of the early days of Kansas. The descriptions of the visit of President Rutherford B. Hayes to the Neosho Valley District fair in 1879, her early days at Baker University where she was a classmate of Bishop W.A. Quayle, her visit to Washington with her uncle, James Harlan, formerly in Lincoln's cabinet, and her impressions of Lincoln's son, lend life and color to her narrative a a record of the past.
This week the saddening news reached "The Little Brown Cot" that Pvt. Charles Paxton, to whom the chapter "Student-At-Large" was written was killed in Germany March 14, one day before Miss Snow's book came off the press. Charles Paxton was "the little boy next door" to whom Miss Snow wrote:
"And while it seems too bad, in one way, to give up your university course midway, the sacrifice enables you to give more efficient service in this world cause, just as the army training will make you a better student when you return,"
While written to "the boy who grew up to enter a war," the chapter expresses Miss Snow's feelings toward all students who have left their college work to enter service and to the many young men in uniform who pass her home daily on a short-cut through the grove up the side of Mt. Oread.
A visit from Lee-Hamilton.
"In regards to Eugene Lee-Hamilton," a letter written to Roscoe Meade, attorney, Rozecrantz, Ok., is more than a historical account of an event--it reads like fiction. Lee-Hamilton, notable English poet and friend of the Brownings, visited the Snow home in Neosho Falls in 1897 following a long correspondence between Miss Snow and the Englishman. Eight of Lee-Hamilton's books are in a prominent place in the personal bookcase of Miss Snow.
In June, 1941, when Miss Snow planned to assemble the book for publication, she fell and broke her hip and for some time was unable to continue the work. Finally, with the assistance of John Hankins, editor of the Kansas Press and professor of English at the University of Kansas, the book was ready to go to press and the first copies were expected March 15. Even then, fate seemed against Miss Snow, for the press broke down, and she says:
"By the skin of the teeth, I received some copies by the date set, but it was a tremendous amount of fun, anyway."
Today, Miss Snow appears in the doorway of the living room of her home to greet guests by the aid of what she terms "my Pegasus without wings" a waist-level walker. Her only regret of her accident is not being able to walk among the students at the university as she has done during her quarter century in Lawrence.
When questioned as to her favorite chapters in the book, Miss Snow replied, "No, I haven't read the book. Someday, when I have time to get back to normal times, I'll read the book critically."
Portrait by Helen Hodge
Helen Hodge, Topeka, painted the original of the portrait of Miss Snow which appears in the front of "Pictures on My Wall." Before the outbreak of the present World War, a great-nephew by marriage, Col. Charles Murray, U.S. marine corps, and his wife, lived in Guam. They sent Miss Snow yards of Chinese silk, native scenes printed in blue on a gray ground. This fabric, combined with blue lace, was used for the dress she wore in the portrait. A coral necklace and buttons were added for the color effect. Although the picture is printed in black and white, it is a true likeness of Miss Snow.
Soon after Miss Snow was graduated from Baker University, Baldwin, Kas., at the twenty-fifth commencement in 1883, she says she was "filled with a desire to write, hoping to be an interpreter of great knowledge."
Two books of poetry, "The Lamp of Gold" and "Sincerely Yours," were published throughout the following years and she was chosen as president of the Kansas Academy of Language and Literature. To one of her dearest friends, Nora B. Cunningham, Chanute, Kas., she writes the letter of the story of the Academy. The University of Kansas with other colleges in Kansas all had interested representatives at the meetings which were held on Mt. Oread. This chapter and the final chapter are a virtual storehouse of names of people who have written the history of Kansas, both in prose and fiction. Miss Snow is known in practically every literary circle in the state for the inspiration and aid she has given them.
Mrs. Cunningham, on receiving a first edition of "Pictures on My Wall," wrote Miss Snow: "I am sure I couldn't be as happy if this new book were my own writing." Miss Helen Rhoda Hoopes, teacher of English to thousands of K.U. students, has been a favorite friend of Miss Snow's since her early days with the academy. On the fly-leaf of Miss Hoopes' "Contemporary Kansas Poetry" she has inscribed to Miss Snow the following tribute, "Who knows so well the power of beauty that she writes it, loves it and lives it."
Book Has Historical Value.
Miss Lydia Sain, niece of Miss Snow, has lived with her aunt since June, 1941. She is one of the two nieces to whom Miss Snow dedicated the second chapter, "The Year the President Came." The other niece is Mrs. Jane Sain Helmick, Chanute, Kas. This chapter and the "Daily Due" present a vivid picture of early-day history in Neosho Falls.
Since the letters were first written Miss Snow's brother, Cyrus Snow, and Miss Rosemary Ketchaam, chairman of the department of design in the school of fine arts at the university have died. Miss Snow's one regret is that they did not live to see the published book.
Others of the eight chapters are dedicated to Dr. Homer Kingsly, Ebright, professor of Biblical literature and college historian at Baker university, a letter on "Baker Days" and Charlotte Conkright Kinney, Baldwin, Kas., the letter on "Daily Due," the account of the struggle to finance and build a new church.
The dedication of the book, "To the memory of my sister, Emily Snow" is felt throughout the entire group of letters.
From their early years, they were inseparable friends and on Emily's death in 1933 she described her passing as "The empty places against the sky."
Many books would be necessary to contain all the "pictures on my wall" in the life of Florence L. Snow. She moved to Kansas from Indiana in the spring of 1862 at the age of 1 year. The state at that time also was one year old and the two have grown together for eighty-three years.
"These chapters are the reminiscences of her long life," writes Kirke Mechem in the preface, "one that has been lived gracefully and observantly, and they also are among the brighter pages of the story of her distinguished contemporary, the state of Kansas" M.A.B,
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
