Draft:Helen Kate Rogers Furness
Helen Kate Rogers Furness (July 26, 1837 - October 30, 1883) was an American author and the wife of Shakespearean scholar Horace Howard Furness.
Helen Kate Rogers Furness | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 26, 1837 |
| Died | October 30, 1883 (aged 46) |
| Resting place | Laurel Hill Cemetery |
| Occupation | Author |
| Notable work | A Concordance to Shakespeare's Poems: An Index to Every Word Contained Therein |
| Spouse | Horace Howard Furness(m. 1860) |
| Children | Walter Furness
Horace Howard Furness Jr William Henry Furness Caroline Furness Jayne |
| Parent | Evans Rogers Caroline Fairman Rogers |
| Relatives | Fairman Rogers (brother) |
Early life
[edit]Helen Kate Rogers was born in 1837 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Evans Rogers and Caroline Fairman Rogers[1]. She had a brother named Fairman, who was four years older than her[2]. Her father was a hardware merchant and successful businessman[2]. He was a millionaire and one of the wealthiest men in the city[2].
Works
[edit]In 1874, Furness published A Concordance to Shakespeare’s Poems: An Index to Every Word Therein Contained.[3]
She also provided the index for William Sidney Walker’s "A Critical Examination of the Text of Shakespeare, with Remarks on his Language and that of his Contemporaries, together with Notes on his Plays and Poems", which was edited by William Nanson Lettsom and published in 1860[1].
Personal life
[edit]She married a Shakesperean scholar named Horace Howard Furness in the First Unitarian Church in 1860[4]. She had four children with him: Walter, Horace, William, and Caroline. Furness lived with her husband in an estate called Lindenshade, which was located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, from the time the house was built in 1870 until her death in 1883[2].
Death
[edit]Furness died in 1883, likely from congestive heart failure, in the family home[2]. She was 46 years old. She was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery next to her husband, daughter, and son-in-law[5].
Legacy
[edit]Thirty years after her death, a stained glass window was constructed in her honor in the First Unitarian Church[2].
The Helen Kate Furness Free Library was originally founded in October 1902 under the name Horace Howard Furness Free Library. When Horace Howard Furness died in 1912, he bequeathed $5000 to the library on the condition that the name be changed to honor his late wife[6].
References
[edit]- ^ a b Furness, Horace Howard. "Helen Kate Furness correspondence 1843-1858". discover.hsp.org. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
- ^ a b c d e f Johnson, Woody (October 22, 2022). "Helen Kate: Portraits of a Life Transcription" (PDF). Helen Kate Furness Free Library. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
- ^ Furness, Helen Kate Rogers (1875). A concordance to Shakespeare's poems: an index to every word therein contained. The Library of Congress. Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott & co.
- ^ admin (2022-10-22). "Helen Kate: Portraits of a Life". The Helen Kate Furness Free Library. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
- ^ "U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current - Ancestry.com.au". www.ancestry.com.au. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
- ^ "History". The Helen Kate Furness Free Library. Retrieved 2024-12-12.