Marion Nicholl Rawson
Encyclopedia
Marion Nicholl Rawson was an artist, author, lecturer, and illustrator. She was born Edna Marion Nicholl and grew up in Scotch Plains, New Jersey
, of which she later wrote the town history, Under the Blue Hills, left in manuscript at her death but published as part of the town’s bicentennial celebration in 1974.
Rawson graduated from Swarthmore College
. After college, Rawson first worked as an art teacher in the public schools of New Jersey
and Brooklyn
, during which time she met her eventual husband, Jonathan Ansel Rawson, Jr.
They had two children, Jonathan Nicholl Rawson (the fifth Jonathan Rawson in a direct line, but generally taking different middle names to evade Roman numerals) and Patricia Alden Rawson, later Curll. Marion Rawson was left a widow at 50 by her husband’s early death, requiring her to support herself, with the eventual aid of her children. This she did as an author, painter, historian and lecturer. For some years she lived with her son, moving throughout the mid-Atlantic states
as he followed a career as a manager of successive W. T. Grant
stores; then with her daughter in Rhode Island
; and finally again with her son, who had settled in Providence.
However, she always spent a summer of four or more months in her home in East Alstead, New Hampshire
, a small town north of Keene
, in the country presided over by Mount Monadnock
. The Rawson homestead in the center of East Alstead, where successive Jonathan Rawsons had lived since the family settled there in 1782, had passed by some vagary of inheritance to cousins, but she and her husband had early purchased what she called “the Little House.”
Mrs. Rawson was a sketcher and watercolor artist, and she continued to sketch and paint all her life, holding frequent sales of her work in Bellows Falls, Vermont
, Alstead, Providence (where she was a long-time member of the Providence Art Club) and other places in New England
. She never had electricity or running water installed in the house, preferring to live there every summer until her death under the same conditions (kerosene lanterns, dug well and outhouse) that had sufficed for the earlier generations whom she made it her lifework to study.
, New York, with the history of Scotch Plains yet to come. Those works are as follows:
Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Scotch Plains is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the township population increased to a record high of 23,510.-History:...
, of which she later wrote the town history, Under the Blue Hills, left in manuscript at her death but published as part of the town’s bicentennial celebration in 1974.
Rawson graduated from Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
. After college, Rawson first worked as an art teacher in the public schools of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, during which time she met her eventual husband, Jonathan Ansel Rawson, Jr.
They had two children, Jonathan Nicholl Rawson (the fifth Jonathan Rawson in a direct line, but generally taking different middle names to evade Roman numerals) and Patricia Alden Rawson, later Curll. Marion Rawson was left a widow at 50 by her husband’s early death, requiring her to support herself, with the eventual aid of her children. This she did as an author, painter, historian and lecturer. For some years she lived with her son, moving throughout the mid-Atlantic states
Mid-Atlantic States
The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
as he followed a career as a manager of successive W. T. Grant
W. T. Grant
W. T. Grant or Grants was a United States-based chain of mass-merchandise stores founded by William Thomas Grant that operated from 1906 until 1976. The stores were generally of the variety store format located in downtowns.-History:...
stores; then with her daughter in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
; and finally again with her son, who had settled in Providence.
However, she always spent a summer of four or more months in her home in East Alstead, New Hampshire
Alstead, New Hampshire
Alstead is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,937 at the 2010 census. Alstead is home to Feuer State Forest.-History:...
, a small town north of Keene
Keene, New Hampshire
Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,409 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Cheshire County.Keene is home to Keene State College and Antioch University New England, and hosts the annual Pumpkin Fest...
, in the country presided over by Mount Monadnock
Mount Monadnock
Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is the most prominent New England mountain peak south of the White Mountains and east of the Massachusetts Berkshires, and is the highest point in Cheshire County, New Hampshire...
. The Rawson homestead in the center of East Alstead, where successive Jonathan Rawsons had lived since the family settled there in 1782, had passed by some vagary of inheritance to cousins, but she and her husband had early purchased what she called “the Little House.”
Mrs. Rawson was a sketcher and watercolor artist, and she continued to sketch and paint all her life, holding frequent sales of her work in Bellows Falls, Vermont
Bellows Falls, Vermont
Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,165 at the 2000 census...
, Alstead, Providence (where she was a long-time member of the Providence Art Club) and other places in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. She never had electricity or running water installed in the house, preferring to live there every summer until her death under the same conditions (kerosene lanterns, dug well and outhouse) that had sufficed for the earlier generations whom she made it her lifework to study.
Work
In 16 years Rowson wrote and largely illustrated 13 books on the homemade arts and crafts of the early American home, farm, shop and countryside. All were published between 1927 and 1941, 12 of them by E. P. DuttonE. P. Dutton
E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. In 1986, the company was acquired by Penguin Group and split into two imprints: Dutton Penguin and Dutton Children's Books.-History:Edward Payson Dutton founded...
, New York, with the history of Scotch Plains yet to come. Those works are as follows:
- Candle Days: The Story of Early American Arts and Implements (Appleton-Century Co., 1927), 307 pp., with photos.
- Country Auction (Dutton, 1929), 261 pp., with photos.
- When Antiques Were Young: A Story of Early American Social Customs (Dutton, 1931), 271 pp., with photos.
- From Here to Yender: Early Trails and Highway Life (Dutton, 1932), 308 pp., illus. by the author.
- Sing, Old House: Hallmarks of True Restoration (Dutton, 1934), 414 pp., illus. by the author.
- Little Old Mills (Dutton, 1935), 367 pp., illus. by the author; reprinted, Johnson Reprint Corp., 1970.
- Handwrought Ancestors: The Story of Early American Shops and Those Who Worked Therein (Dutton, 1936), 366 pp., illus. by the author.
- Of the Earth Earthy (Dutton, 1937), 414 pp., illus. by the author.
- Candleday Art (Dutton, 1938), 383 pp., illus. by the author.
- Forever the Farm (Dutton, 1939), 380 pp., illus. by the author.
- The Antiquer’s Picture Book (Dutton, 1940), 96 pp., illustrations by the author gathered from the earlier books.
- The Old House Picture Book (Dutton, 1941), 96 pp., further illustrations by the author gathered from the earlier books.
- New Hampshire Borns a Town, a history of Alstead, NH, called simply The Town, 1763-1883 (Dutton, 1942), 319 pp., illus. by the author.
- Under the Blue Hills: Scotch Plains, New Jersey (The Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood in Cooperation with the Scotch Plains American Revolution Bicentennial Committee, 1974), 210 pp., illus. by the author.