Few women of Huntley’s early years are written about in the town’s historical annals.
The women of the late 1800s supported their husband’s endeavors, bore many children, kept the home life running smoothly and rarely made a name of their own. Women were known as “Mrs. John Hawley” or “Mrs. Raymond Donahue”, rarely remembered for their own beautiful names, Mina Weltzien and Marie Kelley.
March is designated Women’s History Month as named by Congressional Law in 1987.
Although little is known about early Huntley women, the following are a few whose names are still recalled.
- Lucy Geer Whittemore, arrived in the area in 1838 from New England with her husband and 10 children after a 7-week journey in two wagons.
- Isabelle Mullens, listed in 1850 as one of the first landowners of property that would eventually become the village of Huntley.
- Margaret Donahue (1892-1978), the first woman executive of a major league baseball team, the Chicago Cubs.
- Cynthia Thompson, first Huntley school teacher in 1842.
- Mary Griffith Bartholomew, served as a nurse in the Spanish American War in Cuba, 1898.
- May Chesak, Marion Conley, Bernice Heineman, Katherine Leggee, Hannah Martin, all beloved, long-time local schoolteachers.
- Mildred Ruth (1925-2005) served many years as Grafton Township Supervisor and first secretary of the Huntley Area Chamber of Commerce.