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Famous Residents
Harold Bell Wright was born in Rome, New York, in 1872.
He became a minister and went West to find a congregation in Kansas. Suffering
from tuberculosis, Wright traveled to the Ozarks in 1896 for the healing
climate. He spent the summer in Mutton Hollow, camping out at the Ross
Farm. Wright returned to the farm for eight more summers, regaining his
health. In 1904 he recorded the lives and events of the area settlers
and in 1907 Shepherd of the Hills was published. The novel helped area
tourism to flourish and Wright became the first American author to make
a million dollars and sell a million copies of a single novel. Wright
published several books before his death in 1944.
Rose O'Neill was born on June 25, 1874, in Wilkes-Barre,
Pennsylvania. A self-taught artist, O'Neill had numerous illustrations
published in prominent periodicals. In 1901 she moved to the family's
Ozark home, Bonniebrook, where she continued to illustrate for magazines.
Some of O'Neill's clients included Life Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Jell-O,
and Kellogg's Corn Flakes. In 1909 she drew her first Kewpie dolls. The
Kewpies took the American public by storm during the early 20th century.
Her Kewpie commissions and royalties made O'Neill the highest paid female
illustrator of her time. Besides illustrating, O'Neill was also a poet,
sculptor, and author. She died April 6, 1944.