Mabel Wagnalls, the only child of Adam and Anna Wagnalls, was born in Kansas City, Missouri on April 20, 1869. She was educated at home by her parents. At the age of fourteen, Miss Wagnalls’ mother took her to Europe to study piano. She received instruction in Paris, Vienna and under the noted Franz Kullak in Berlin, where in 1889 she made her debut as a concert pianist. On January 11, 1891, she made her American debut in New York City with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra. She toured the United States after her debut, but frail health and a strenuous tour schedule forced her to give up the concert stage.

As a young girl, Miss Wagnalls was also encouraged by her mother to develop her writing skills. After giving up her music career, she authored many books, among them being, Misere, Stars of the Opera, The Palace of Danger, Rosebush of a Thousand Years, Light in the Valley (a biography of her mother) and The Mad Song. As a direct result of her literary career, she became a close friend of William Sidney Porter, better known as “O. Henry”. Miss Wagnalls was also a close friend of many great literary, musical and stage personalities of the 1900’s such as Oley Speaks, Houdini and Edwin Markham.

On May 30, 1925, Mabel Wagnalls Jones dedicated The Wagnalls Memorial in honor of her parents, Adam and Anna Willis Wagnalls. Adam was the co-founder of the publishing giant, Funk & Wagnalls. Both Adam and Anna were born in log cabins in Lithopolis, Ohio. Mabel knew it had always been Anna’s dream to do something for the little village which had never had anything done for it and to provide opportunities not available to her as a child. With the building of The Wagnalls Memorial, Mabel would fulfill her mother’s dream.

Mabel, an author and a concert pianist, had a special fondness for her parents’ birthplace. Though she never lived in Lithopolis (she lived most of her life in New York City), she visited it from the time she was a small child to spend time with her grandmother who lived in the village.

At the dedication, as Mabel was giving the deed to the town, she said, “Now this is our deed and I hand it over with no admonishments at all, because I know you will guard our building and use it wisely. My only hope is in using it you will find as much joy as I have found in giving it.”

Building the Memorial

The architect Mabel hired was a local Columbus man named Ray Sims. Mabel’s husband, Richard Jones, worked closely with Mr. Sims. Most of the workmen hired were from Lithopolis, and most of the stone used was quarried from just behind the building site. As Jones stated, “That is really one of the wonderful parts of the whole story of Lithopolis. As nearly as possible we used local men and materials in construction. Every workman in Lithopolis worked for the love of the thing he was creating. Possibly not since the days of the Guilds has so much genuine interest gone into the erection of a building.” Success magazine in its September 1925 publication called it “the finest Tudor-Gothic structure in America.”

Banquet Hall

It was important to Mabel that the Banquet Hall have a fully functional kitchen and a pantry filled with the necessary pots, pans, china, and silverware. There were approximately 300 place-settings of china, and the space cost $3.00 to rent in 1925.

Mabel spoke at the building’s dedication when she accepted a silver Loving Cup filled with roses given to her by the village. She stated that when the plans were designed, there was talk of combining the auditorium with the social hall, but Mabel was adamant that the two should be separate, remembering from her childhood all the church dinners the women had put on and how they had to haul all of the food, tables, and tableware to make it happen. As she put it, “We finally split the difference by letting me have my own way…when you are admiring this building and enjoying the library and auditorium, praise my husband and Mr. Sims, but when you are carousing downstairs, please remember me.”

Paintings and Memorabilia

Paintings that were used as covers for Funk & Wagnalls’ magazine The Literary Digest adorn the walls of the Rager Reading Room. Two original Norman Rockwell paintings are on permanent display near the patron services desk. Also on display are letters Mabel received from the author O. Henry while she was staying with her grandmother in Lithopolis.

The Gardens

Stroll the pathways in our garden to admire the rock sculptures and martin house of Dr. Edward Roller, a beloved local doctor who formerly resided on the land where the 1992 addition now stands. He collected rocks from all over North America and used them to create bird houses, vases, and other structures.

Formal Entrance Hall

This is the original entrance area of the building from the street. A “Tribute of Love” stone plaque dedicates the building to Lithopolis and Bloom Township in memory of Mabel’s parents.

The Tower

The lower tower room was set apart for the writings of the famous poet, Edwin Markham, a close family friend. The poems that were displayed in the tower room were written in his own handwriting. The upper tower room was set aside to display the paintings of John Ward Dunsmore, another personal friend of the Wagnalls family and their official portraitist. The upper room of the tower is now used for storage, and Dunsmore’s paintings can be seen on display in the original library and auditorium foyer.

Filled With History

Pictures of the first Board of Trustees are displayed here along with Dunsmore’s portrait of Mabel Wagnalls Jones. Another of his paintings, “The Rosebush of a Thousand Years,” hangs over the stairway to the Banquet Hall. It was based on a monastery garden at Hildesheim, Germany, and the painting itself is an illustration of Mabel’s book of the same name. Under it is a bronze tablet naming the first officers, the first Board of Trustees, and the principal workmen who completed the construction of the Memorial. Other Dunsmore paintings, including his self-portrait, are exhibited in this area as well.