Mrs.* Harriet Lewis (Wharton) Niehl
Age: 85 yrs. 4 mos. 6 dys.
D/O Rev. George Wharton & Elizabeth Helen (Menger) Wharton
Twin Sister/O Clark Lewis Wharton (10 Jul 1890-16 Apr 1985)
W/O Walter Wingfield Niehl (c1883-c1936)*
*A fiction; Harriet Wharton never married.
P/O Odale Dabney Waters, Sr. (5 Jan 1882-5 Nov 1944)*
- M/O Elizabeth Wharton (Niehl) Abbe, Ph.D. (4 Apr 1936-10 Sep 2022)
*The father of Harriet's daughter was O.D. Waters, according to private family communications. DNA testing has confirmed the daughter's relationship with the Waters family but they deny the association.
School teacher and school administrator
Last Residence: McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia 22101, USA [SSDI]
Died of multiple myeloma. Had years earlier survived stomach cancer.
She was survived by her daughter Elizabeth ("Betsy") and son-in-law Earl Clifton Abbe, II and their sons Kenneth Hatheway Abbe and Alexander Earl Abbe.
Harriet Niehl was a strong, capable and fiercely independent woman. She understood both the traditions of the South and the empowerment of women long before that became part of the general culture. Although a college president, her father did not believe in educating women. In spite of this she became, in 1927, one of the first women to obtain a Master of Education degree from the University of Virginia.
Harriet loved a traveling salesman, Odale Dabney ("O.D.") Waters, Sr., who was already married. Despite that and the fact that she was in her 40s, they chose to have a child. When he would not or could not get a divorce to marry her, she raised her daughter alone, living in Colorado, Arizona and Virginia.
At the end of her life she was living with her daughter, Betsy, and family in McLean, VA.
Obituary, The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA), Tue, 2 Dec 1975, pg. 10:
Mrs. Harriet W. Niehl
Mrs Harriet W. Niehl died Nov. 17, 1975 in McLean, Virginia.
She is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Earl C. Abbe of McLean, Va., two grandsons, three sisters, Mrs. Helen W. Reed, Mrs. Ruth W. Ramsey, Mrs. Esther W. Ponder, and two brothers, Mr. Lindsay Wharton, and Mr. Lewis Wharton.
Mrs.* Harriet Lewis (Wharton) Niehl
Age: 85 yrs. 4 mos. 6 dys.
D/O Rev. George Wharton & Elizabeth Helen (Menger) Wharton
Twin Sister/O Clark Lewis Wharton (10 Jul 1890-16 Apr 1985)
W/O Walter Wingfield Niehl (c1883-c1936)*
*A fiction; Harriet Wharton never married.
P/O Odale Dabney Waters, Sr. (5 Jan 1882-5 Nov 1944)*
- M/O Elizabeth Wharton (Niehl) Abbe, Ph.D. (4 Apr 1936-10 Sep 2022)
*The father of Harriet's daughter was O.D. Waters, according to private family communications. DNA testing has confirmed the daughter's relationship with the Waters family but they deny the association.
School teacher and school administrator
Last Residence: McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia 22101, USA [SSDI]
Died of multiple myeloma. Had years earlier survived stomach cancer.
She was survived by her daughter Elizabeth ("Betsy") and son-in-law Earl Clifton Abbe, II and their sons Kenneth Hatheway Abbe and Alexander Earl Abbe.
Harriet Niehl was a strong, capable and fiercely independent woman. She understood both the traditions of the South and the empowerment of women long before that became part of the general culture. Although a college president, her father did not believe in educating women. In spite of this she became, in 1927, one of the first women to obtain a Master of Education degree from the University of Virginia.
Harriet loved a traveling salesman, Odale Dabney ("O.D.") Waters, Sr., who was already married. Despite that and the fact that she was in her 40s, they chose to have a child. When he would not or could not get a divorce to marry her, she raised her daughter alone, living in Colorado, Arizona and Virginia.
At the end of her life she was living with her daughter, Betsy, and family in McLean, VA.
Obituary, The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA), Tue, 2 Dec 1975, pg. 10:
Mrs. Harriet W. Niehl
Mrs Harriet W. Niehl died Nov. 17, 1975 in McLean, Virginia.
She is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Earl C. Abbe of McLean, Va., two grandsons, three sisters, Mrs. Helen W. Reed, Mrs. Ruth W. Ramsey, Mrs. Esther W. Ponder, and two brothers, Mr. Lindsay Wharton, and Mr. Lewis Wharton.
