Rawalt Collection

Title

Rawalt Collection

Subject

Rawalt, Marguerite, 1895-1989
Rawalt, John, 1765-1821
Rawalt, John, Jr., 1780-1876
Rawalt, Jonas, 1809-1882
Soldiers
Genealogy
Illinois. General Assembly. House of Representatives
Illinois--Fulton County
Rawalt, Milton, 1843-1928

Description

The Rawalt family descended from Revolutionary War soldier John Rawalt and his wife Ann McMahon, who lived in New York and Pennsylvania. Their son, John Rawalt, Jr., was born in Pennsylvania in 1780, married Elizabeth Yocum Snider in 1800, and they had nine children including a son, Jonas. 

Jonas Rawalt settled in Fulton County, Illinois in 1829, and in 1836 was elected to the Illinois legislature, where he served two terms. In the Civil War, Jonas served as a major in the 7th Illinois Cavalry, but resigned due to ill health. Three of his sons also served: Enoch, in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, Company F; Benjamin, in the Minnesota Volunteers; and John, in the 51st Illinois Infantry, Company I, who died on 9 October 1865 at Memphis, Tennessee, after being mustered out.

Marguerite Rawalt was born in 1895 in Prairie City, Illinois, the daughter of Charles T. Rawalt (the son of Enoch and grandson of Jonas), and Viola Bell Flake. She was a tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service, and held the highest position ever attained there by a woman at the time of her retirement in 1965. She married Major Harry Secord in 1937, but because of discriminatory employment laws, kept their marriage a secret for three years. Rawalt served as president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs from 1954-1956, and as national president of both the Federal Bar Association and the National Association of Women Lawyers.

Following her retirement, she began a second career as an activist for women’s rights. She had been appointed by President Kennedy to the President’s Commission on the Status of Women in 1961, and President Johnson reappointed her to the succeeding Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women, of which she was a member until 1969. She was a charter member of the National Organization for Women in 1966 and became its first General Counsel. She was an original incorporator of NOW’s Legal Defense and Education Fund and a charter member of the Women’s Equity Action League (WEAL). She testified before Congress on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment and worked for its ratification. 

Marguerite Rawalt gathered the photographs in the Rawalt Collection as part of her research when writing a comprehensive family genealogy entitled, "Descendents of Captain John Rawalt."

The finding aid for the Marguerite Rawalt Papers, 1837-1986 at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is located at: http://alplm-cdi.com/chroniclingillinois/items/show/528.

Collection Items

John Rawalt
John Rawalt, a Civil War soldier in the 51st Illinois, Company I, poses for a portrait.On verso: "Died on boat on way home between Memphis and Cairo."

Charles C. Scott
Charles C. Scott, alias Frank Rande, sits for a portrait holding a firearm. Scott was a criminal tried in Knox County for the murder of Charles Belden in Gilson. Scott had these carte de visites printed and sold in order to pay for his trial.On…

Lucy Dodge Perry
Lucy Dodge Perry wears a dark dress with a white lace collar for a portrait sitting. On verso: "Aunt Lucy, Grandpa's Uncle Walter Perry's wife."

Family Home
An exterior view of the Rawalt family home in Prairie City features a fenced-in yard and a porch. On verso: "House in Prairie City where Emma Hoyt Mariner was born 3-22-1880."

Four Generations of Rawalt Men
John Rawalt, Jr. (left), son of Revolutionary War General John Rawalt and Ann McMahon; Jonas Rawalt (center), son of John Rawalt and Elizabeth Yocum; Milton Rawalt (right), son of Jonas Rawalt and Deida Robins; and Chauncey Otis Rawalt (lower right)…

Rawalt Family Plot
The headstones of Revolutionary War General John Rawalt, his wife Ann McMahon Rawalt, and their son Benjamin Rawalt are located in Lake View Cemetery, Penn Yan, New York.
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Collection Tree