Edward R. Ames was born in Amesville, Ohio. Becoming a Methodist, he served as bishop for several years and founded the seminary in Lebanon, Illinois which became McKendree College.
Rose Hawthorne was born in Lenox, Massachusetts, the daughter of famed novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. Rejecting his Unitarian views, she converted to the Roman Catholic Church, leaving a promising career as a writer to nurse cancer patients. She founded the St. Rose's Free Home for Cancer Patients and later the Rosary Hill Home. A woman of great devotion, she also founded the Congregation of St. Rose of Lima, an order of Dominicans who care for cancer victims.