Mother of “The Music Man”

ROSALIE WILLSON: MOTHER OF “THE MUSIC MAN”

By Janice Rod, Staff Member at The Music Man Square

Rosalie Reiniger was born in Charles City, IA on March 17, 1860, the eldest of five children.

Her mother, Eliza Meacham Reiniger, also called “Lida”, was born in New York State in 1827.

Rosalie’s father, Gustavus (“G.G.”) Reiniger was born in Germany in 1827 and came to the U.S. at age 5. He “pioneered” to St. Charles, Iowa (now Charles City) in 1855 and established a law practice there. He and Eliza were married in 1857.

They had 6 children: Gustavus (“Little Gus”), who died in infancy; Rosalie (aka Rose, Rosa, Rosie); Olin; Lida; Viola Belle (called Belle), and Lily Bertha (aka June, Dundie).

In 1865 the family moved to Union, Missouri, where Gustavus settled war claims as a district judge. Unfortunately, he was an alcoholic. When his wife took away his liquor in October 1869, he drank poison. He apologized afterward, but it was too late.

After Gustavus died, Eliza moved with the children to Ohio and then to Illinois. The children grew up in Brighton, Illinois, where the family bought a fruit farm. Eliza became active at this time in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).

CHILDHOOD & EARLY ADULTHOOD

Rosalie was christened “Rosalea” (pronounced ro-ZAL-ya), named after her father’s mother and sister. She didn’t like the name and changed it to Rosalie. She was also known as Rosa, Rose, and Rosie.

Rosalie was a natural leader. She took the leading roles in the plays and shows that the five Reiniger children put on in their neighborhood in Brighton. When they were older, they formed a small stock company that put on plays in the surrounding towns. Rosalie was a talented actress and had an opportunity to study acting, but her mother vetoed the plan, as actresses were not considered “decent” at that time.

Instead, Rosalie studied kindergarten teaching, graduating from both the Armour Institute in Chicago (1885) and Iowa State Normal School (1888) in Cedar Falls.

During this time she edited a weekly newspaper that focused on women’s rights.

MARRIAGE & CHILDREN

Rosalie married John Willson on August 28, 1889, in Brighton, Illinois. They made their home in Mason City, Iowa, and had three children: Lucille (“Dixie”), Cedric, and Meredith. (Lucille, like her mother, didn’t like her name. She changed it to Dixie when she was very young.)

Rosalie and John’s philosophy of child-rearing was based on a book that taught that parents could shape the future of an unborn child by reading, talking, and studying about successful people in those professions. Oddly enough, it actually worked: Dixie became a writer, Cedric a businessman, and Meredith a musician – all as planned out by John and Rosalie.

AN ACTIVE LIFE IN MASON CITY

In addition to being a wife and mother, Rosalie was active in the Mason City community. Her two main interests in life were children and animals. She became an unofficial resource for children of all ages, who often came to her for advice and help with their problems. “Any kid who passed the house was Mama’s friend,” wrote Meredith.

Her own children were devoted to her throughout her life. Meredith said of her,

“Mama had literally bottomless patience. She also had great wisdom where kids were concerned.… Mama treated kids like people.”

One example of her work on behalf of animals was the fountain outside the Congregational Church: at her urging, it was built to provide a water source for horses while their owners were in church. Rosalie also played a leading role in establishing the first humane society in Mason City.

Combining her two causes, she organized a children’s group known as the “Band of Mercy”. Almost every child in Mason City claimed membership in this group, which taught and acted on the virtue of kindness to animals. Rosalie’s garden was a gathering place for children, who came to help her feed the birds and squirrels in her “backyard living room.”

Rosalie was Sunday School Superintendent at the Congregational Church for many years. Frequently, she wrote her own services for the Sunday school, especially if she couldn’t find what she wanted elsewhere. One of Meredith’s most popular songs, which he described as “a little Sunday school kind of song” was inspired by the farewell she gave her students as they left the church after Sunday school: “May the Good Lord bless and keep you till we meet again.”

Rosalie, like her mother, was active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. She belonged to the Sorosis club, the first professional women’s club in the U.S. She taught a Kindergarten class in her home and continued to study the latest methods of “kindergartening”.

She taught piano in the formal parlor of the Willson home. Everyone in the Willson family was musical and everyone played piano. As Meredith so succinctly put it, “When your mother gave piano, you took.”

Ingenuity was one of Rosalie’s strengths. When she wanted better air circulation on the second floor of the house, she designed a unique pair of windows to accomplish this. They can be seen in the guest room and nursery of the house on S. Pennsylvania Avenue today. This was typical of Rosalie: if she wanted to accomplish something and couldn’t find anything to fit her ideas, she simply did it herself.

Rosalie was a strong-minded woman. Generally speaking, if she wanted something done, it got done. According to Meredith, she only lost one argument in her life, and that was with the City of Mason City. She wanted to see Willow Creek renamed Willow River. “Mason City is a River City, not a Creek City,” was her argument. Willow Creek is still named Willow Creek.

DIVORCE

John and Rosalie were divorced in 1920. John (then in his 50s) fell in love with Minnie (then in her 20s), an employee at the bakery he managed. After the divorce, he married Minnie and they moved into the house directly behind Rosalie’s. Rosalie did not take this lying down: she had a large garage built behind her house to block her view of John and Minnie’s. Rosalie was very bitter about the divorce and referred to herself as a widow for the rest of her life.

“THE MUSIC MAN”

Rosalie’s influence is easily recognizable in Meredith’s famous show, “The Music Man”. River City is obviously based on Mason City. The train in the opening scene of the show leaves for River City from Brighton, Illinois, where Rosalie grew up. The song “Lida Rose” honored Meredith’s mother Rose and his maternal grandmother and aunt, both called Lida. The “Think System” is reminiscent of John and Rosalie’s philosophy of child-rearing. Meredith described the characters in the show as composites of people he knew as a child. The exception was Marion Paroo: he realized after he had written the show that Marion’s personality was that of his mother.

Sadly, Rosalie did not live to see “The Music Man”. She suffered a stroke in September 1931 and died a few days later at her home. Her obituary states that her three children came from “remote corners of the United States” (i.e., New York, Kansas, and California) to be with their mother in her final illness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Janice Rod, a graduate of Mason City High School, is a retired librarian who has moved back to her hometown. She has been working at The Music Man Square since 2016.

March is Women’s History Month, a month dedicated to celebrating the often-overlooked contributions women have made in history, culture, and society. >> CLICK HERE to read more about the inspirational women in Mason City’s history and their impact on our community!