Catherwood, Mary Hartwell 1847-1902 creator Merrill, Frank T. 1848-1923 text utu 2025 New edition monographic en 1 online resource : multiple file formats "Rocky Fork" by Mary Hartwell Catherwood is a novel written in the late 19th century. Set among the hills and hollows of central Ohio, it follows spirited Melissa “Bluebell” Garde as she navigates schooldays, community customs, and the dangers and delights of a rural settlement with her little sister Rocco, their physician father, and visiting Aunt Melissa. Expect tender domestic moments, lively classroom scenes, industrial backdrops, and occasional frontier hazards, all filtered through a child’s keen eye. The opening of the novel follows Bluebell on her path to the log schoolhouse under kindly Mr. Pitzer, where a polished outsider, Mr. Runnels, sweeps in to launch a “geography school” with map-chanting that captivates the district. After a noon of trading treats and games, Bluebell rides with her father to the chapel meeting; the night turns urgent when a furnace worker is injured, and the pair brave the perilous Narrows on their sure-footed mare, Ballie. Next day a refined relative, Miss Melissa Calder, arrives with gifts (including a wax doll that briefly stirs Rocco’s jealousy), then visits the school, offers remarks, and joins the girls’ swing at noon. The section closes on a simmering quarrel over a prized thumb-paper and a heated spelling match as a storm gathers, sketching the community’s rhythms, childhood rivalries, and the mix of learning and danger that shape Bluebell’s world. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Release date is 2025-10-05 David E. Brown, Mary Fahnestock-Thomas, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Originally published: Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1911 Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction Friendship -- Juvenile fiction Family -- Juvenile fiction Country life -- Juvenile fiction Students -- Juvenile fiction Fathers and daughters -- Juvenile fiction Homesickness -- Juvenile fiction Ohio -- Social life and customs -- Juvenile fiction PZ Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1911 11006024 https://archive.org/details/rockyfork00cath/page/n7/mode/2up https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76984 https://archive.org/details/rockyfork00cath/page/n7/mode/2up https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76984 UtSlPG 260607 20260610134801.0 76984