Laura Jacinta Rittenhouse was an American temperance activist, juvenile literature author, poet, businesswoman, and club-woman. She was the author of the poem, "Out of the Depths".
Early years and education
Laura Jacinta Arter was born in Grand Chain, Pulaski County, Illinois, near the Ohio River, April 30, 1841. She was a daughter of Dr. Daniel Arter. From her parents she inherited her tastes and talent for literature. Her education was received in the schools of the sparsely-settled county, but she supplemented her deficient schooling by earnest self-culture and wide reading.
Career
In Pulaski County, December 31, 1863, she married Wood Rittenhouse, a prominent business man of Cairo, Illinois. Their family included one daughter and four sons: Isabella Maud, Wood Arter, Harry H., Fred M. and Robin C. Rittenhouse. After her marriage, for many years, Rittenhouse was able to spare little time for literary work, but during the early 1890s, she was a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers. Her best work was done in her short stories. She was a skillful writer of plots, and all her stories were carefully worked out to their logical ending. For years, her interests were given to the work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and for that body, she toiled and wrote unceasingly. She was the first president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Cairo, serving in that office for many years. She was elected district president of that organization for four consecutive years, and for five years, she also served as district treasurer. She was secretary of the Social Science Association in Cairo. She served as secretary of the Centennial Association in Cairo, and also as secretary of the Cairo Protestant Orphan Asylum, besides acting as manager of the asylum for many years. She served a year as secretary of the Cairo Women's Library Club. For three years, she was president of the Presbyterian Woman's Aid Society in Cairo. She was one of the vice-presidents of the Red Cross Society in Cairo. Rittenhouse died on July 11, 1911, in Chicago, Illinois. She was buried at Cairo City Cemetery, in Villa Ridge, Illinois.
