William S. and Harriet Torrey Evatt

Pictured here are William S. Evatt and Harriet Torrey Evatt travelling on a ship. The Evatts married in 1924 and lived at 74 East Kanawha Avenue in a red brick home they built and filled with fine antiques. William Evatt was an attorney with the Brickler-Eckler Law firm and a talented violinist.

Harriet Evatt was known for her work as a painter, children’s author and illustrator. She was born in 1895 in Knoxville, Tennessee, and her father John McCullough Torrey was a mural painter. Her aunt Harriet Hawley, after whom she was named, was also a children’s author. In 1940 Harriet Evatt began writing children’s novels of "mysteries without crime." Many of her books were set in the French-Canadian country where she and her husband spent time fishing and camping in the Temagami Forest Preserve.

Prior to writing children’s books, Evatt wrote poems, serials, and short stories for a magazine published in Chicago called "Children’s Activities," which inspired her to begin on novels. All of her works were published by Bobbs-Merrill Co. in New York including titles such as "The Red Canoe," "The Secret of the Ruby Locket," "Snow Owl’s Secret," "Big Indian and Little Bear," "The Mystery of the Lonesome Manor" and "The Secret of the Old Coach Inn." The last of these titles drew inspiration from Worthington’s own iconic landmark, the Griswold Inn, which used to stand on the northeast Village Green.

Evatt did all the illustrations for her books and also painted works with oil and watercolors. Her paintings include many self-portraits in settings of countries she visited, cats (which she loved), her book characters and landscapes. Often referred to as the "Worthington authoress," Evatt was active in the Worthington unit of the Philharmonic Women’s Association and was a member of the Women’s Auxiliary of St. John’s Episcopal Church. She was also a member of the League of American Penwomen, the Columbus Art League, and the Ohio Water Color Society.