Leila Harlowe

## Dr. Leila Harlowe

### Family Members

William Harlowe (Father) † Muriel Harlowe (Mother) † Virgil Harlowe (Brother) Wyatt Harlowe (Brother) John Harlowe (Brother)

## General Description

Dr. Leila Jane Harlowe (born June 19, 1879) is a British-American doctor and current Deputy Chief Physician of R&H Doctor's Office. Leila's original ambition was to build off her late father's medical research into the pharmaceutical application of herbs and plants native to the Deadwood Valley region, but altered her path into practicing emergency medical care upon learning of its demand in the area. When not on duty, Leila can most often be found continuing her passion for herbology by spending her time cultivating various plants and herbs at her home's front garden, foraging for plants across New Hanover and Lemoyne, or looking for areas of natural beauty to relax and do some fishing at.

## Biography

### Early Life

Leila is the second born child to Dr. William Harlowe, a general practitioner and medical researcher from Kent, England, and Muriel Harlowe (née Bryan), from Saint Denis, United States. The couple met when Dr. Harlowe was visiting the states, and within a year were wed before moving back to England together. They welcomed their first child, Virgil, named after his maternal grandfather, in 1876, and Leila almost 3 years later. Dr. Harlowe had a strong belief in the value of education, and so from a young age Leila and Virgil received additional tutoring beyond their compulsory academics, and Leila showed interest in reading and writing from as young as 5.

The family lived together in a large, countryside home in Kent, where for the majority of Leila's early life she was in the care of her mother, although Muriel was often preoccupied in running the household, upkeeping her own hobbies, and in dealing with poor behaviour from Virgil. When he was not away presenting lectures or on research trips, Dr. Harlowe worked long hours to provide medical care to families in the areas surrounding their home.

Her early childhood upbringing was relatively uneventful and comfortable, being raised in a middle class household. The family was not wealthy enough to have nannies or maids about the house, but could afford other day-to-day luxuries, and afford the travel costs of spending summers abroad visiting her mother's family. More often than not, Leila, Virgil, and Muriel would travel together without Dr. Harlowe, as his work schedule did not allow for the sometimes multiple months spent journeying and staying in other countries.

In 1885, rather than the usual summer visit to her parents in Saint Denis, the Harlowe family visited Muriel's older sister, Nora, who had moved to Cologne, Germany, with her new husband. It was the first of three consecutive years that Leila's family journeyed there, and three consecutive years in which Muriel secretly engaged in relations with one of her brother-in-law's friends, a young physician by the name of Heinrich Kiesewetter. In 1886, Muriel gave birth to her third child, Wyatt, while on vacation and staying in Nora's home.

### Muriel Harlowe's Death

Towards the end of the several years of vacationing abroad during summer months, and being home-schooled throughout the rest of the year, Leila and Virgil had become old enough to start to notice the growing distance in their parent's relationship. However, concerns of this were cut short in when, in 1888, Muriel sadly died within three days of bringing her last son, and Leila's youngest brother, John, into the world.

Muriel's death was unexpected, and no one in the family was prepared for such a loss. The stress of the loss of his wife and the necessity for childcare caused Dr. Harlowe to significantly reduce his workload for several years, but helped him to grow closer to his children. Tensions between Dr. Harlowe and Muriel's parents grew due to their disapproval of him having had her remains cremated. Dr. Harlowe eventually had Muriel's ashes transferred to her parents' possession, which they secured within a small tomb dedicated to her at Saint Denis Cemetery, before cutting contact with him.

### 1898 - 1904

As young as around the age of 12, Leila had taken on the role that her mother had left behind in caring for her brothers and running the Harlowe household. In early 1898, at the age of 18, her father's medical research lead them to permanently move to the United States. While Dr. Harlowe spent his time researching into the pharmaceutical application of herbs and plants native to the Deadwood Valley region, Leila spread her time between the necessary cooking and cleaning, educating her younger brothers and engaging in recreational activities with them, such as fishing, foraging and gambling away their pocket-money to each other.

Much of Leila's late teens and early twenties were consumed by her responsibilities to raising Wyatt and John. The list of responsibilities lengthened after Virgil, upon hearing about the declaration of the Spanish-American War, volunteered to join the United States' Army. Unable to change his son's mind, Dr. Harlowe joined him and volunteered his medical expertise. During his short time working with the military, Dr. Harlowe met with a fellow volunteer, Dr. Wilhelm Reiner, who, unbeknownst to all except the late Muriel, was Heinrich Kiesewetter having changed his name and fled Germany ten years beforehand with her assistance. The two doctors became good friends, and after the war began to practice medicine as colleagues in the areas surrounding Strawberry, where Dr. Harlowe was renting a small home for his family.