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Martha Ellis Gellhorn (November 8, 1908-February 15, 1998) was an American journalist, travel writer, and novelist who was considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century.

During her 60-year career she reported on just about every major world conflict that took place. Gellhorn was the third wife of American novelist Ernst Hemingway, staying with him from 1940 to 1945.

Having a great writing talent, her first published articles appeared in the New Republic. Determined to become a foreign correspondent, she traveled to France where she spent two years. With her talent as a writer, she landed a position with the United Press bureau in Paris.

Leaving her position, she spent years traveling Europe, writing for newspapers in Paris and St. Louis, In addition, she would cover fashion for Vogue.

Upon her return to the United States in 1932, Gellhorn was hired by Harry Hopkins to assist First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt write correspondence and the first lady’s “My Day” column in Women’s Home Companion.

On a 1936 Christmas family trip to Key West, Florida Gellhorn first met Ernest Hemingway. Her trip to Key West was intended to have been a report on the Spanish Civil War for the Collier’s Weekly. Hemingway was very charming and persuaded Gellhorn to travel with him to Spain so they could better understand the war. Together, they would spend Christmas of 1937 in Barcelona.

Traveling to Germany, she reported on the rise of Adolf Hitler. After the outbreak of World War II, she described these events in her novel A Stricken Field. The novel was published in 1940, prior to the United States entering the war.

Traveling extensively, she reported the war from Finland, Hong Kong, Burma, Singapore, and England.

Lacking official press credentials to witness the Normandy landings, she hid in a hospital ship bathroom, and upon landing impersonated a stretcher bearer so as to land on the shores of Normandy. Gellhorn was the only woman to land at Normandy on D-Day on June 6, 1944. Following the American troops, she was the first journalist to report from Dachau concentration camp after it was liberated by U.S. troops on April 29, 1945.

As to her relationship with Hemingway, they lived together off and on for four years prior to their marriage in November, 1940.

Together, Hemingway and Gellhorn sailed back to Key West after their marriage only to find Gellhorn leaving a short time later to cover the Italian Front.

Following Gellhorn to London, Hemingway was told by Gellhorn that she had enough of him and his wondering eye toward women. She had found as had his other wives, that as described by the author Bernice Kert in The Hemingway Women, “Hemingway could never sustain a long-lived, wholly satisfying relationship with any one of his four wives.” Gellhorn and Hemingway divorced in 1945.

After World War II, Gellhorn worked for the Atlantic Monthly, covering the Vietnam War and the Arab-Israel conflicts in the 1960s.

In her last years, Gellhorn was in frail health from cancer that had spread to her liver. On February 15, 1998, she committed suicide in London. Gellhorn had an exciting life in her 89 years.

1979: The owner of bill's Bottle Shop isn't concerned about House Bill 21. The Liquor Commission has proposed extending bar hours from 1 to 2 a.m. and increasing the number of licenses from 25 to 32. 

1935: The new filtering plant in Charleston has been placed in operation. The plant, which has a daily capacity of two million gallons, consists of three filter beds, mixing and settling beds. A booster pump takes care of pressure in case of fires. The water comes from deep wells. The addition to the Charleston waterworks was financed through funds on hand and by a small bond issue. 

1965: An auto graveyard near Charleston is nestled between rolling hills along scenic Illinois 16. 

1965: Mayor-elect Wlater Reasor Jr. and Eastern Illinois University president have urged to move the junk yards west of Charleston city limits. 

1988: Teen night fills the floor at E.L. Krackers. 

1974: The Charleston Rotary Community Pool is located on approximately five acres of land directly behind the Junior High School. 

1948: Charleston's waterworks is being converted from diesel to electric power this week at a savings in costs of $500 a month, releasing 18,000 gallons of fuel oil a year for other uses. Oil tanks will be kept full to enable emergency use of the diesel engines which will remain in place although disconnected. 

1982: Aerial view shows extent of American Hardware Supply Co.'s new 240,000 square foot distribution center north of Charleston.

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Learn about yet another Little Known Character in America with this week's column from Cal Campbell.

Learn about yet another Little Known Character in America with this week's column from Cal Campbell.

Learn about yet another Little Known Character in America with this week's column from Cal Campbell.

Learn about yet another Little Known Character in America with this week's column from Cal Campbell.

Learn about yet another Little Known Character in America with this week's column from Cal Campbell.

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