Clara Barrus at John Burroughs' Woodchuck Lodge, 1920

In 1901, Dr. Clara Barrus - one of few women to graduate from medical school in the late 19th century - wrote a fan letter to nature writer John Burroughs. The pair became close, and Burroughs relied increasingly on Barrus as his secretary and nearly constant companion until his death in 1921. Burroughs ultimately named Barrus his literary executor and official biographer.