Elizabeth (Fellows) Dennis during Fourth of July celebrations, 1918

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Description

Elizabeth (Fellows) Dennis, a Coralville pioneer, sits in a wooden chair at a Fourth of July celebration. She wears a striped dress, dark coat, feathered hat, and a glove on her left hand. Writing in the bottom right corner of the image states, "River Jct, Iowa. July 4, 1918. 15855."

Elizabeth (Fellows) Dennis was born on March 4, 1826 to Nathaniel Jr. and Polly (Foss) Fellows in New Hampshire. She had a sister named Judith. On March 1, 1838, the family, along with Nathaniel Fellows, Sr., left their home in Portage, Indiana to join a wagon train heading west. They were granted a farm of 260 acres from Chief Poweshiek. The land was west of Iowa City and near the banks of Clear Creek (Lovetinsky et al., p. 6).

On December 31, 1843, Elizabeth married Isaac Vorhees Dennis, son of John and Mary A. (Voorhees) Dennis and born November 13, 1822 in Ohio. The Dennis family came to Iowa after the death of John in 1839 (Lovetinsky et al., p. 8).

Elizabeth and Isaac built a farmhouse on the Fellows' homestead and named it Evergreen Farm. They had five children: Emma (b. 1844), George F. (b. 1849), Lucien Isaac (b. 1853), William Delos (b. 1856), Samuel Kirkwood (b, 1858), and Grant (b. 1864) (Ancestry Library; Lovetinsky et al., p. 8-9).

When Isaac went to fight in the Civil War, Elizabeth joined the Iowa City's Soldier's Aid Society of the Civil War. She also worked with the Red Cross and the Women's Relief Corps during the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I. When she wasn't knitting or sewing for soldiers, she taught Sunday School at the Methodist Church.

Isaac died at Evergreen Farm on December 26, 1894. Elizabeth survived him by 27 years, passing away on November 28, 1921 (Lovetinsky et al., p. 8).

Publisher

Coralville Public Library. Coralville Digital History Library.

Date

July 4, 1918

Rights

Educational use only, no other permissions given.

Format

jpeg

Language

English

Coverage

River Junction, Iowa

Citation

“Elizabeth (Fellows) Dennis during Fourth of July celebrations, 1918,” Coralville Digital History Library, accessed October 15, 2024, https://coralvilledigitalhistory.omeka.net/items/show/209.

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