Elizabeth Otis Dannelly

Elizabeth Otis Dannelly (June 13, 1838 – March 21, 1896) was an American Southern poet. Born in Georgia, she wrote, Cactus, or Thorns and Blossoms and Wayside Flowers.[1]

Elizabeth Otis Dannelly
"A woman of the century"
BornElizabeth Otis Marshall
June 13, 1838
Monticello, Georgia, U.S.
DiedMarch 21, 1896(1896-03-21) (aged 57)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Resting placeOakland Cemetery, Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Occupationpoet
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Alma materEmory College, Madison Female College
GenreSouthern poetry
Notable works"Destruction of the City of Columbia, South Carolina"
Spouse
Francis Olin Dannelly
​
​
(m. 1862; died 1880)​
RelativesOliver Hazard Perry, Elisha Dyer

Early years and education

Elizabeth Otis Marshall was born in Monticello, Georgia, June 13, 1838.[2] Her father, Jackson Marshall, was a native of Augusta, Georgia. On her mother's side, she descended from an old Huguenot family named Grinnell. Her grandfather, Peter Grinnell, was closely connected with Henry Grinnell, of Arctic expedition fame, and was also a first cousin to Oliver Hazard Perry. Her grandmother was a daughter of Anthony Dyer, uncle of Elisha Dyer, Governor of Rhode Island.[3]

While quite young, her father moved to Oxford, Georgia, the seat of Emory College, where her early education was begun. At the age of twelve years, she was sent to school in Charleston, South Carolina, and from that city she entered the Madison Female College, Madison, Georgia, from which institution she was graduated July 26, 1855.[4] Immediately after receiving her diploma, Dannelly went to New York City, where one year was spent in studying painting.[3]

Career

During Dannelly's removal to New York City, her father had moved from Savannah to Madison. In Madison, on September 4, 1862, she married Dr. Francis Olin Dannelly (1823-1880), the son of Rev. James Dannelly, Methodist minister of South Carolina. Dr. Dannelly was, at the time of his marriage, a surgeon in the Confederate army, stationed in Richmond, Virginia. Shortly after, he was ordered to Columbia, South Carolina, where they continued to reside until the close of the American Civil War. About that time, Dannelly wrote her famous seventeen-page poem, "Destruction of the City of Columbia, South Carolina",[5] which was especially prized in the South and added to the popularity of her volume of poems, Cactus, or Thorns and Blossoms (New York, 1879).[3]

Soon after the close of the war, the Dannelly family removed to Baltimore, Maryland, where her husband resumed the practice of medicine, having attained distinction in that occupation. During the years of her residence in Baltimore, Dannelly occupied a leading social position, while being a frequent contributor to many of the leading periodicals and magazines of that day. [3]

But ah, there's a picture no artist,
With magical skill, could design;
No power can fade, or efface it,
That picture forever is mine."
--Elizabeth Otis Dannelly, Waxahachie, Texas[6]

After living five years in Baltimore, the family removed to Texas, where they settled in Waxahachie. After a few years in Texas, they returned to Baltimore, where, in 1880, Dr. Dannelly died.[7] In addition to his medical career, he had written for the Charleston Courier using the pen name, "Frank Vivian".[8]

Elizabeth Otis Dannelly (1892)

Dannelly had a life of varying fortune, from affluence to a more moderate life style. In 1882, she returned to Texas with her six boys, again locating in Waxahachie, the center of a large circle of friends. Her sons included: James, F. M., I. C., and Dyer G. Dannelly.[9] Although a busy mother, and giving much time to religious, charitable and temperance work, she found time to add poems to her first volume, and to write a second volume, Wayside Flowers (Chicago, 1892). She also resumed painting as a recreation.[7] She died March 21, 1896,[2] in Dallas, Texas, and was buried at Oakland Cemetery.

Selected works
  • Destruction of the city of Columbia, South Carolina : a poem, 1866
  • Cactus ; or, Thorns and blossoms : a collection of satirical and miscellaneous, embracing religious, temperance, and memorial poems , 1879
  • Wayside flowers : religious and miscellaneous poems, 1892

References
  1. Warner, Mabie & Runkle 1898, p. 131.
  2. Herringshaw 1904, p. 279.
  3. Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 227.
  4. Herringshaw 1890, p. 867.
  5. Nelson 2012, p. 252.
  6. Herringshaw 1892, p. 214.
  7. Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 228.
  8. Simms 1956, p. 34.
  9. The Southern Pharmaceutical Journal 1913, p. 559.

Attribution

Bibliography
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