Elizabeth Otis Dannelly

Elizabeth Otis Marshall was born in Monticello, Georgia on 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]

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 marriage, a surgeon in the Confederate States Army, stationed in Richmond, Virginia.

Shortly after, he was ordered to Columbia, South Carolina, where Dr. and Mrs. Dannelly continued to reside until the close of the civil war. About that time, Dannelly wrote her notable 17-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, 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]

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.^[6]

Dannelly's life was of varying fortune, from affluence to moderation. After 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.^[6] In addition to his medical career, he wrote for the Charleston Courier using the pen name, "Frank Vivian".^[8] In 1882, the widow 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]

Elizabeth Otis Dannelly died March 21, 1896,^[2] in Dallas, Texas, and was buried at Oakland Cemetery.

• 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

•   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Herringshaw, Thomas William (1890). Local and National Poets of America: With Biographical Sketches and Choice Selections from Over One Thousand Living American Poets (Public domain ed.). American publishers' association. p. 867.
•   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Herringshaw, Thomas William (1904). Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century: Accurate and Succinct Biographies of Famous Men and Women in All Walks of Life who are Or Have Been the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States Since Its Formation ... (Public domain ed.). American Publishers' Association.
•   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Herringshaw, Thomas William (1892). Poetical Quotations: Comprises Excellent and Appropriate Sentiments and Choice Selections Collected from the National, Local and Anonymous Verse-writers of America Now Living (Public domain ed.). American Publishers' Association.
•   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: The Southern Pharmaceutical Journal (1913). The Southern Pharmaceutical Journal. Vol. 6 (Public domain ed.). The Southern Pharmaceutical Journal.
•   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Warner, Charles Dudley; Mabie, Hamilton Wright; Runkle, Lucia Isabella Gilbert (1898). Library of the World's Best Literature: Biographical dictionary (Public domain ed.). R. S. Peale and J. A. Hill.
•   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton. p. 227.

• Nelson, Megan Kate (2012). Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-4251-1.
• Simms, William Gilmore (1956). 1867–1870. University of South Carolina Press.

•   Works related to Woman of the Century/Elizabeth Otis Dannelly at Wikisource
• Works by or about Elizabeth Otis Dannelly at the Internet Archive