Background
Elizabeth Fries Lummis Ellet was born at Sodus Point, Lake Ontario, New York, the daughter of Dr. William Nixion Lummis and his second wife, Sarah (Maxwell) Lummis.
Elizabeth Fries Lummis Ellet was born at Sodus Point, Lake Ontario, New York, the daughter of Dr. William Nixion Lummis and his second wife, Sarah (Maxwell) Lummis.
Elizabeth was educated at the Female Seminary, Aurora, New York.
Dr. Lummis belonged to a New Jersey family and practised medicine in Philadelphia but, purchasing the Pultcney estate at Sodus Point, removed there and became a pioneer in developing western New York.
Her first published work was a translation of Silvio Pellico’s tragedy, Euphemio of Messina (1834).
A volume of original poems and a tragedy based on Venetian history, Teresa Contarini, appeared in 1835.
Her books of this type include The Characters of Schiller (1839), with a critical essay on Schiller’s genius; Scenes in the Life of Joanna of Sicily (1840), partly historical, partly imaginary; Evenings at Woodlawn (1849), a species of Arabian Nights, consisting of adaptations of German legends never before presented in English; Novelettes of the Musicians (1852), blendings of fact and fiction of German origin; Women Artists in all Ages and Countries (1859).
Her books based on American history include: Women of the American Revolution (1848); Domestic History of the American Revolution (1850) ; Pioneer Women of the West (1852) ; Queens of American Society (1867); Court Circles of the Republic (1869).
She wrote several miscellaneous books, Rambles about the Country (1840), Family Pictures from the Bible (1849) < Watching Spirits (1851) ; Summer Rambles in the West (1853) ; edited The New Cyclopaedia of Domestic Economy and Practical Housekeeper (1872) ; and contributed articles to many magazines, including the American Quarterly Review, the North American Review, and the Southern Quarterly Review.
Her historical and critical writings show a great amount of careful work and, in spite of a vivid imagination, she was apparently scrupulous not to mix fact and fiction without giving notice in her prefaces.
Her style in her prose works is gossipy and superficially interesting.
Her poetry is neither original nor musical; its best quality is its expression of the love of nature and especially of favorite places, as in “Lake Ontario, ” “Sodus Bay, ” and “Susquehannah. ”
She continued to live in New York City, and died there at her home on Twelfth St. During most of her life she was an Episcopalian but in her later years became a Roman Catholic.
She was intensely patriotic and deeply interested in the contributions of women to American history.
Two kinds of studies interested Elizabeth Ellet: foreign history and literature, and American history.
She began to write when she was fifteen and seems always to have been happiest when she was studying and writing. Though most of her time was absorbed by writing, she gave much attention to her home and was actively helpful in various charities for women and children.
She was proficient in French, German, and Italian ; translated and adapted legends from those languages, and wrote criticism of foreign works.
She married Dr. William H. Ellet, professor of chemistry at Columbia College, New York City. In 1859 her husband died.