Ella Brockway Avann

Ella Hoag Brockway Avann
"A woman of the century"
Born	Ella Eleura Hoag May 20, 1853 Newaygo, Michigan, U.S.
Died	October 22, 1899(1899-10-22) (aged 46) Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Resting place	Riverside Cemetery, Albion, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	educator, writer
Language	English
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Albion College
Spouse	Hamline Brockway ​ ​ (m. 1873; died 1887)​ , Joseph M. Avann ​ (m. 1891)​

Ella Hoag Brockway Avann (May 20, 1853 – October 22, 1899) was an American educator and writer.

After graduating from Albion College of Michigan, she subsequently became preceptress of that institution. She filled the chair of English literature and also lectured on the history of music. For 10 years, she was president of the Woman's Foreign Missionary society. Avann made frequent contributions to the religious press. She held official positions in various literary, social and benevolent societies.

Early years and education

Ella Eleura Hoag was born in Newaygo, Michigan, May 20, 1853. Her father, the Rev. G. W. Hoag, born in Charlotte, Vermont, was of Quaker parentage and a pioneer in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Michigan, having gone to that State in boyhood. Her mother, Elizabeth Bruce Hoag, from Rochester, New York, was gifted with pen and voice, and was a high official in the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of her church.

At the age of twelve, Avann went to Albion College, Albion, Michigan, and was graduated in 1871.

Career

In 1873, she married L. Hamline Brockway, of Albion, where they lived for 15 years, when his election as county clerk caused their removal to Marshall, Michigan. After the husband's death in August, 1887, and Mrs. Brockway with her son, Bruce, aged 12, and daughter, Ruth, aged six, returned to Albion. In January, 1889, she became preceptress of the college. In that position she displayed great executive ability. She had great influence over the young women of the college and exercised that power without apparent effort. She led the department of English literature, and also lectured on the history of music. For ten years, she was president of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of Albion district.

In June, 1891, she resigned her position in Albion College and on August 11, she married the Rev. Joseph M. Avann, of Findlay, Ohio. As a speaker, she was pleasing and fascinating. Occasionally, she gave a literary address or spoke in behalf of some benevolent cause away from home. She made frequent contributions to the religious press, and was connected with various literary, social and benevolent societies, holding official positions. She died October 22, 1899, in Toledo, Ohio, and was buried at Riverside Cemetery, in Albion.

Family

She had one son, Porter Bruce Brockway (1875-1958).

References

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Albion College (1890). Year-book of Albion College (Public domain ed.). The College. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• 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. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• 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. 36. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Works by or about Ella Brockway Avann at the Internet Archive