A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Ellet, Elizabeth F.
ELLET, ELIZABETH F.
Daughter of Dr. William A. Lummis, a man honourably distinguished in his profession, was born at Sodus, a small town on the shores of Lake Ontario, in the state of New York. Her mother was the daughter of General Maxwell, an officer in the American Revolutionary war; and thus the subject of this memoir war in childhood imbued with patriotic feelings, which, next to the religious, are sure to nourish in the female mind the seeds of genius. Miss Lummis was early distinguished for vivacity of intellect and a thirst for learning, which her subsequent life has shewn was no evanescent fancy, but the natural stamp of her earnest mind. She was married, before she was seventeen, to Dr. William H. Ellet, an accomplished scholar, and then Professor of Chemistry in Columbia College, New York city, whither he removed his youthful bride There she had such advantages of study as she had never before enjoyed, and her proficiency was rapid. She soon began to write for the periodicals; her first piece, a poem, appeared in 1833 in the "American Ladies' Magazine," published at Boston. Her articles were favourably noticed, and the name of Mrs. Ellet became known among literary circles.
In 1834, appeared her translation of "Euphemia of Messina," one of the most admired productions of Silvio Pelico; and in the following year, an original tragedy from her pen, "Teresa Contarini," was successfully represented in New York, and also in some of the western cities. In the same year, 1835, she published her "Poems—translated and Original." For several succeeding years, Mrs. Ellet wrote chiefly for periodicals; to the American Review, she contributed "Papers on Italian Tragedy," "Italian Poets," "Lamartine's Poems," "Andreini's Adam," etc.
Dr. Ellet receiving the appointment of Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in the college at Columbia, South Carolina, removed thither, and Mrs. Ellet found herself among new scenery and new friends, but her old love of literature remained unchanged. Besides contributing to the "North American Review," "Southern Quarterly Review," "The Lady's Book," and other periodicals, in 1841 she produced "The Characters of Schiller," an analysis and criticism of the principal persons in Schiller's plays, with an essay on Schiller's genius, and translated extracts from his writings. "Joanna of Sicily" was her next work; soon followed by "Country Rambles," a spirited description of the scenery she has observed in. her journeyings through the United States.
In the autumn of 1848, her most elaborate, as well as important work, was published in New York, "The Women of the American Revolution," in two volumes, to which she has since added a third. This contribution to American history, and the ability with which it was executed, has, deservedly, given Mrs. Ellet a high place among female writers. In 1850, she published "Domestic History of the American Revolution," in one volume, designed to exhibit the spirit of that period, to pourtray, as far as possible, the social and domestic condition of the colonists, and the state of feeling among the people during the war. Another work of hers, "Pictures from Bible History," was also published in 1850.
Mrs. Ellet has tried nearly all varieties of literature, original and translation—poetry, essay, criticism, tragedy, biography, fiction, history, and stories for children; to say, as we truly can, that she has not failed in any, is sufficient praise. Still she has not, probably, done her best in any one department; the concentration of genius is one of the conditions of its perfect development. She is yet young, hopeful, and studious. Nor are her accomplishments confined to the merely literary; in music and drawing she also excels; and in the graces that adorn society, and make the charm of social and domestic intercourse, she is eminently gifted. Her residence is now fixed in the city of New York.