Representative women of New England/Isabel N. Holbrook
ISABEL NORTON HOLBROOK, of Holbrook and Boston, Mass., for several years Regent of Paul Reven^ Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and now one of the tliree honorary State Regents of that society, is a native of New London, Merrimack County, N.H. Born February 14, 1841, daughter of Walter Powers Flanders and his wife, Susan Everett Greeley, she numbers among her ancestors many colonial worthies whose names are woven into the history of New England. Among them w^as Major-general Humphrey Atherton, who held many positions of honor, both civil and military, and at the time of his death, in 1661, was commander-in-chief of the colonial forces. Another was Tristram Coffin, whose descendants trace their lineage back to the Nantucket home with pride; and beside these were James Trowbridge, John Whipple, Edward Jackson, John Ward, and Ebenezer Stone, all prominent men in the early days of Newton and Cambridge. Of the fifteen ancestors under whom Mrs. Holbrook qualified for membership in the Society of Colonial Dames, nine were Deputies to the General Court. Four of her ancestors — namely, Stephen Harriman, Stephen Harriman, Jr., Etenezer Shepard, and Joseph Greeley — served in the Revolutionary War, the last two as minutemen on the alarm of the battle of Lexington.
Walter Powers Flanders was born in Warner, N.H., March 29, 1805. He died in Milwaukee, Wis., January 24, 1883. He was son of Ezra
and Lucy (Harriman) Flanders and a lineal descendant of Stephen Flanders, an early inhabitant of Salisbury, Mass. The family to which his mother belonged was founded by Leonard Harriman, who was of Rowley, Mass., as early as 1649.
Walt<*r P. Flanders was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1831. He became an able and successful lawyer in New Hampshire, and was for several years a member of the legislature. He removed to Milwaukee, Wis., in 1848. He was treasurer of the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Railroad, and later had large landed interests.
Susan Everett Greeley, who became the wife of Walter Powers Flanders, September 23,1834, was born in New London, N.H., January 8, 1811. She died in Milwaukee, Wis., May 10, 1888. In the History of New London, N.H., the pleasant hill town where nearly half her life was spent, she is reverently recorded as a "woman of rare mental endowment and singularly beautiful character." She was a daughter of Squire Jonathan and Polly (Shepard) Greeley and the youngest of a family of seven children. Her mother was a daughter of Lieutenant Ebenezer Shepard, of Dedham, Mass., and New London, N.H., who married Jane McCordy. Her father, Jonathan Greeley, was a son of Joseph and Prudence (Clement) Greeley, of Haverhill, Mass., and traced his descent from Andrew Greeley, who was an original proprietor of Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Isabel Norton Flanders was educated at Milwaukee College, one of the pioneer institutions devoted to the higher education of women, and noted for thoroughness of training. She was graduated in 1858, and later was for many years a member of the board of trustees of the college. She was married February 11, 1862, to William Lafayette Dana, general freight agent of the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Railroad. Mr. Dana died two years later, and she resided with her parents in Milwaukee until February 7, 1889, when she was married to K. Everett Holbrook. Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook spend their summers in Holbrook, Mass., at the homestead of Mr. Holbrookes father, Elisha Niles Holbrook, after whom the town was named and from whom it received the town hall and public library. Their winter residence is in Boston, and they enjoy frequent seasons of foreign travel.
Mrs. Holbrook's ancestry has had its rightful influence, and she is warmly interested hi patriotic work. Under her regency the Paul Revere Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, began its educational work for boys, instructing them in American history and the principles of good citizenship, under the supervision of the Denison House. Mrs. Holbrook is one of the vice-presidents of the New England Women's Club, a director of the Woman's Home Missionary Association, and a trustee of the Holbrook Public Library. She has been a member of the Congregational church since her sixteenth year, and for many years in Milwaukee was active In the work of Plymouth Clmrch and Sunday-school. She was also for thirteen years secretary of the Milwaukee Home for the Friendless.