1855–1934
Mrs. Frank A. Breck

Introduction

Born: Ja­nu­ary 22, 1855, Wal­den, Ver­mont.

Died: March 27, 1934, Port­land, Ore­gon.

Buried: Rose Ci­ty Ce­me­te­ry, Port­land, Ore­gon.

portrait

Biography

She was the daugh­ter of Ste­phen Thomp­son Ell­is and Eli­za­beth Na­omi Boyn­ton Co­burn, and wife of Frank A. Breck (mar­ried 1884).

Carrie was a des­cend­ant of Co­lo­nel Ti­mo­thy El­lis, who won dis­tinc­tion in the Bat­tle of Ti­con­de­ro­ga in the Ame­ri­can re­vo­lu­tion.

Her fa­mi­ly moved from Ver­mont to Vine­land, New Jer­sey, and she spent most of her life in south­ern New Jer­sey. She and Frank moved to Ore­gon be­tween 1910 and 1920.

She had no sense of pitch, and could not car­ry a tune, but had the gift of po­et­ic rhy­thm, and wrote ov­er 2,000 po­ems.

She was not par­ti­cu­lar­ly ro­bust in health, and had to take fre­quent rests while do­ing chores. At such times, she would sit in her fa­vo­rite rock­ing chair, take up a note­book, and write po­et­ry, of­ten with a ba­by on her knee or play­ing at her feet.

Works

Sources

Lyrics