Eliza (Calvert) Obenchain (1856 - 1935)

Born 1856 in Bowling Green, Warren, Kentucky, United States

Wife of William Alexander Obenchain — married 1885 in Bowling Green, Warren, Kentucky, United States

Died 1935 at about age 79 in Texas

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Biography

Eliza (Calvert) Obenchain is Notable.

'It is only a plain tale of plain people told in the plain dialect of a plain old woman.'

Eliza Caroline Calvert (February 11, 1856 - December 20, 1935) was an American author, women's rights advocate, and suffragist.

Book by Eliza Calvert Hall

She was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, to parents Thomas Chalmers Calvert, and Margaret Younglove Calvert. ^[1]

"Lida" was her nickname, and Lida Obenchain, writing under the pen name Eliza Calvert Hall, was widely known early in the twentieth century for her short stories featuring an elderly widowed woman, "Aunt Jane", who plainly spoke her mind about the people she knew and her experiences in the rural south.

Her best known work is ' Aunt Jane of Kentucky ' which received extra acclaim when United States President Theodore Roosevelt recommended the book during a speech, saying,

• "' 'I cordially recommend the first chapter of Aunt Jane of Kentucky as a tract in all families where the menfolk tend to selfish or thoughtless or overbearing disregard to the rights of their womenfolk.' '"

Eliza Calvert Obenchain's real life could have provided the raw material for a great novel of suffering, disillusionment, and a rise from the ashes of despair. Nothing so dramatic for her, though, and her "Aunt Jane" stories were beautifully written, poignant, and all about the ordinary life and extraordinary wisdom of Kentucky folk--such as quilt maker and philosopher, 'Aunt Jane'.

The New York Times stated in their review of Aunt Jane of Kentucky that

• "Aunt Jane is not false, nor cheap, nor shallow, and the stories that are put in her mouth exhale the very breath of old gardens and county roads and fields."

Eliza grew up in Bowling Green, where her father, Thomas Calvert, was a prominent businessman who held a position with the Bank of Kentucky. Thomas Calvert's success allowed him to build a mansion on Vinegar Hill in Bowling Green, and he achieved near millionaire status.

Because of this Eliza's early years were comfortable, and she received an excellent education. But at age fourteen her life changed dramatically. Her father, outwardly prospering as a lawyer, entrepreneur and bank manager, was found to have misappropriated funds of his bank to fuel his speculative ventures.

Thomas Calvert, in the face of mounting accusations of embezzling money--simply disappeared. He would not see his family again for thirteen years.

While Eliza's father was able to disappear, the mansion and property on Vinegar Hill were liquidated and Eliza, her mother, and siblings experienced sudden poverty and shame.

Eliza's former home that became Ogden College.

Eliza was to keep her high ideals, and soon she began writing. Her works--tales of ordinary life--met with success, and she was able to provide a living for her family. In time, she met a man who shared her ideals of helping to provide education for all.

William Alexander Obenchain

On July 8, 1885, she married 44-year-old Major William Alexander Obenchain. Obenchain was a Virginia native and American Civil War veteran who in 1883 became president of Ogden College, a small men's college in Bowling Green, that just happened to be housed in the former home Thomas Calvert had built for his family to live in.

Lida and William had four children:

• Margery,
• William Alexander Jr. (Alex),
• Thomas Hall
• Cecilia

Eliza's family responsibilities left her with limited time to write. Her frustration as an unpaid housewife motivated her to support the cause of women's suffrage and to work with the Kentucky Equal Rights Association.

The extensive contributions Eliza made to the cause of women's rights is discussed more here.

In later life she became interested in supporting the women's handcrafts of Kentucky, particularly the intricate art of weaving.

Calvert's Book of Kentucky Coverlets.

One of her greatest contributions in written works is A Book of Hand-Woven Coverlets, and Collecting Coverlet Patterns in Early Twentieth Century Appalachia. ^[2]

Eliza, after the death of her husband, moved to Dallas Texas to care for her daughter Margery, who was ill with tuberculosis. Eliza continued to write, but very little.

After the death of her daughter in 1923, she stayed in Texas, where she died on December 20, 1935.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Source Citation Description Year: 1856 Source Information Ancestry.com. Kentucky, U.S., Birth Records, 1847-1911 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data:Kentucky. Kentucky Birth, Marriage and Death Records – Microfilm (1852-1910). Microfilm rolls #994027-994058. Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky. Source Description This database contains county birth records from Kentucky for the years 1852-1910. Information available in these records includes: name of child, gender, race, birth date, birth place, parents' names, parents' birthplaces, and parents' ages.
2. ↑ Eliza Calvert Hall, A Book of Hand-Woven Coverlets, and Collecting Coverlet Patterns in Early Twentieth Century Appalachia
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_Calvert_Hall