Kinyon Digital Library

Civil War Rosters
County/Local Histories
Census Transcriptions
Local Maps and More

Kinyon Digital Library

The Blue Book of Iowa Women A History of Contemporary Women

Compiled by Winona Evans Reeves, 1914.

Iowa Index || - || Previous Page || Table of Contents  || Next Page

Miss Elizabeth G. Ivins

Elizabeth Galland Ivins, musician, was born in Keokuk, Oct. 9, 1858, and died in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 2, 1912.  She was the daughter of William S. and Virginia Wilcox Ivins.  She was not only a musician, but a linguist of ability, being proficient in Italian, French, German and Spanish.  Her early training in music and in the languages began at Helmuth College, London, Ontario, when she was but fourteen years old.  Here she won the medal for highest proficiency.  Later she took an exhaustive course in the Cincinnati College of Music.  She studied in New York, Chicago and Paris, under the most famous teachers of the times.  In Cincinnati she was soprano soloist in a choir under the direction of Theodore Thomas.  She appeared successfully in operas, oratorios, and concerts, and refused many flattering offers for a professional career.  She was a member of the faculty of Canton College and head of the vocal department of the Conservatory at Quincy.  She had charge of the choir of St. Stephen's Episcopal church in Terre Haute, and for years was soprano soloist in St. John's Episcopal and other Keokuk churches.  Her home city had the greatest pride in her art, and love and admiration for her personally.  She was generous in the gift of her voice and no musical program seemed complete without her.  She was one of the organizers of the Monday Music Club, and its president for nine years.  She was a charter member of the Woman's Club and for several years its president.  She was its representative at many state meetings and at the General Federation in Los Angeles.  She was modest of her own attainments, unspoiled by honors, generous of her art, a devoted daughter, one who lived true to her own high ideals.

Iowa Index || - || Previous Page || Table of Contents || Next Page

Home  ||  What's New?  ||  Notes  ||  Census Data  ||  Data By State  ||  Military Records  ||  Links  ||  Tombstones  ||  Poetry  ||  Privacy

Site Statistics By

since 17 December 1999.