Ellen Call Long
| Ellen Walker Call Long | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Ellen Walker Call September 9, 1825 Tallahassee, Florida |
| Died | 1905 Tallahassee, Florida |
| Resting place | Call Family Cemetery, Tallahassee, Florida |
| Residence | The Grove, Tallahassee, Florida |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | planter, historic preservationist, writer, historian, forester |
| Spouse(s) | Medicus Long |
| Children | Richard Call Long, Sr. Eleanora Long Hollinger |
| Parent(s) |
Richard Keith Call Mary Letitia Kirkman |
| Relatives |
Caroline Mays Brevard (niece) Wilkinson Call (cousin) David S. Walker (cousin) |
Ellen Call Long (1825-1905) was the daughter of Florida territorial governor Richard Keith Call and a member of the influential Call-Walker political family of Florida. The longtime proprietor of The Grove, which she acquired from her father in 1851 and held until 1903, Ellen Call Long received distinction after the Civil War through her efforts in historic preservation, history, memorialization, forestry, silkworm cultivation, and the promotion of Florida. She was the author of Florida Breezes, a semi-fictional account of antebellum life primarily set in Middle Florida which is widely regarded as one of the best primary source accounts of the planter class lifestyle in Florida. She was the founder of the Florida chapters of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association and the Ladies Hermitage Association. She was also named a Florida delegate to several important expositions, including the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia (1876), the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1893), and the Exposition Universelle in Paris, France (1889). She was the founder of the Ladies Memorial Association of Tallahassee, a group that is now known as the Anna Jackson Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Her published report made before the American Forestry Congress in 1888 titled “Notes of Some of the Forest Features of Florida,” is considered a seminal work in the field of fire ecology. She was also a tireless promoter of silk culture in Florida, representing the Ladies Silk Culture Association of Philadelphia and emerging as a local expert in cultivation.
Ellen Call Long was born on The Grove property in Tallahassee on September 9, 1825, the first child of Richard Keith Call and Mary Letitia Kirkman. Of the 8 children born to the Calls, only their oldest and youngest daughters lived to adulthood. According to popular legend, Ellen was the first white child born in the city, a story she openly advertised later in her life. After spending early life in Tallahassee, her parents sent her north to boarding schools in Baltimore and later Philadelphia. She was especially close to her mother, and her mother’s death in 1836 had a profound impact on the rest of Ellen Call Long’s life. Concerned over the precarious situation of his family, Richard Keith Call sent his two surviving daughters to Nashville, Tennessee, to live with his mother-in-law. Ellen spent the rest of her childhood between Nashville and several northern boarding schools. Despite this separation, she and her father grew to be especially close, and she remained fiercely loyal to her father for the rest of her life.
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Wikipedia