dent, of the Fitchburg Railroad. Appointed by the War Department in 1862 Assistant Topographical Engineer, he served on the staffs of Captain (afterwards General) Henry L. Abbot and Major D. C. Houston, Chief Engineers of the Nineteenth Army Corps, in the Teche, Port Hudson, Texas, Florida, and Red River campaigns, receiving special mention for efficient service in the field.
Mr. Elliot, immediately after his marriage, sailed for Texas as engineer officer to General Franklin in the unfortunate expedition which met with such signal defeat in the battle of Sabine Pass. Returning, he was ordered again to the Teche country, under General Franklin, then to Fort Butler at Donaldsonville, and shortly afterward to the Department of Western Florida, under General Asboth. Later he was placed in charge of the construction of field fortifications in Eastern Louisiana, under General Grover, in the intended expedition to Mobile, after which he took part in the ill-fated Red River expedition. During the march to Port Hudson and in the second Teche expedition he had suffered severely from congestive and malarial fevers, symptoms of which again appearing, in the latter part of April, 1864, with impaired health, he returned to Massachusetts.
Mr. Elliot is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, of the American Historical Association, of the Somerville Board of Trade, and of other organizations, and ex-president of the Somerville Historical Society. After residing successively in Foxboro, Cambridge, Brookline, and Newton, Mr. and Mrs. Elliot removed to Somerville, where Mr. Elliot had lived previous to the war, and where they have resided for the past thirty years, most of the time in their present home on Central Hill. They have four children living: Clara Zenora, born in Cambridge; Ella Florence, born in Newton; (Charles Joseph, born in Cambridge; and Addie Genevieve, born in Somerville. Their first child, Emily Frances, was born in Cambridge, July 4, 1865, and died August 2S, 1865.
Mrs. Elliot's tastes are quiet and homelike. She has always been much interested in flori-culture, of which she has an excellent practical knowledge. She is a well-informed student of history and literature, and at various times has written for the press. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, of the Ladies' Aid Association of the Massachusetts Soldiers' Home, of the Woman's Relief ('or])s, a life member of the Somerville Historical Society, and a member of several fraternal organizations.
CLARA FRANCES TOWNE (born Abbott) is a native of Barnard, Vt. In
the same town, in the good old State of Vermont, were born her father,
Austin Abbott, her grandfather, David Abbott, her two brothers, Fred and Edward Abbott, and many of her other relations. She belongs to a rugged and long-lived family, her grandfather Abbott attaining the age of eighty-eight years, and her grandmother eighty-four, with scarcely a day's illness throughout. She is distantly related to the Rev. Lyman Abbott, the Rev. A. V. R. Abbott, and the Rev. Bennett Abbott, and is a niece of Judge Ira A. Abbott, he being her father's youngest brother.
Her mother, whose maiden name was Heald, was born in Temple, N.H. Both parents are still living. In her girlhood she attended the public schools of her native place and other towns. Going to Connecticut at the age of fifteen to live with an aunt, she pursued the course of study at the normal school in New Britain, after which she taught school for several years, or until her marriage. Ever since that event she has resided in Boston. She became interested in painting and in photography, for which she developed a talent and a business ability excelled by few, having at one time over one hundred and fifty employees and above one hundred thousand negatives on file. In 1897 she was made the "official photographer" of the Food Fair held at Mechanics' Building, Boston, and in 1898 she was made the "official photographer" of the great war exposition held at the Boston Auditorium, Boston, having a fine exhibit in both places. The Boston Chamber of Commerce, in its report, gave a very favorable account
