Della Marquis Gruthoff writes of her mother: "Mother Hannah (or 'Hanner' as she was known) was a beautiful auburn-haired lady. She was a real homemaker, helping to feed and clothe their nine children. I remember going to sleep at night to the hum-m-m of her sewing machine as she sewed for neighbors in order to be able to provide clothes for us. She could also knit and spin yarn."
Their daughter, Della Marquis Gruthoff, continued to write about her parents in a short story text called "Alex and Hannah Marquis": "This is something we have all laughed about...it gives a pretty good example of Mother and Dad's dispositions. Dad, happy as a lark and poor Mother, mad as a hatter:
Monday was wash day. The big iron kettle was filled with water, and a fire o f wood heating it. That morning Mother asked Dad to put up the clothesline and he did. But he was in a hurry and it wasn't tight. Mother, was hanging up the last of the first load and DOWN it went. . . clothes all dirty from the rain the night before. She had to wash them over.
Just about that time, Dad drove up with a big wagon-load of hay, he on top of it. He called to Mother to Come open the gate to the barnyard. The gate sagged and had worn a big hole where puddle lingered when it rained. Mom went to open the gate and walked right through the puddle. Dad said that he saw she was mad, but didn't know why, so he began to sing big and loud! ‘How much more can I bear, 0 Lord? HOW much more, 0 Lord can I bear?’
He felt sorry about the clothes falling in the mud, but every time he thought of it had to laugh, remembering how she had stomped right through the deepest part. The neighbor across the road heard Dad singing and he said he wondered how could Hannah love that old jolly Alex? Mother was fun, even though she had an Irish temper."
Hannah Mae Pennell was born on Oct 22 1874 in Saline County, Illinois. She was born on a Tuesday. Hannah Mae's birth date is taken from her Marriage Certificate to Alexander Marquis from Hamilton County, Illinois. Hannah Mae Pennell was of Protestant Irish descent, and where there is a drop of "Steele blood" (her mother was a Steele), there is a temper. But she also had a quick sense of humor. She was Baptist in 1932 in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois. She also belonged to the Elgin Bible Church in Elgin, Illinois. Her daughter Della wrote: "Mother was a dear Christian but Dad said that she thought she had to help the Lord a little too! With nine children (and they were rough ones) it took a lot of faith not to worry. She knew the footsteps of each one."
She died on Jan 12 1944 in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois. She died on a Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. Her Certificate of Death stated that she died of coronary problems due to essential hypertension over many years. The funeral memorial card for Mrs. Hannah Mae Pennell Marquis states: "Hannah Mae Pennell, daughter of Harvey and Nancy Pennell, departed this life at her home 186 South State Street, Elgin, Illinois. She lived 69 years, 2 months and 21 days."
Her Elgin Courier-News obituary states: "Mrs. Hannah May Pennel Marquis, 71, widow of Alex R. Marquis and a resident of Elgin for the last 17 years, died this morning in her home, 186 State St., following a lingering illness. She was born Oct. 22, 1872 in McLeansboro, Illinois, and resided there until 1927 when the family came to Elgin.
Survivors Include five sons, N.A. Marquis, Perry, William, Charles and Lyman, all of Elgin; four daughters, Mrs. Ira (Kate) Huffstutler, Mrs. Della Gruthoff and Miss Eileen Marquis, of Elgin, and Mrs. Frank (Myrtle), Jordan, of South Elgin; 13 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by two children.
Funeral services were Thursday, January 13, at 2:00pm at Wolff Funeral Home. Officiating was Rev. W. James Johnston of the Elgin Bible Church. Burial will be at McLeansboro where a service will be held on Saturday afternoon." She was buried on Jan 15 1944 in Cartwright Chapel Cemetery, Hamilton County, Illinois.
Her son, Charles Leland Marquis wrote the following poem just prior to his mother's death:
"Watching and Waiting"
"As I set by the bedside of Mother
With death angels hovering o'er
She is only waiting for Jesus
Her Saviour, the one she adores
Her faith in Jesus grows stronger
with each rising and setting sun
She will soon go to be with Jesus
Her race is almost run
She has been to me a great mother
I am proud to be one of her sons
I know that when she reaches Heaven
That Jesus will say well done."
Hannah Mae's daughter, Della Gruthoff Marquis, wrote of her mother: "My first memory is of my mother...we were sitting by a window in church. The men on one side and women on the other. The sun was shining and I looked up at her, then at the other women, and I thought to myself, 'I've got the prettiest mommie here.' She had her hair in a bun on top of her head and there were little curls all around her neck. I even remember the dark skirt and a viole waist with vines and little flowers. He cheeks were so pretty and pink. She commented later that she wasn't pregnant or she would have been wearing a 'Mother Hubbard' dress...a loose dress like what we call a housecoat today. I told this one day when Myrtie was with us and she said, 'That's true, for I remember the blouse had a peplum.'"
Alexander Rhodes Marquis and Hannah Mae Pennell had the following children:
+53 i.
Napoleon Alexander Marquis.
+54 ii.
Susan Katherine Marquis.
55 iii.
Ella Mae Marquis was born on Dec 24 1894 in Hamilton County, Illinois.
Ella was born on a Monday. Ella's full name is recorded on her grave stone
inscription, Cartwright Chapel Cemetery, in Hamilton County, Illinois. She was
buried in Dec 1895 in Cartwright Chapel Cemetery, Hamilton County, Illinois.
Ella Mae is buried on the right of and next to her parents, Alexander R. and
Hannah M. Marquis. She died on Dec 24 1895 in Hamilton County, Illinois. Ella
Mae died on a Tuesday, her 1st birthday. Della Marquis Gruthoff in her writings
recalled that her mother Hannah Mae told her that Ella Mae was only sick three
hours before she died with membrane croup. What great sadness it must have been
that Christmas in 1895. Contrast that with the joy exactly one year earlier
of Ella Mae's birth.
Ella Mae's mother Hannah knew the great sorrow and grief of little children dying since two brothers, two of her sisters, two of her own children, plus grandchildren died. Even in the midst of such great mourning her hope was in the Lord as she testified. many times. Taken from the Family of Alexander Rhodes Marquis and Hannah Mae Pennell, written in 1988 by Della Marquis Gruthoff.
+56 iv.
Perry Green Marquis.
+57 v.
Myrtle Elizabeth Marquis.
+58 vi.
William Hillary Marquis.
59 vii.
Lester Hassett Marquis was born in 1904 in Hamilton County, Illinois.
Lester was named for Dr. Hassett who delivered him. Record of Lester's name
sake was taken from the Family of Alexander Rhodes Marquis and Hannah Mae Pennell,
written in 1988 by Lester's sister, Della Marquis Gruthoff. He died in 1904
in Hamilton County, Illinois. Lester died at 5 months old after contracting
whooping cough from some neighbors. He was buried in 1904 in Cartwright Chapel
Cemetery, Hamilton County, Illinois. Lester is buried right of, and next to,
his sister Ella Mae Marquis and also his parents, Alexander R. and Hannah M.
Marquis.
60 viii.
Della Evalee Gruthoff was born on May 19 1906 in Braden, Hamilton County,
Illinois. She was born on a Saturday. Della Evalee was named for two neighbor
ladies. Della wrote that the ladies bought her two complete outfits for being
a namesake. Hamilton County, Illinois records her middle name as Evaline, but
Della herself said her middle name was Evalee. One would believe the county
record to be incorrect. Her name sake taken from the Family of Alexander Rhodes
Marquis and Hannah Mae Pennell, written in 1988 by Della Marquis Gruthoff.
At age 18 she eloped with Fred Gruthoff and was married in Oklahoma. Della lived with him only for a couple of months, but retained his name the rest of her life. Della had other loves in her life, one in particular was a man who was a young widower with three children. Della was very fond of him and the children. He became sick and died. Della later commented that it may have been a good thing they never married because he was not interested in the things of God and that came to be very important to her.
She was member of Grace Evangelical Church in 1970 in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois. She died on Apr 21 1994 in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois. Aunt Della died on a Thursday. She lived 87 years, 11 months, and 2 days. She Obituary on Apr 22 1994 in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois. "Della E. Gruthoff, 87, of Elgin died Thursday, April 21, in Maplewood Care Center. She was born May 19, 1906, in Hamilton County, the daughter of Alexander and Hannah Pennell Marquis. She was a resident of Elgin for many years and employed by LeeWards before retiring. She was a charter member of Grace Evangelical Church of Elgin.
Survivors include her two brothers, Charles LeLand (Margaret) Marquis of Elgin, and William Marquis of Jacksonville, Fla.; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, three sisters, Eileen Weichert, Kate Huffstutler, Myrtle Jordan; and three brothers, N.A. Marquis, Perry Marquis, and Lyman Marquis."
She was buried on Apr 23 1994 in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois. Funeral services were at 10a.m. Saturday at Laird Funeral Home, Elgin, the Rev. John Feldmann officiating. Aunt Della is buried at Bluff City Cemetery.
The following is from writings by Helen Huffstutler Ferreira in the Book of Remembrance furnished by the Funeral Home:
"We laid Auntie in the grave site just behind her beloved Katie's grave Saturday, April 23, 1994. It was a beautiful sunny morning, but windy enough that on a sad occasion it brought a chill to the bones.
Rev. John Feldmann conducted her funeral service. I had wanted someone who had known her and loved her. It just didn't seem right to have anything less. John is a dear, sweet Christian and friend from the old Elgin Bible Church days, going 'way to the 1940's and onwards. He now pastors a little Baptist church in Wasco, Illinois, a few miles southwest of Elgin. John spoke of Della, throughout the service as 'Aunt Della', which she would have loved.
Dale Huffstutler, a great-nephew, sang 'Day By Day' accompanied at the organ by his sister Rebecca Pummell. That, too, would have pleased her that 'Family' played a part in the Memorial Service. Having no children of her own, she 'adopted' nieces and nephews as 'her' children."
Some remembrances of Della Marquis Gruthoff by Helen Huffstutler Ferreira:
"Della was educated through elementary grades in Hamilton County (Illinois). She may have taken Eighth Grade at an Elgin school after the family moved north. She used to tell us that she achieved some kind of record in Illinois for the running broad jump. I don't remember now what that record was, but I do remember she was quite proud of it.
Della was employed for many years at Collingboure Mills, a factory that made and dyed all kinds of threads particularly threads for needlework such as embroidery, crocheting, etc. She became a forelady there and supervisor a number of other, women. During The Depression Della was sometimes the only one in the family who was working.
She had been married (very briefly) to a Fred Gruthoff. They had eloped to Oklahoma when Della was eighteen. I never learned where she met this man or from whence he came. Della never offered much information about him and I never even saw a picture of him until one time she brought it out and showed me...she was in her 80s at that time. The story the family told was that when she and Fred returned to her folks' home in Hamilton County, Grandfather sent Fred packing -- without Della. Mother told me years ago that Fred showed up at Della's place of employment He threatened her harm if she ever tried to get a divorce from him. Della came close to marrying a widower, Elroy Schultz, whose wife had died while giving birth to their third child. Della was very fond of his children and they of her and she probably would have eventually married him, but he became gravely ill with a kidney disease and died. She confided to me years later that it was better for her that they never married because he had no interest in spiritual things. She felt she would never have come into close fellowship with the Lord if she had married him.
Aunt Della loved working with children and was involved in Child Evangelism and AWANA programs for many, many years. She was "Aunt Della to most, or "Miss Della" to black children at the center on Hickory Street She taught Sunday School at the Elgin Bible Church and at Grace Evangelical Church, where she was a Charter Member. She also had a weekly Bible Study group of women that met together, for many years prior to her move from her Highland Avenue apartment to the nursing home, then to Don's and my home on Lyle Avenue for about 15 months.
Della lived with Perry and Ellen Marquis on State Street until their Nancy was several years old, then about 1951 she went to live with Kate and Ira on Oak Street. She lived there until after Kate went to a nursing home in 1978 and we had to sell the Oak Street house. It was at that time she went to an apartment at the Highland House. This was the FIRST time in her life that she had lived alone.
Aunt Della did a lot of needlework, embroidery, cross-stitch, crewel, needlepoint, appliquéing, and did it all so expertly. She hand made dolls and their clothes by the dozens. I think every niece was gifted with a pair of "Susie and Sammy" dolls. Her other thing was making "boutique balls" for the Christmas tree, which she also made by the dozens and gave to all of us at Christmas time.
It was a sad day for her when she could no longer engage in these activities because of failing eyesight, arthritis in her hands, etc. Making beautiful things with a needle and thread had been a very important part of her life. She was really a skilled artisan, and has shared her craft with so many of us, to our joy."
+61 ix.
Charles Leland Marquis.
+62 x.
Lyman Elza Marquis.
+63 xi.
Edith Eileen Marquis.
Return to Table of Contents