Elizabeth Frances Research Paper

Elizabeth Frances was born in a two-story white clapboard house in the modest town of McLouth, Kansas, to Clara Belle and Allen Elzaver in 1914. Their house has stood, mostly unchanged for the last hundred years on a street that bears the name of a family member. In fact, most of the older streets in McLouth bear the names of their family members. Clara Belle carefully chose the name Elizabeth Frances for her newborn, but when her doctor finally sat down a few days later to fill out the birth certificate, he inadvertently wrote Frances Elizabeth, much to the dismay of the family. It may not have seemed a monumental error, but since Clara Belle died of cancer when Elizabeth was seven years old, it was vital to Elizabeth to have the name her mother intended for her. Several years down the road, the United States government would be adamant that Elizabeth was in fact Frances, so to avoid confusion; she did indeed use Frances as her first name for countless years, even though in her heart, she always preferred the name her mom picked out for her. Elizabeth adored her father, but when he remarried a few years later to a local woman, her life would become severely difficult. That young local woman by the name of Bertha Elizabeth, had wonderful dreams of attending Julliard, but instead, her father ordered her to marry the elder Allen Elzaver with the three young children. It was common knowledge throughout the town and within the family, that Bertha ruled the home and was unnecessarily abusive to the three children. Allen though by all accounts was a passive and gentle man; he kept to the fields, left Bertha in charge of the home, and never seemed to interfere with her strict ways. Elizabeth grew up to fear and hate Bertha and even though Elizabeth was a little woman, she had a big spirit. Growing up with an abusive stepmother on a farm, in a little town during the depression was challenging and it demanded an endurance that some people would not understand. They often went without luxuries and seldom left their tiny, humble world, and this appeared bleak to Elizabeth. In a hurry to leave, she accepted the first job offered to her, a cook for a family in Kansas City. It did not matter to her that she did not have experience cooking; she grabbed a cookbook and somehow mustered through it. Elizabeth though independent, married five times in her life, but only married once for love. She married the first time, to leave her father 's home, the second time, to have a father for her children, the third time for love, and the fourth time, so she would not be alone. On the fifth and last time she only married because she felt challenged when her future mother in law asked, "What is an old woman like you, doing with such a young man." She was nearly fifteen years older than her fifth husband was and even though she claims they did not marry for love, at just over twenty years, it was her longest relationship and after they divorced, they remained lifelong friends. During her time raising six children, she worked at and eventually owned several restaurants. Elizabeth, driven to have her own career and her own money always worked outside the home and her first husband even locked her out of the house because she went out and procured a job instead of just staying at home with the children. She opened her restaurant in Martin City in the 50 's called the …show more content…
Wanting her children to grow up with at least a few of her country life ideals, she rented a house in her hometown of McLouth. One frigid winter night, while she was at home with her six children and two nieces, the chimney caught fire. She saved all of the children and one lone blanket to wrap them in and she watched all her worldly possessions burn to ash. She was not one to complain, and she never did waste time crying, she just loaded all of them into the car and drove off into the night towards a better