Eliza Kirtley
Born 6 Apr. 1835 in Columbia, Boone Co., Missouri.[1] Daughter of Sinclair Kirtley and Mary Ann Breckenridge Peebels.[2] Married Jonathan C. Royle, 23 Apr. 1857, at Lexington, Lafayette Co., Missouri; five children.[3] Moved to Central City, Gilpin Co., Colorado Territory, at the end of the Civil War.[4] Moved to San Jose, Santa Clara Co., California, by 1870, due to ill health.[5] Moved to Salt Lake City, 1871.[6] Elected vice president of the Blue Tea, the first women’s literary club in Utah Territory, organized 1876.[7] First president of the Ladies’ Literary Club, 1877; served three terms as president.[8] Served with EBW on the executive committee of the Mid-Winter Fair, 1894.[9] Made an honorary vice president, along with Julia Ward Howe, of the National Federation of Women’s Clubs, 1898.[10] Died 10 Dec. 1910 in Salt Lake City.[11]
[1] “Utah Death Certificate Index, 1904–1961,” database and images, Utah State Archives (http://archives.utah.gov, accessed 14 Aug. 2018); from Utah Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, series 81448, file no. 1712/400 (1910), Eliza Kirtley Royle. “Beloved Woman Is Claimed by Death,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 12 Dec. 1910, 7. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 19 Jan. 2021), Eliza Kirtley (LC7D-XJZ).
[2] Mary Simpson Turner and Eliza Kirtley Royle, A Memorial of Sinclair Kirtley and His Family (N.p.: Self-published, 1909), 1–2.
[3] “Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805–2002,” database and images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed 14 Aug. 2018), John C. Royle and Eliza Kirby; from Missouri Marriage Records, Jefferson City. Mary Simpson Turner and Eliza Kirtley Royle, A Memorial of Sinclair Kirtley and His Family (N.p.: Self-published, 1909), 37. “Beloved Woman Is Claimed by Death,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 12 Dec. 1910, 7. 1910 U.S. Census, Salt Lake City 4th Ward, Salt Lake Co., UT, ED 137, p. 4A, Eliza K. Royle.
[4] “Beloved Woman Is Claimed by Death,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 12 Dec. 1910, 7.
[5] “Beloved Woman Is Claimed by Death,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 12 Dec. 1910, 7. 1870 U.S. Census, San Jose, Santa Clara Co., CA, p. 6, Eliza K. Royle.
[6] “Beloved Woman Is Claimed by Death,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 12 Dec. 1910, 7.
[7] Patricia Lyn Scott, “Jennie Anderson Froiseth and the Blue Tea,” Utah Historical Quarterly 71, no. 1 (Winter 2003): 23.
[8] “‘Mother of Ladies’ Literary Club’ Retires from Active Membership; Voted Honors,” Salt Lake Herald, 9 Sept. 1903, 7.
[9] EBW, Diary, 12 and 24 Jan. 1894. “The Midwinter Fair,” Salt Lake Herald, 6 Jan. 1894, 8.
[10] “Beloved Woman Is Claimed by Death,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 12 Dec. 1910, 7.
[11] “Utah Death Certificate Index, 1904–1961,” database and images, Utah State Archives (http://archives.utah.gov, accessed 14 Aug. 2018); from Utah Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, series 81448, file no. 1712/400 (1910), Eliza Kirtley Royle.