MANY HOPES LIE BURIED HERE - Lulu E. Fellows

I received such an overwhelming response to last week's story about the Frances Pearce monument at Rosehill Cemetery that I though this week I would tell you the story of what is probably the second most photographed monument in Rosehill Cemetery, the monument of Lulu E. Fellows:

You can see it is a statue of a young girl from the Victorian era, wearing a long dress with a cameo or locket around her neck, seated in a chair holding an open book.  Like the Pearce monument, it is covered with a glass box to preserve it from the elements.  Below the statue in the front is a panel that reads:

Lulu E. Fellows

LULU E. FELLOWS

Died Nov. 23, 1883.

Aged 16 Years.

Many Hopes Lie Buried Here

As I have mentioned previously, I don't think there is a greater trial for a parent than the loss of a child.  I think Lulu's parents wanted to share with us just what a tragedy Lulu's death was to them.  Let's take a look at Lulu Fellows and her family to see what we can "dig up" about them.

Lulu Edith Fellows was born November 5, 1869 in what became Arlington Heights, Illinois to Jonathan H. Fellows (1822-1891) and Charlotte A., nee Rich (1840-1917).  Lulu joined her sister Alice Vivian Fellows (1864-1924) and her brother Allan Reynolds Fellows (1868-1926).  Jonathan Fellows was a carpenter by trade.

Jonathan Fellows and Charlotte Rich Fellows were both originally from New York.  Unfortunately the genealogical information on them is sparse, so we don't know exactly when or why they came to Chicago - we do know that they were here by the time their first child Alice was born in 1864.

The 1880 US Census gives us the best snapshot of the Fellows family.  They were living at 309 S. Western Avenue (now 520 S. Western Avenue):

309 (now 520) S. Western Avenue, Chicago

Jonathan (who shaved a few years off his age for the census-taker), Charlotte, sixteen year-old Alice, fourteen year-old Allan and twelve year-old Lulu. 

Lulu Edith Fellows died November 23, 1883 of typhoid fever.  She had been sick only eleven days:

She died at 66 Dekalb Street (2077 DeKalb Street) which no longer exists.  It was a residence, so if the Fellows were living there, or they moved Lulu there because of her illness is unknown.

She was buried at Rosehill Cemetery the next day, November 24, 1883.  Like Horatio Odell Stone before them, the Fellows decided to have a special monument sculpted to mark the grave of "The Baby."  They hired noted Chicago sculptor Andrew Gagel (1846-1938), and here is his work entitled "Lulu":

It is signed on the side, "A. Gagel, Sculp. 1885"

  

Like the Pearce monument, it was decided to enclose Lulu Fellows in glass, but in this case, it was done by Rosehill Cemetery:

Unfortunately the Fellows monument was not covered until the elements had done quite a bit of damage.  Lulu's right hand is gone, as well as the tip of her nose:

However, whatever damage there is should not keep us from enjoying this masterpiece.  Here are some views walking around the monument:

Lulu Fellows' statue is quite similar to another one that Andrew Gagel did.  This one is in Graceland Cemetery and is known as Inez:

Graceland made the decision to cover Inez early on, so she has not suffered the damage that Lulu has. There is another difference as well. Lulu's covering has vents through which people slip money, candy and even small toys.  There are no vents in Inez' covering, so no "leavings". Little is known about Inez, and some say she never even existed and that her monument was a showroom sample of Andrew Gagel.

What about the rest of the Fellows family?  Lulu's father Jonathan died in 1891 and her mother Charlotte in 1917.  They are buried next to Lulu:

Lulu's sister Alice went on to marry and have two children of her own. She died in Rock Island, Illinois in 1924

Lulu's brother married as well, and had three children.  He died in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1926.  Allan Fellows named his first daughter Lulu.  She was born in 1887 and unlike her namesake, died in 1980 at the ripe old age of 92.

Thanks to the artistry of Andrew Gagel, we have a wonderful remembrance of a young girl who lived, was loved, and died at sixteen as her life was just beginning.

Lulu Edith Fellows - may she rest in peace.