Laurel Louisa FLETCHER

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1910, Living with husband in Indianapolis, Marion Co., indiana

Notes:

Name:
Daughter of Stoughton Jesse Fletcher and Lizzie Laurel Locke Fletcher. Usually called by her middle name, Louisa, in adult life. Her family called her "Abbess". She is often confused with her niece and namesake, Laurel Louisa Fletcher (1903-1927), who was the daughter of her brother, Stoughton A. Fletcher.

Poet and author, who collaborated with her famous first husband in arranging many of his works as plays for Broadway. His book "The Magnificent Ambersons" is thought to have been based on her colorful and flamboyant family.

She attended Smith College. Her most famous poem is "The Land of Beginning Again", which she wrote after her first divorce. This poem is said to have been the origin of the song of the same name sung by Bing Crosby in the movie "The Bells of St. Mary".

Married, first, [Newton] Booth Tarkington, 18 Jun 1902 in Indianapolis, IN (divorced 1911).

Child:
1. Laurel Louisa, b. 6 Feb 1906, d. 13 Apr 1923 of pneumonia in Indianapolis. Laurel also suffered from what was then called dementia praecox, now known as schizophrenia.

Married, second, [James] Willard Connely, a newspaperman, biographer, and professor of English at Brown University, 16 May 1915 in Washington, DC (divorced 1925)

Child:
2. Nancy Willard, b. 9 Dec 1922, d. 12 Nov 2008; m. Albert Van Nostrand, 3 Sep 1943; five children.

Married, third, Dr. Peter K. Knoefel, October 19, 1931 in Carson City, NV (divorced 1932). No children. Louisa resumed the surname of her previous husband, and was called by it in her obituary in 1957.

Laurel married Newton Booth TARKINGTON on 18 Jun 1902, and was divorced in 1911. Newton (son of John Stevenson TARKINGTON and Elizabeth BOOTH) was born on 29 Jul 1869 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana; died on 19 May 1946 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana; was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Laurel Louisa TARKINGTON was born on 6 Feb 1906 in Indiana; died on 13 Apr 1923 in Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana.

Laurel married James Willard CONNELY on 16 May 1915 in Washington D.C., and was divorced in 1925. James was born on 1 Jul 1888 in Atlantic City, New jersey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]