Belloc, Elodie Hogan, 1868-1914

Elodie Agnes Hogan was born in 1868 in Napa, California to Irish immigrant parents. She considered becoming a nun with the Order of the Sisters of Charity and spent time at a convent in Maryland before deciding to not pursue a religious vocation. She met her husband, Hilaire Belloc who was a British writer, in London in 1890 while on a family trip. Elodie's mother, Ellen, initially did not approve of Hilaire because she thought he was too young and would not be able to provide for her daughter. Eventually after a courtship of several years they married in Napa, California on June 16, 1896. She and Hilaire had five children - three sons and two daughters: Louis (1897), Eleanor (1899), Elizabeth (1900), Hilary (1902) and Peter (1904). Elodie Belloc fell ill quite suddenly in December 1913 and died on February 2, 1914 at the age of 45.