ELLIS GRAY LORING FAMILY

(According to the Loring Genealogy , Pope and Loring; Cambridge, 1917)

Ellis Gray Loring was the son of James Tyng Loring and Relief Faxon. In one place his birth is given as April 14, 1802 and in another place as April 14, 1803. His father was a member of the Boston Light Infantry. He was a druggist by trade.

The following quotation is from the Loring Genealogy :

"Ellis Gray Loring, born in Boston, April 14, 1803; married October 29, 1827, Louisa Gilman, daughter of Frederick Gilman and Abigail Gilman, born at Gloucester, January 1, 1797, died May 25, 1868.

"He entered Harvard College in 1819 - but was not graduated, though a member of the Hasty Pudding Club and the Phi Beta Kappa Society. The following extract from the College faculty explains this matter: 'June 27, 1824. Loring who left college in May, 1823, at a time a large part of the class was dismissed for resistance of college authority, applies for his degree. - Voted, that Loring's request be not granted, as the Govt. cannot make any distinction between his case and that portion of his class who were dismissed in May, 1823.'

"He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1827. He was Counselor-at-law, master in chancery, and solicitor for the Western Railroad Company. Was one of the early 'abolitionists'. In 1836 he secured the release of the girl 'Med' who had escaped from slavery and was brought before the courts. Whittier wrote a poem about him, after his death, May 24, 1858.

"Child: Anna, B. Nov. 10, 1830. To her Lydia Maria Child dedicated her book, Fact and Fiction . She m. Oct. 29, 1863, Otto Dresel, pianist and composer, b. at Geisenheim on the Rhine, Dec. 22, 1826, d. Beverly, July 26, 1890. She was Vice president of the Sanitary Commission of Boston during the Civil War, president of the Vincent Hospital. She died in 1896.

"Children: (1) Louisa Loring Dresel, 1864-195-(2) Ellis Loring Dresel, 1865-1925, Harvard, A.B. 1887, L.L.B. 1892, lawyer in Boston in the firm of Goodwin, Dresel, and Parker. Was attached to the U. S. Embassy in Berlin in 1915, was assigned to the Embassy at Vienna and later to the Legation at Berne . His most recent work has been with American prisoners of war."

From the guide to the Papers, 1828-1919, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)