The Life of an Ordinary Woman

by Anne Ellis, Lucy Fitch Perkins (Introduction), Robert Bly (Introduction)

In Anne Ellis, readers will discover the perfect blend of the ordinary and the extraordinary, a pioneer who, "like the most valued of friends, is a woman of wry wit, plain courage, keen perceptions" (Molly Gloss). Powerfully conjuring up the world of the mining camps and the colorful communities of the central Rocky Mountains, Ellis interweaves an invaluable history of the nineteenth-century American West with a valiant personal tale.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Memoir, Womens, Biography, Autobiography, Westerns

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1980

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very drawn to autobiographies/memoirs written long ago by people who never achieved celebrity for their work. These are usually not the 'mommy dearest' confessional memoirs but stories about real people and how real people actually lived back when. I came upon this book on the bio shelf at the library while looking for something else; it was a serendipitous find.
Anne Ellis, born to an illiterate, strong, courageous, adventurous mother around 1880, writes about growing up in mining camps in Colorado. Her mother gives birth to child after child, frequently living in tents, shacks or two room rickety cabins. No one seems to ever strike it rich but the mania for gold keeps whole towns bubbling for decades. (Anne mentions that many of the towns described in the book faded away to nothing after the mining booms.)
seeing how many kids are constantly underfoot during her entire growing up time, Anne vows frequently throughout her childhood to be 'a barn doe' -- which is what she thinks a woman with no children is called. However, she marries soon after her mother's death to escape her stepfather and the responsibilities of raising her many younger siblings. Through continued misfortune, her life isn't too much different than her mother's except Anne is decidedly not illiterate, reading voraciously, is an accomplished autodidact and wrote this very interesting memoir in 1929.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this, not because it was excellent writing (because it was not), but for the fact that it gave a you a true account, from a woman's perspective, what it was like in old Colorado mining camps in the late 1880's.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

”Of course, one starts with the ancestors. For years I did not know this. I thought one only had a mother, and I yet think of our mother as the ancestor. And indeed she is the root, stem, and branches of my family tree, and now that I think of it, she was like a tree – so generous and just as close to nature.”

This is the first sentence of Anne Ellis’ autobiography. The whole tale is as if she is having tea across the table from her reader. She is telling her life story as she knows it. Ellis had a very hard life – I can’t imagine surviving half of what she went through.

Every so often I need to visit the past. It reminds me that my life is very good and very easy. I am grateful for scholars and others who preserve our past. We need to be regularly retold about our ancestors.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing is not the best at creating an engaging story/autobiography but very interesting from a historical perspective. Worth reading for interest in the history of towns in Colorado too.

[Xzs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fabulous memoir of Anne Ellis, a Coloradan woman whose life spanned 1875 - 1935. I was introduced to Ellis in the equally captivating book “The Magnificent Mountain Women”: Adventures in the Colorado Rockies” and wanted to learn more, so I immediately sought out this memoir. Ellis treats the reader with a first-hand account of life in the mining towns of Colorado at the turn of the century. Life was not easy back then, but Ellis’ ardor, tenacity and spirit are truly inspiring. It was fascinating to read about the everyday life of a “common” woman living alongside hardened miners, the occasional scoundrel and “fast” women. Ellis was not raised in a religious background, yet I came away quite impressed by her ethics and integrity. Ellis was remarkably tolerant of the mining lifestyle, including the “fast” women that came along with it. I don’t envy the daily chores or hardships she endured but I was buoyed by her sensibility and humanity. Like all of us she had her own insecurities, pining loves and disappointments in life, but through it all she endured and forged on. It is through this common human experience that the reader is able to feel connected to a life lived more than a century ago. As a bonus, the text provides the reader a glimpse into everyday life in Colorado in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I learned so many interesting tidbits, although some of the vernacular references of those gone-by days went right over my head. More people should read this book, it is truly a gem, and a vivid reminder that even the most “common” among us have worthwhile stories and lessons to share. I am thankful Ellis took the time to pen this wonderful memoir.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting autobiography of a woman who grew up in the mining camps of Colorado. In the first chapters of the book it details the harsh circumstances of their poor family in the mountain mining camps. She was raised mostly by a young teenage illiterate mother whose first husband left leaving her to raise two kids on her own, then she remarried and still has a difficult life and a new baby every year. I was frustrated by what a silly goose Anne was a a young child and teenager. She gets engaged to two young men at a time and then marries another while still a teen.
Following that early marriage she immediately becomes pregnant and there are extreme struggles to survive in poor conditions in mining camps all over the west. The life for the miners is hazardous with wages low and employment uncertain. Married life for the women is difficult having babies every year and struggling to make money for the family while raising her own children. The boom and bust cycle of mining means always moving from place to place, poverty and conditions in the mining camps are dire with poor housing, hardship and disease. I do not know why mining was so attractive to men who wanted to work. I would have gone somewhere and tried a more certain way of making a living.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been putting off reading this book, because I thought it might be dry and boring. It was not! This is one of the best "pioneer" memoirs I have read. I loved Ellis's voice; she (and the editor) made her stories so entertaining and vivid. I have never read about miners' lives, and this gave a personal and colorful look back into the history of mining towns. Once again, after reading about people who lived before modern medicine and climate control, I am struck at how very hard and uncomfortable these people's lives were. It's amazing any of them survived.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neighbor of my mom gave her this book to read and she passed it to me before she read it. It was written in 1929 by Anne and tells her life from childhood to adult growing up in the mining fields of Colorado. Very interesting as I know some of these areas, but her descriptions of their cabins and living conditions gives you a view into yester year.

She kind of skips around so you might get confused a little but still a very worthwhile read.

[Joy Kidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

She was weaned on brown sugar and cornbread.

The life of Anne Ellis may have been ordinary for a girl growing up in the early days of Colorado mining, but seems very extraordinary and awkward today.

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend visited a graveyard in Colorado. A woman - a writer according to the headstone - so my friend looked her up and we read her story It’s a history of hardships, the life of those connected to mining , and the resiliency of woman.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

THis book gave interesting insights to what it was like to be married to a miner during the goldrush. Those women were of strong constitution to endure all of the hardships they had.

[Pam Ostdahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story about this woman's life in 1890 and early 1900.

[Amy Dance · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Karen Christy Layland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This meant a lot to me, as my father and his family lived in Bonanza back in the day. He says his mother met the author and liked her very much.

[Joy Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting memoir of a pioneer woman back in 1890. Not my typical read, but so glad I found this at the library book sale-Lithopolis.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent autobiography by a woman who lived in mining camps in the early 20th century. Full of courage and heartbreak.

[Kathy Goodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but not compelling.

[Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
This was a great glimpse into life in the West in the 1880s. However, I found it hard to follow at times because I didn’t know who was who (so many siblings!) or what year it was.

“Not because of, but in spite of ancestors we should try to be and do something.” (p. 1)
“I feel I am really seeing life.” (p. 130)
“I would like to have them both—one to love and one to love me,” (p. 156)

[Amanda Mc · Rating 4 out of 5]

For what it was, I thought it was outstanding. Ellis jumps around a bit, and sometimes each paragraph is like a new chapter, but it is the most real thing I've ever read about the time period (late 19th early 20th century). The little details are what makes it so great. It's not some grand lofty thing. You get a really clear view of what life was like for a (very poor) woman of that time in the mining camps. Well, maybe that sounds kind of boring set out like that, but it just wasn't. Also, she doesn't sugar coat any of it or paint it in a pretty light for memory's sake. Some of the episodes she describes do not show her in the best light, but she just tells it and then makes her commentary in light of her adjusted perspective. Just really good.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a truly beautiful and authentic first-person work about the life of Anne Ellis, a woman who grew up during the 1880s in the Colorado mining camps. She writes mostly in the present tense, adding a sense that the reader is there with her.

While her experiences are vividly written, she jumps around so much that I couldn't really get sucked into the narrative, and I ended up not finishing the book. Still, I think it is more than worth a try as she has a unique voice (an introduction explains that not much has been written about that area at that time from the viewpoints of women or children).

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been at least 16 years since i read this book. I barely remember the plot line but i do remember devouring this book and loving it. I should add that i was going though what i refer to as my "pioneer" phase where all i wanted to do was get into a covered wagon with a couple of oxen, head west and live in a log cabin. I'm still heading west...

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable story of a remarkable woman who lives in Colorado during the laying of railroad track and telegraph wire. Courageous story of how she survived alone in the midst of the male-dominated 19th century west.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this to learn more about the history of the Bonanza area - I'm working on mine reclamation there - and it turned out to be extraordinarily well written. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I recommend this to anyone interested in the life of mining families in the gold rush days.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once I got used to the way it was written - since it seems it was a spoken memoir - I really loved it! What a life!

[Susan Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Authentic, idiosyncratic, page-turner. It's right up your alley if you like intrepid women who don't whine about stuff you couldn't put up with for ten minutes. I love her.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a stunning book, it was so real and raw that it was heartwrenching. I strongly recommend this book to anyone, but to be prepared for a very raw experience.

[Mlg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne Ellis grew up in the same Colorado mining town as my great grandparents. She gives a terrific sense of what life was like in the mid to late 1800's and even mentions them in her book.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I remember, this isn't a dynamic read ... but I think it's time for me to read it again.

[Jeanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My grandmother read this book in 1931. Ellis is positive upbeat woman living a tough life.