LINN, Lo"Rena" Elrod
LORENA LINN known as Rena Elrod in her famous years was born in 1872 at Attica, the daughter of Swedish-born parents who were well-loved in the community. Charles Linn and his family, at least one brother, Alfred and his mother left a beautiful area at Tjarstad, Sweden and came to America. They were all naturalized. Most were active in the Swedish Lutheran Church. Charles married Inga Lisa (called Lissie) Shipp in Warren County, Indiana October 15th, 1865. They were parents of Arthur, Alfred, Lorena (our Who’s Who subject), Carrie and Ida. Charles and his brother Alfred were carriage painters, Charles later going into house painting and Alfred remaining in similar activities his whole life. Alfred’s family remained in Attica. Although our subject was born there September 19, 1872 and baptized 27 October of that year in the First Lutheran Church in Attica, they moved to Chicago not too many years thereafter where she was mainly educated. It was on the first day of September in 1898 that she married Allen Elrod in Milwaukee. He was a professional musician working mainly playing in theaters as well as on the radio. Quite a handsome fellow, he was well over 6’ tall and blue-eyed, except one of those eyes was artificial. She was quite adverse in music herself. Her parents were married for close to 50 years and Rena and Allen more than that time! They lived in the same home at 4852 Pensacola Avenue for most of those years together. No children, it doesn’t seem.
Getting into politics was an interesting story. She belonged to the Legislative Voters League and was asked to run for State Representative in 1924 – she did and lost, except the ladies behind her demanded a recount and low and behold, she was the winner after all. Three times more she was voted in. So well loved by women voters and many men as well, she even had a political club named in her honor in June 1929 (Chicago Tribune 30th p 124).
She’d bit the bullet on a subject and didn’t let go until it went her way. Her 1929 jury bill was chewed on and spit out by others but she held on until her bill CHM1929a was adopted. In an article by Holly McCammon in the US Women’s Jury Movement, she noted that it just made sense. What would be the point of having the vote but not being able to carry it farther. A bit of a humorous centered around the Illinois Boxing Bill. Bishop Thomas Quayle of Oswego called her “a political sapphire,” since she was all for the bill. She came back with a challenge for a boxing match with the bishop saying that she was confident she could make him eat his words!” (Intelligencer Journal 5-18-1925 p 10).
Many women at the time were all for hiring in a maid to do their work while they went to join this and that but Rena noted (Chicago Times 3-31-1932 p 4) that she did her own cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing and although she didn’t sound real pepped up about the fact, she felt it was part of her job being married (and she did love that). Rena loved her clubs, as well even being president of the huge Illinois Federated Women’s Clubs. Don’t believe there was but maybe one niece as her brothers and sisters did not marry or only had the one (Carrie having a daughter Marian).
She was feisty, super intelligent and not afraid to tackle what she felt was right! Rest In Peace Rena!