E. Louise Appleton Stitt Papers

E. (Elizabeth) Louise Appleton, graduate of Oberlin College in 1913, was born in Chicago on October 27, 1888 to John George Mowells (1852-1929) and Ellen Rosa Wightwick Appleton (1859-1954).  She was a member of the class of 1912 but her Oberlin degree was awarded in 1913.  A cousin, Florence Ada Pease (Matthews) (1891-1971), also attended Oberlin with the class of 1914.

After graduation Louise taught English and music at a high school in Gwinn, Michigan in 1914 to 1915.  From 1916 to 1919 she taught English and commercial subjects at the J. Sterling Morton High School in Cicero, Illinois.  In June of 1918 she married Thomas Brooks Stitt (1890-1968).  He served during World War I in France and Germany; he was discharged from the army in 1920.  Thomas Stitt received a degree in engineering from Northwestern University in 1925.  His work took them to southern Ohio near Portsmouth, where they lived for nearly 18 years.  The couple had three children: Mary Louise (1920-1995), Lillian Edith (1922-2015), and Thomas Appleton (1928-2016).

The family moved to Dayton, Ohio in 1942.  Louise Appleton Stitt returned to work as a government clerk there from 1942 to 1948.  Her daughter Lillian Edith Stitt graduated from Oberlin College with the A.B. in 1943.  Lillian Stitt DeHart’s son, Peter DeHart, is also an Oberlin graduate, with the class of 1994.

On February 8, 1967, Louise, her husband and daughter Mary were seriously injured in a car accident.  E. Louise Appleton Stitt died as a result of that accident.

Sources Consulted

E. Louise Appleton Stitt student file, RG 28/2.

Note written by Anne Cuyler Salsich