Elise was born during the pioneer days of her parents in Anderson, TX, She was sent as a teenager to the same school in North Carolina which her mother attended during the Civil War. Her grandmother was friends with the proprietors. Elise was the child her father turned to for solace after her mother died in 1883. As was the custom of the time, her father wished for her to return home to manage his large family in the absence of his departed wife once Elise completed her schooling at the Misses Nash and Kollock School of Hillsborough, N.C. & for 1885/86 at the Meta D. Huger Boarding & Day School for girls in N.Y.C. News clippings about her final year at the Nash & Kollock School show that as part of her education she became an accomplished pianist. Since her father remarried in 1886 she was free to travel rather than serve as the matron of his household. She married April 30, 1890 and started her own family in Tennessee. In keeping with the largeness of her heart and her loyalty towards her family, Elise housed her little brother Allen when he was sent to Chattanooga for schooling. She remained a mentor through-out her life for her younger sisters. She was the true mistress of the Chapin/Hutcheson homes on Signal Mountain where existed her pride and joy, a sanctuary for native shrubs and flowers of the region, her "bog garden". As a founder of the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs she was instrumental in organizing and nurturing other statewide chapters. In respect for her interest in wildlife and nature and the family financial contribution that was made to secure the property, the Elise H. Chapin Wildlife Sanctuary was named in her honor. Thanks to her sense of history and the respect she held for her father, she saved most of the letters that she received from him. This collection is now housed at the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, Texas.