Ella Peyton Dancy was born near LaGrange, Fayette County, Texas, on 1863 November 6, the daughter of John Winfield Scott (1810-1899) and Lucy Nowlin Dancy. Her father, who arrived in Texas in 1836 December, served in the Congress of the Republic of Texas and the Texas State Legislature and, as a soldier, helped repel the Mexican invasion of 1842.
On 1879 February 25, Ella Dancy married Thomas A. Hall (born circa 1854). The couple had two daughters, Clara and Olivia, and apparently later divorced. Ella and her children eventually moved to Austin, where she attended the University of Texas. She married lawyer and politician Joseph Burton Dibrell (1855-1934) in 1899 October. The couple had one son, John Winfield Dancy Dibrell (1904-1937), and resided in Seguin and Austin.
Dibrell held leadership positions in a number of local, state, and national organizations. One generation removed from a resident of the Republic of Texas, Dibrell joined the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) as a “Real Daughter” in 1893 January. She served on the DRT executive committee from 1900-1911 and, as a friend of the sculptor Elisabet Ney (1833-1907), was involved in efforts to have Ney’s statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston placed in the state capitol in Austin and reproduced in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.
Ella Dancy Dibrell died on 1920 February 12.
Cutrer, Emily Fourmy.
Daughters of the Republic of Texas annual proceedings, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.
Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Ella Dancy Dibrell membership application, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Austin, Texas.
Terrell, A. A. “A Sketch of the Life of Mrs. Joseph B. Dibrell.” In
White, W. W. “Joseph Burton Dibrell.”
The Ella Dancy Dibrell Papers contain letters, printed material, and a photograph related to the activities of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, particularly concerning the custody of the Alamo. Letters discuss the dispute within the organization over control of the Alamo and include two by Clara Driscoll Sevier that give her response to the issue and her proposals for the Alamo. Two pamphlets and two newspaper clippings are also associated with the debate over control of the Alamo. A photograph taken during the 1905 meeting of the DRT in La Grange shows members of the organization along with surviving veterans of the Texas Revolution.
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Please be advised that the library does not hold the copyright to most of the material in its archival collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to secure those rights when needed. Permission to reproduce does not constitute permission to publish. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright, literary property rights, and libel.
[Identification of item], Ella Dancy Dibrell Papers, 1905-1909, 1984, Doc 3007, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.
Gift of Eleanor N. Armstrong, 1986 February.
Processed by Warren Stricker, 1998 November.
Finding aid edited and encoded by Tom D'Amore, 2011 July.