MRS. DIXIE CORNELL GEBHARDT

Mrs. Dixie May Cornell Gebhardt, was born Nov. 18, 1866, in Knoxville, the daughter of Dr. Riley Norman Cornell, born Sept. 11, 1824, in New York state, married Oct. 8, 1847, to Mary Fletcher Timmonds, who was born in Kentucky, Aug. 1, 1827. They came to Knoxville, Ia., March, 1850, where Mrs. Cornell died March 2, 1900, and Dr. Cornell, April 10, 1912, at the age of 87 years. He was a graduate, with honors, of the Geneva Medical College, New York. He was assistant surgeon of the 23rd regiment of Iowa troops and surgeon of the 40th regiment during the Civil War. He was for sixty-five years a member of the Masonic Order, a man who brought honor to the State. The daughter was christened Dixie, in memory of her mother's southern home. She was educated in the public schools of Knoxville and in the Visitation Convent of Evanston, 111. On June 27, 1900, she was married to George Tullis Gebhardt, at Knoxville. She is a member of the Presbyterian church, has served the P.E.O. sisterhood as its national recording secretary, is a member of Sorosis and a Bay View graduate. She is a member of the Mary Marion chapter D. A. R. and has served the state society as recording secretary since 1911, being an officer of unusual efficiency. Through her father she is descended from Benjamin Knowlton, an officer in the New Hampshire troops which marched from New Ipswich to Cambridge on April 19, 1775; he was in the battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston. Mrs. Gebhardt was a devoted daughter to her father and mother in their declining years, giving all her time to their care and companionship. She is a woman of fine mind and gentle manner, a woman who has friends in all parts of the state.

p. 41, The Blue Book of Iowa Women: A History of Contemporary Women, edited and compiled by Winona Evans Reeves, 1914. Published by Missouri Printing and Publishing Company, Mexico, Mo. Source: http://ia600306.us.archive.org/16/items/bluebookofiowawo00reev/bluebookofiowawo00reev.pdf (large - new window)