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Briefly, Helen's story is thus: she was b. 23 Sept 1866 to Myrick (1841-1861, s. of Jonas and Olive "Lovey" (Smith) Coil) and Mary (Sprouls) Coil, b. 1840 dau. of James and Mary (Hathaway) Sprouls, in Eugene, Vermillion Co., IN. On 11 Nov 1872, when Helen was about six, her mother died, perhaps in a fire. Myrick, left with Helen and three younger boys, remarried and had three more boys. The story goes that Helen "didn't like all those boys" and perhaps did not get along with her stepmother. We're not sure how old Helen was when James and Mary Aston Jordan took her in, nor at what point in time the three of them left Indiana and arrived in Colorado. James was in the Union Army, ranked a Captain. Perhaps he was transferred to Denver by the Army, or attracted there by the gold rush in the 1870s and 1880s.
Helen was married to William Wallace Follett (b. 1856, New Sharon, ME - William T., Rev. Benjamin) on 13 June 1888 in St. James Episcopal Church in Pueblo, Colorado. W.W. Follett was a civil engineer, who later served with the first International Boundary Commission and consulted on the building of Elephant Butte Dam. Helen and W.W. had three sons, my grandfather William L. Follett b. 23 May 1889, Clarence James Follett b. 3 Apr 1892, and Leslie Chase Follett b. 7 Sept 1899. The two eldest were born in Denver, CO, then the family moved to El Paso, Texas where Leslie was born. Tragically, young Clarence died of diptheria 22 June 1907, aged 15. Helen took up the cause of clean water in El Paso after this sad loss. She and W.W. were very active in promoting better schools in El Paso. They lived at 515 W. Missouri St. in the then-elite section of town.
Her family's memories of Helen paint her as an intelligent, educated, cultured woman who enjoyed entertaining and the finer things of life. She was adept at needlepoint, cutwork and lace. Some of the fine things she created have survived, and I enjoy them. Despite a rather fiery temper, Helen was generous to a fault, especially with the grandchildren. A few years after her husband died on 28 Dec 1915 in El Paso, Helen took in boarders at her home on West Missouri St., and continued to set the table for dinner each evening with her fine crystal, linens and china.
Helen Coil Follett spent her declining years with her son Leslie's family and died on 21 Aug 1941 in El Paso, El Paso Co., Texas of coronary thrombosis. She is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, El Paso, Texas.
Thanks to "high-tech" and Bob Sollars, she is no longer "the mystery lady."
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