Ellen Battell Stoeckel

Ellen Battell Stoeckel (1851–1939) was an American arts patron. Stoeckel had a long association with Yale University, music and her hometown of Norfolk, Connecticut. After her death her expansive estate, Whitehouse, was donated to the university to become a center for musical education.

Biography

Ellen Mills Battell was born in Norfolk, Connecticut in 1851. Battell's father, Robbins Battell, was the son of Joseph Battell, a prominent merchant and benefactor. Robbins Battell was a philanthropist and composer. Her mother, Ellen Ryerson Mills, died shortly after giving birth to her. As a child, Ellen Battell was trained in music, learning piano. Ellen Battell Terry was widowed the next year, and returned to Connecticut to live with her father. Ellen and John's son Frederick died in 1890 at age 16. In 1898, Ellen Stoeckel founded the Norfolk Glee Club, to honor her late father's love of music. In 1899 Stoeckel and her husband founded the Litchfield County Choral Union, which would later lead to the creation of the Norfolk Annual Music Festival. The Norfolk Annual Music Festival hosted a number of America's and Europe's most prominent musical artists and performers, and commissioned new works. After her death, she gave her estate Whitehouse, to Yale University. Robbins Stoeckel House