Born in Galena on October 27, 1859 to Benjamin Franklin and Ann Felt, Anna would make a name for herself as the champion and founder of the Galena Public Library, an outspoken citizen, and a proud Galena historian.
Anna lived on Quality Hill, just a few houses down from the famous Felt Manor guest house owned by her uncle Lucius Sawyer Felt. Her home is known as the "Seal House" as it was originally built in 1872 by Judge Richard Seal, though he didn't stay there long. The B.F. Felt family lived there for nearly one hundred years. She watched as the steamboat trade floated away and Galena sunk into less prosperous times.
Following his brother Lucius, B.F. Felt arrived in Galena in June of 1842 and began working at the L.S. Felt dry goods store on Main Street. Over time he acquired his own fortune, began his own grocery business, and returned to Plattsburgh, NY to marry Anne Elizabeth Platt. She returned to Galena with him. The two of them had eight children. Two sets of twins died in infancy, while four grew into adulthood.
Despite being one of the richest families in Galena, their children attended public school. Then went on to colleges and universities. Their oldest son, Zephaniah Charles, attended Princeton University and became great friends with future president Woodrow Wilson. Benjamin Frank Felt Jr. attended Beloit College then pursued farming before being elected to the Iowa State Legislature.
Mary Bingham (Mollie) and Anna traveled to Aurora, NY where they attended Wells College. Anna graduated in 1881. While there she was acquainted with Frances Folsom who would later become First Lady Frances Cleveland. They returned to Galena after graduating and began to participate in Galena society clubs and organizations including those related to the First Presbyterian Church, the Women's Club, the Medley Club, the Needlework Guild, and many others.
In 1885 while on a family vacation to Bayfield, WI, Mollie and Anna both fell ill with Typhoid Fever. Anna recovered, but Mollie did not. She was twenty-eight years old. The two of them were very close and it was a blow.
Not to be deterred, Anna dove into a new passion. She wanted Galena to have a library. Always encouraged to pursue education and work for the betterment of her community, she worked with her father to make it happen. He proposed the idea to the City Council twice before it was approved. The second time he vowed to pay for everything the library needed for the first two years and provide the first donation of books. He told the Chicago Tribune that aside from paying the bills, all the work was done by his daughter. The Galena Public Library and Reading Room opened above the post office on B.F. Felt's birthday, January 3, 1894 to great fanfare.
In order to prepare herself and the librarians who would work there, Anna learned library science. She and her parents opened their home to Miss Lizzie Swan of Rockton who taught all who would need to know the work of cataloguing all the many books being donated by present and former Galenians.
Space quickly ran out after the library expanded into both rooms above the post office, so Anna and the Board of Trustees began the campaign for a new library building. With a small grant from the Carnegie Corporation and sizable funding from the Felt Estate, the new library opened on Bench Street on July 1, 1908.
The Galena Public Library was perhaps her greatest passion in life. She provided her energy, time, and a great deal of money until her death. She was a lover of learning and exploring. Throughout her life she traveled across the United States, to Europe, and Hawaii. Of her travels, she diligently wrote to the Galena Gazette and donated pictures, statuary, and artifacts to the library so others may learn from her experiences. She was the Chairman of the Jo Daviess County Red Cross in which she worked to educate and mobilize the public in regards to childhood malnutrition. She participated in missionary work in connection with the First Presbyterian Church, served as the church's first female elder, and also the first female to be appointed to the Freeport Presbytery. At the turn of the century she was a founding member of the Illinois Library Association and it's first Vice President.
In December of 1903 she came to know a Miss Emma Robb who became her lifelong partner in all things. Emma moved into the home at 219 Prospect Street and remained there. She was present for all the club meetings, library doings, and travels from that point onward. They lived together for forty-two years.
Through everything they were dedicated to maintaining an open house, as Anna's parents had done before. They hosted community gatherings of all sorts and guests from across the country including U.S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt. Not to mention young people she mentored in library science among other subjects. Many stopped into her home on the way home from Central High School to tell her about their assignments and lives. She was truly "Galena's Grand Hostess."
Anna didn't truly slow down until after Emma's death in 1947. She retired from the Galena Public Library Board of Trustees in 1951 after fifty-seven years of service, though she continued to cut each article featured in the Galena Gazette and pasted them into her scrapbooks which still survive today until her death in 1953.
Written and Researched by Larissa Distler, Adult Services Librarian, Galena Public Library
With help from: Mike Fertig, Dale Glick, and Steve Repp, Historical Librarians, Galena Public Library,
Kris Chapman, Galena and U.S Grant History Museum