Rena Elrod (née Linn; September 19, 1872 – July 12, 1950), known alternately as Representative Allen Elrod, Mrs. Rena Elrod, and—especially during the decade preceding her entry into electoral politics—Mrs. Allen Elrod and Mrs. Allen M. Elrod, was a musician and state legislator in the United States. She was a leader of women's clubs. A Republican, she won a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives after a recount in 1924, thus becoming just the second woman elected to that body, where she would serve for three consecutive terms.
Early life and career Born Rena Linn in Attica, Indiana, on September 19, 1872,"Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1871-1998", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2M4-142J : Sat Aug 23 02:28:08 UTC 2025), Entry for Rena Elrod and Charles Linn, 12 Jun 1950. Elrod was one of at least four children born to Mrs. Elizabeth Linn. A graduate of the local high school, Elrod, according to her 1927 Illinois Blue Book entry, received a "common school and musical education, following music as a profession".
Personal life and death On September 1, 1898, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rena Linn married former musician Allen M. Elrod."Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRF4-PX2 : 29 February 2024), Charles Linn in entry for Allen Elrod, 1898. Within a year, they had relocated to Chicago, and by no later than 1914, they were residing at 4852 Pensacola Avenue, on Chicago's West Side, as they would for the remainder of their lives.
Elrod died on July 12, 1950, aged 77, at Lutheran Deaconess Hospital in Chicago. She was survived by her husband, her sister, Mrs. Ida Cooley, and her brother Alfred Linn.
See also Lottie Holman O’Neill Katherine Hancock Goode Florence Fifer Bohrer Flora Cheney
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