Biography: Oscar Clarence Sparlin

1st photo: Oscar Clarence Sparlin (abt. 1907)  2nd photo: Oscar and Bertha May (Ryan) Sparlin

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His parents were William Bazel Sparlin of Indiana, veteran of the Civil War, and Sarah Ellen Bryant of Missouri.  They were married 18 Jan 1880 in Jasper, Missouri.  They first lived in Nevada, Vernon Co., Missouri, where the couple was recorded on the 1880 census.  Just before Oscar Clarence was born, his parents moved to Bentonville, Arkansas.  Oscar, according to his birth certificate, was born 19 Dec 1882.  His mother, Sarah, was 18 years old, and William Bazel was 41.  There were other children of this couple, and Oscar told of two sisters, but only one other whose name is known, Juanita Elizabeth (Lizzie), born 14 Aug 1888 in Bentonville.  Oscar was six years old at the time his sister was born.

Before 1989, Oscar’s parents divorced, and his father remarried to Bertha A. Ewing.  Sarah and her daughter, Lizzie, moved in with her brother-in-law, William Johnson, and her sister, another Sarah Elizabeth.  In 1900, they are recorded on the census with this large family in Jasper Co., MO.

Oscar Clarence left Missouri in 1901 at the age of 13.  According to a 1990 letter written by his son, Estal, "he [Oscar] ran away from home with an uncle who was going to Oklahoma."   He found his way in the territory to the Osage and Kaw Indian Reservation, where the census identifies him as a boarder and a farm laborer at the age of 18.

For nearly a decade, the large family of Robert Orson Ryan was also situated in Osage, where Oscar and Bertha, the daughter of Mr. Ryan, must have met.  In 1906 (20 Mar), Oscar married Bertha May Ryan, age 16, in Pawnee Co., OK, just south and west of the Osage Nation.   Shortly after their marriage, their son Estal Earnest Sparlin was born, 7 Aug 1907.  Earnest was the name of one of Bertha’s six brothers, Earnest Eldridge Ryan and, eventually, the name was also passed down to Estal’s first son, David Earnest Sparlin.

Three years after Oklahoma became a state on 16 November 1907, the federal census of 1910 was taken.  Records from this time forward support the character of Oscar Clarence as described briefly in that 1990 letter in which Estal wrote, “Dad would just not keep a job.  He worked in a livery stable, as a janitor at the school, as a carpenter, etc.  Mother finally started taking in washing (I picked it up and delivered it) in order to have a few dollars for groceries.  Mother kept complaining to dad.  Finally they were divorced in 1918.”  It is not surprising, then, that Bertha May and her son, in 1910, are living with Bertha’s father, Robert Orson Ryan, and not with her husband, Oscar Clarence.  Instead, Oscar Clarence is living as a lodger at Coal Creek, Pawnee Co., OK and listed as a laborer at odd jobs.  According to his son, he was always known simply as "Jack," which may reflect his occupation in various trades.

The couple must have been together for some of those years (1910-1918), however, because Estal Sparlin possessed memories of the family and his father’s jobs.  For example, in 1912, they lived in an Indian camp, where Oscar Clarence was a caretaker of the roundhouse (see photo below) in Osage Co. at the Gray Horse Camp, of which Estal had vivid memories.    More significantly, Bertha and Oscar had another child in 1911, a boy they named Oscar Orsen after his father, Oscar, and grandfather, Robert Orson.  At only 18 months old, this boy suffered severe burns to the bottom of his feet and died of the injuries.

Gray Horse Dance Hall 1912, Osage Co., Oklahoma

By 1915, Bertha May decided that her remaining son, Estal, who was 8, should attend school regularly, and the family moved to Fairfax, OK.

In 1918, Oscar Clarence (age 35) filed his draft registration card, required for WWI.  On the card, he listed Bertha May Sparlin as his nearest relative, so they may not yet have been divorced by 12 Sep, the day of the record.  The card also records that he was tall, slender, with brown eyes and brown hair, features as in his photographs.  At the time, he lists his occupation as janitor at a public school, remembered by his son, Estal, in his 1990 letter.  It could not have been long after that Oscar and Bertha divorced.  Estal recalled that it was in 1918.

Oscar Clarence continued to live in Fairfax, at least as late as 1930, when he is listed on the federal census as a deliveryman for a laundry.  He appears to be residing in a boarding house setting, summarily, living a life very similar to the one before his divorce.  Sometime in the years between 1930 and 1952, he moved to Pawhuska, also in Osage Co., and that is where his death occurred.

Day Trip to Alva, OK, home of the Ellers

By road, I live a couple hours from Alva, so I finally took a day trip down there to try to find the gravestones of the Ellers. The Alva Municipal Cemetery is on the city's website, and I had map and block numbers in hand as I searched. I had mixed results. I found some of the graves, but some appeared to be missing...literally. The area where Nick F. Eller is buried next to his son and a daughter-in-law is isolated from the next nearest stones by a considerable area of empty lawn. According to the website, I should have found more Eller graves and a Ditzenberger nearby. They were not present, and I can only conclude they were never marked or the stones are lost.

Nevertheless, I was able to photograph these three:


The shadow across Ray Eller's stone is cast by a marker placed by the American Legion. All the servicemen at the cemetery had them. Nick F. Eller is Ray's father, and Mattie was Ray's wife.

Nick's stone is particularly interesting because of the birthdate of 1850. Census records provide inconsistent numbers for this. After leaving MO, the trend for Nick is that the birthdate becomes earlier and earlier. On the 1895 KS census, he claims 1861, but by 1930, he claims he was born as early as 1850, the date that appears on his stone two years later. I have to admit to consternation, especially for his dear mother who has had her child-bearing years pushed back to a state of unbelievability.

Despite the date, 1850, carved in stone, I'm inclined to accept the date provided on the 1880, MO census when Nick's father is probably the source of information. That birthdate is 1865 in Illinois. When compared to the ages of his brother, sister, mother and subsequent children, that date is reasonable.

Feel free to copy the photos. In fact, I would be pleased if they were used and the memory of this interesting family preserved. If anyone has questions (or information to add), please leave a comment.

Eller, Missouri, 1880, records and gravestones

Elmwood Cemetery, Mexico, Audrain Co., MO

Eller graves, submitted by Rod Green

William Eller, Capt. April 7, 1833 October 23, 1914 (CW)
Abram S. Eller March 22, 1835 1883
Mary Ellen Burt Eller September 5, 1840 - December 13, 1916
William S. Eller April 16, 1865 March 11, 1958
Sallie B. Ragsdale Eller abt 1875 May 16, 1951
Franklin Elias Eller 1867 January 10, 1940


FRANKLIN ELIAS ELLER. I thought I had found the motherlode when I saw that name in conjunction with other Ellers, thought I could finally identify his Eller grandfather--with enough digging. Unfortunately, all I've been able to do is add it to the pile of Eller confusion that extends over, at least, three states.

The problem boils down to two federal census records for Missouri in 1880.

One is in Salt River, Audrain, MO. It lists, starting with head of household:

Abraham S. Eller age 45
Mary A. Eller (wife) 40
William (s) 15
Franklin P. (s) 13 (The P. is clearly written, but perhaps it was misheard?)
Lilian (d) 11
Van Delia 9
Elias Eller (farmer) 79
(No relationship to head of household indicated, but based on numerous, earlier census records, Elias is clearly Abraham's father.)


The other Missouri, 1880 record is for Scott, Taney, MO. It lists the following Eller family:

William Eller age 50
Mary A. Eller (wife) 41
Franklin E. (s) 19
Nicholas F. (s) 15
Eliza A. (d) 14

The question is which of these two young men named Franklin is buried in the Elmwood Cemetery. Date of birth (1867) favors Franklin P., son of Abraham. Census records are notoriously inaccurate, and the boy's name might actually be Franklin Elias, named after his grandfather, Elias Eller.

On the other hand, Franklin, son of William, insists on using his middle initial, E, throughout his life, often referring to himself as E. F. Eller or, more directly, as Elias F. Eller on records and never completely dropping the E. On census records he can be found living as a single man in Kansas. His mother, Mary A. Ritter, is found with him, which allows me (along with his consistently earlier birthdate of 1860) to differentiate him from Franklin P., son of Abraham.

Possibly, there were two young men named, not just Franklin, but Franklin Elias Eller, living in Missouri in 1880. One, the son of Abraham, is definitely Elias Eller's grandson. The other, son of William, is likely to also be related.

The obvious solution is that Abraham and William of Scott, MO are brothers. Do the census records support that relationship?

Census records for Audrain, MO, 1850, 1860 and 1870 are available for Elias Eller's family and all three list both a William (b.1833) and an Abraham (b.1835) as sons. In 1870, William is 35 years old. His younger brother, Abraham, is 33, and appears to have added a wife and three children to the extended household, (although family relationships aren't listed on this particular census).

It is tempting to say that William, brother of Abraham, is the same William who appears on the 1880 census in Scott, MO. The problem is that when we first see that William (married to Mary A.), his sons are already 19 and 15, and his daughter 14 years old. They should have appeared (along with William) on the 1870 census.

I've used Ancestry.com to search all over for 1870 census records, looking for William and his sons, but I can't find him, regardless of which of their names I use to look.

I have to conclude that the gravesite in Elm Cemetery belongs to William Eller, son of Elias, and his brother and their family of Salt River, but not to the Ellers of Scott, MO. I still believe the families are related in some way, but I have yet to find a connection.

IF YOU KNOW, I'd love to receive a comment from you.