Nick F. Eller was born in Missouri in 1850. He and Jane Warrick Eller were the parents of one daughter, Viola, and four sons, William (Bill), Charles, Harrison, and Joe.
After the death of Jane, he married her sister Marietta, and they were the parents of two daughters, Helen and Ida, and one son Ray.
The family was engaged in ranching in Beaver County, but because of the loss of the herd from various diseases and the severe blizzard, it was necessary to relocate, so they settled in Alva in the 1890s.
In 1904 Nick purchased the block at Tenth and Barnes. That property has remained in the family and is owned by his granddaughters, Mary Olive Cromwell and Billy Ann Brown.
Nick and his sons manufactured cement blocks and were excellent cement finishers. Many sidewalks in Alva still bear the Eller name.
Nick died in Alva in February 1932 at the age of 82, and is buried in the Alva IOOF Cemetery. All of his children are also deceased.
by Mary Olive Cromwell
Source: Alva, Oklahoma The First 100 Years 1886-1986 by Seekers of Oklahoma Heritage Association, copyright Seekers of Oklahoma Heritage Association and Curtis Media Corporation 1987.
Comments: This is the information as known and remembered by Nick's granddaughter, now deceased, and it is a fair sketch of events as I can find them in the records, although with some differences. As a family researcher, I am greatly in her debt and grateful that she shared her memories and family stories with us.
The son, Charles, attributed to Nick and Jane, was born later and could only have been the son of Nick's second wife, Marietta. Nick Eller's descendants, as well as I can piece it together from records, are listed at this link lower down in my blog.
Also, the family was engaged in farming and ranching, possibly in Beaver County, which at that time included all the panhandle. They are also found across the border in Kansas as late as 1895.
Indeed, Nick is buried in the Alva Municipal Cemetery, which I have visited to photograph his headstone. If the citizens of Alva refer to the Municipal and the IOOF as the same, I don't know. His birth date of 1850 is consistent with his headstone, but not with his earlier census records. It is later that Nick's date of birth is pushed back to 1850. Also, Nick had traveled from Missouri, but was probably born in the north in Illinois, as he reported on his census records.
Finally, in 2012, the city of Alva is in the process of updating their town square, which means pulling out the present sidewalks, perhaps those same sidewalks in which Mary Olive took pride. For that reason, I am planning a trip down there soon to explore the streets, hoping to find a trace of the Ellers before the sidewalks are destroyed. I won't forget my camera...
Nick F. Eller in a family photo around 1927. Nick is the man waving his hat on the left.
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