Obituary: Capatola Viola Menefee nee Eller

CANON CITY DAILY RECORD, CANON CITY, FREMONT COUNTY, COLORADO- MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1956

MRS. CAPITOLA (sic) V. MENEFEE DIES SUNDAY MORNING

Mrs. Capitola Viola Menefee, 68, late of 1018 Harrison avenue, passed away in a local hospital at 1:45 a.m. Sunday following an extended illness.

Mrs. Menefee was born in Tyrone, Okla., Jan. 11, 1888, and moved to Florence from Alva, Okla., in 1946.  She came to Canon City in 1949.

She was a member of the First Christian church of Canon city, the American Legion and the VFW auxiliary.  She was married to Paul R. Menefee, who survives, in Medicine Lodge, Kan., Aug. 26, 1931.

Besides her husband, she is survived by two children, Mrs. Odie Smith of Wichita, Kan., and Mrs. Kenneth Garrett of Farmington. N.M., eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Also surviving are the following brothers and sisters: Bill Eller of Alva, Okla.; Joseph Eller of Granite City, Ill.; Harrison Eller of El Centro, Calif.; Mrs. Helen Gauze of El Centro, Calif.; and Mrs. Ida Williams of Beaman, Mo.

Funeral services will be held from the Holt chapel at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Rev. L.A. Fleming officiating, assisted by the Rev. Lloyd R. Sparks.  Interment will be in Lakeside cemetery.

Eller and Associated Burials, Alva, Woods Co., OK, 1900-1969

Alva Municipal Cemetery, Alva, Woods Co., OK

Name: Ditzenberger, Ruby

Birth: ???, Alva

Death: 13 Apr 1908, Alva

Plot: 06-046-02

Notes: infant dau. of Wesley and Capatola (Eller) Ditzenberger, no stone

Name: Ditzenberger, Wesley

Birth: 14 Jul 1879, Boone, Co., IN

Death: 18 Apr 1908, Alva

Plot: 06-046-05

Notes: son of Henry and Elizabeth (Davis) Ditzenberger, husband of Capatola Viola Eller, no stone

Name: Warrick, Catherine

Birth: Sep 1832, IL

Death: 25 Dec 1900, Alva

Plot: 09-025-06

Headstone Transcription: Catherine; wife of L.W. Warrick; Died Dec. 25 1900; Age 66 Years 3 Months 16 Days; He giveth his beloved sleep.

Notes: dau of Isaac and Cinthy (Davis) Brown of IL, wife of L.W. Warrick

Name: Eller, Mattie A

Birth: 12 Jan 1905, OK

Death: 1 Jan 1969, Alva

Plot: 06-047-06

Headstone Transcription: Mattie Eller; Jan. 12 1905; Jan. 1 1969

Notes: dau. of James and Mary (McGinley) Beck, wife of Raymond R. Eller, married 5 Apr 1925, Woods Co., marked stone adjacent to her husband's

Name: Eller, Raymond R

Birth: 17 Dec 1899, Alva

Death: 13 Aug, 1947

Plot: 06-047-05

Headstone Transcription: Ray R Eller; Oklahoma; Pvt Air Corps; World War II; Dec 17 1899; Aug 13 1947

Notes: son of Nick F. and Marietta (Warrick) Eller, wife of Mattie A Beck, married 5 Apr 1925, Woods Co., marked stone adjacent to his wife's; Ray was a WWII army veteran.

Name: Eller, Nick F

Birth: Aug 1862 or 1850, IL

Death: 15 Jan 1932, Alva

Plot: 06-046-08

Headstone Transcription:  Nick F. Eller; 1850-1932

Notes: husband 1st to Marggret Jane Warrick, married ca. 1886, 2nd to her younger sister, Marietta, married March 1897, Woods county, early cement contractor in Alva

Name: Warrick, Marietta (C.?)

Birth: Sep 1872, IL

Death: 28 Mar 1931

Plot: 09-025-08

Notes: dau. of L.W. and Catherine (Brown) Warrick, 2nd wife of Nick F. Eller, no stone, interred near her mother

Name: Eller, infant

Birth: ???

Death: ???

Plot: 06-046-01

Notes: infant of Nick F. and Marietta (Warrick) Eller, no stone

Name: Eller, infant

Birth: ???

Death: 13 May 1911

Plot: 06-046-3N

Notes: infant of Nick F. and Marietta (Warrick) Eller, no stone

Name: Eller, infant

Birth: ???

Death: ???

Plot: 06-046-3S

Notes: infant of Nick F. and Marietta (Warrick) Eller, no stone

Name: Eller, Charley

Birth: Nov 1901, Alva

Death: 21 Jan 1915, Alva

Plot: 06-046-06

Notes: son of Nick F. and Marietta (Warrick) Eller, no stone, killed after falling from a water tank wagon which tragically ran over him

Jacob Wesley Ditzenberger Date of Death

I have two sources for the date of Wesley's death in Alva, Woods Co., OK.  One is the cemetery records for the Alva Municipal Cemetery.  That date says simply "1909."  The other I found in a record at the Alva Library called "Early Records of Alva Mortuaries: 1900-1930."

The entry looks like this,

DITZENBURGER, Wesley
o  -Mak Eller
d  -ca. 18 Apr 1908

The codes at the front of the transcript explain that "d" = death and place, but it fails to explain the "o".  Looking at other records with an "o" didn't help me at all, and although I can explain the "Eller," because Wesley married a girl named Eller, and it was probably her father, Nick Eller, who paid for the burial, I don't know what Mak means.  My best guess is a transcription error, so that "Mak" is Nick, the "o"wner of the plot.

In a nearby grave lies Ruby Ditzenberger, d. 13 Apr 1908, and this is his first daughter who died very young and only 5 days before her father if the Apr 18th date for his death is used.  It is even possible that a 3 and an 8 were mistaken, and they died on the same day, one or the other.

Another date to throw into this mix is the birth of Wesley's second daughter, Myrtle Edith, which was 8 Nov 1908.  When I only had the online cemetery information, which provided a date of death for Wesley as 1909, I was never quite sure whether he lived to see Myrtle born or not.  I now think he passed away before her birth.

The newest information I have convinces me this is the case, in fact.  I recently found a Woods county courthouse index entry for Capatola Ditzenberger's second marriage, and the date is 18 Feb 1909.  If Wesley died in 1909, then an early 1909 marriage is a tad inappropriate for remarriage.  I think it's more likely Wesley passed away in early 1908 along with his first daughter, Ruby, and I amended my Ancestry.com family tree accordingly.

Obituary: "death of Wm. Eller", 1 Jan 1892, Wellsford, Kiowa Co., KS

 .
Source: Seward County KS Archives Obituaries, The Liberal Lyre, Seward County, Friday, January 1, 1892.

We are sorry to chronicle the sudden death and accidental death of Wm. Eller, who was well known by many of our readers.  Last Thursday in company with his wife and daughter-in-law, he went to Wellsford to spend Christmas with relatives.  When the train reached that place, it was dark, and while he was walking from the station with a little child in his arms, he stepped off the platform and fell a distance of about four feet, striking his breast on a tie and his head on a rail.  The child was not hurt, but Mr. Eller died the next morning.  A very sad Christmas for his relatives and friends, all of whom have the sympathy of our people.

The William Eller whom I am attempting to identify appears on the 1890 census in Oklahoma Territory in Hardesty, just south of Liberal, KS, and he would have relatives in Wellsford, KS (mentioned in the article), specifically two sons, one married, which provides him a daughter-in-law.  William's wife appears on the 1895 Kansas state census, residing with one of the sons, but without William, so I estimate his death between 1890 and 1895.

The article circumstantially fits William's profile, but I need more.  What if this is another William Eller?  The name is common enough.  I don't find another on the KS or OK censuses at the right time, but I still can't be certain.  I am now trying to find another article in an area paper mentioning the same incident.   Surely this was noteworthy enough to appear in a Kiowa or Pratt county paper, which might incidentally mention another name or other significant data.

Kansas Historical Society has a newspaper collection, but on reels not yet digitized.  Not so easy to access, but it may be the only way to find what I need.

From their index, the following newspapers were those I found most likely to contain the item:

Preston Plain Dealer  3/9/1889--1/7/1893   Preston  Pratt  KS  P 1188 

Pratt County Times and Iuka Traveler  4/25/1890--3/11/1892   Pratt  Pratt  KS  P 995 

Pratt County Union  9/3/1891--8/30/1894   Pratt  Pratt  KS  P 957 

Pratt County Republican  9/10/1891--9/20/1894   Pratt  Pratt  KS  P 978  

Kiowa County Signal [1st]  1/30/1891--3/2/1894   Greensburg  Kiowa  KS  G 720 

Kiowa County Times  7/5/1889--11/11/1892   Greensburg  Kiowa  KS  G 791 

Republican Banner  4/24/1891--2/22/1895   Greensburg  Kiowa  KS  G 801 

 

Wilbur L. Davis

I am seeking more information for Wilbur L. Davis.  According to the 1910 federal census for Oklahoma City, OK, he was born in 1885 in Illinois.  Both his parents were born in IL.  At the time of census, he was married one year to Cabitola (sic) (mother of two children, one living).  He was a cook, and she (Capatola Viola Eller, b. 1888, OK) was a waitress in a restaurant.

By 1918, his wife was married to Salem J. Hardin.  The lack (so far) of a WWI draft registration card makes it appear that Wilbur died between 1910 and 1918.

I would like to find any documents at all for Wilbur, either that WWI draft registration, census record between 1885 and 1910 or a census record for 1920 (showing that my guess about his death is wrong), a marriage, divorce or death notice, a headstone (possibly in Oklahoma City), etc.

Partial Newspaper Transcript: Horrors of the Blizzard

In the book, Alva, Oklahoma The First 100 Years 1886-1986, Mary Olive Cromwell wrote that the Ellers gave up ranching in Beaver, O.T., explaining that a severe blizzard killed many of their cattle herd, which prompted the move to Alva in the 1890s.  Since learning this, I have been looking for the storm, which she mentions as singular.

The Kansas state census places the Eller family in Springvale, Pratt Co., KS in 1895, and the 1900 federal census locates them in Alva, O.T. in that year, so the storm must have occurred in the intervening five years.  I first discovered the Children’s Blizzard, but it was too early; 1888.  Today, I came across this storm in 1894, still too early but worth a transcription, nonetheless, especially since the article contains several names that might be useful to family historians.  I provide the first part of the article from Guthrie, but the paper reports similar scenarios from all over the west and midwest.  Follow the link for more.

Source: The Ottawa Free Trader, Feb 17, 1894 (published in Ottawa, IL), online at the Google Newspaper Archive,http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AiUoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SgUGAAAAIBAJ&dq=alva%20oklahoma&pg=986%2C3986330

 

VICTIMS ARE MANY

The Blizzard Responsible for a Number of Deaths.

GREAT SUFFERING IN OKLAHOMA.

A Settler Kills His Family to Prevent Their Freezing to Death Wide Sweep of the Storm—All Modes of Traffic interfered With.

HORRORS OF THE BLIZZARD.

Guthrie, O. T., Feb. 13—Reports come from the strip of great suffering among the homesteaders residing there.  Several persons, it is reported, have perished in the storm, among them two families residing near Cross.  No particulars can be obtained.  Hundreds of head of stock were frozen to death.

Many people are still living in tents and as fuel is scarce the condition is awful.  James Mulligan, living 4 miles south of Perry, was found Monday evening frozen to death, and his partner, Harvey Newcomb, died from exposure and cold fifteen minutes after being found.  At Ponca Mrs. Jennie Cramer and two children, Lizzie and Sallie, were discovered frozen stiff in a coyote’s burrow, 10 yards from their abode.

An Awful Alternative.

Word comes from Cross that Sherman Stone and family, consisting of wife and five children, were found sitting about a stove with their throats cut from ear to ear.  The following note found on a table near by Stone gives a horrible story of murder and suicide in connection with the storm.

“Wood all gone.  Mollie frozen to death, the rest of us freezing.  I have killed my family and now kill myself to prevent further suffering.  God have mercy on us.”

Stone was a homesteader and lived in a tent.  It is thought that after the snow melts hundreds of dead settlers will be found, along with the remains of thousands of cattle.

Other Fatalities.

Col. Henry Melton, a cowboy, who was with Buffalo Bill at the world’s fair, was discovered by a party of hunters early Monday morning dead under his horse.  At Anadarko two Indian pupils were found Sunday evening buried under a snowbank.  Upon being taken to a house one of the children immediately expired.  The other, however, showed signs of recovery.  A report has reached here that a family named Sears, residing on a claim near Woodward, was found frozen to death, but no particulars can be obtained.

A Missing Schoolma’am.

Miss Jennie Johnston, a young Indian teacher, who came to Alva recently from Scranton, Pa., left her school Saturday for her boarding house.  She has not been seen since.  No reports have been received from other west side towns, but it is certain the suffering is great, as the west side people are living mostly in tents.  All trains are delayed.

Miss Johnston’s case is rather a romantic one.  She recently fell heir to $20,000 at her old Pennsylvania home, and was immediately surrounded by a score of admirers.  Miss Johnston, of course, thought all of her lovers were mercenary, and, feeling piqued, gathered up her effects and came west, where she secured a school.

A courier just in from Alva, another strip town, reports great suffering among the homesteaders near the river.  One hundred head of horses and cattle were frozen and volunteer relief committees are now scouring the country gathering together the people and caring for them in the schoolhouses.

Biography: ELLER, Nick F.

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.

Descendants of William and Mariah J. RITTER ELLER

Descendants of William and Mariah J.

RITTER ELLER

William ELLER (b. 1831 NC, d. c.1893, OK or KS), parents unknown, m. Mariah J. RITTER (b.14 Feb 1831, KY, d. 28 Feb 1908, KS), parents unknown. 

+2 ??? (hypothetical between 1850 and 1860)

+2 Franklin Elias (b. Oct 1860, MO, d. 2 Sep 1937, KS) m. c.1918 Margaret Lavilla ONEAL-GATES (b. Mar 1873, MO, d. 27 Oct 1948, KS), parents Alpheus John and Lucetta Jane MILLER ONEAL

++3 Evelyn Grace (b. c.1919, KS, d. 11 May 1953, KS) m. unknown.

+2 Nick Frelow (b. Aug 1862, IL, d. 15 Jan 1932, OK) m. 1^st c.1886 Marggret Jane WARRICK (b. c.1859, IL, d. c.1896, OK), parents Lazarus W. and Catherine BROWN-WARRICK

++3 Capatola Viola (b. 11 Jan 1888, O.T., d. 4 Mar 1956, CO) m. 1^st 4 Mar 1906 Wesley Jacob DITZENBERGER (b. 14 Jul 1879, IN, d. 17 Apr 1909), parents Henry Linguen and Elizabeth DAVIS-DITZENBERGER

+++4 Ruby (b. c.1907, OK, d. 13 Apr 1908, OK)

+++4 Myrtle Edith (b. 8 Nov 1908, OK, d. 8 May 1992, KS) m. 20 Jun 1926 Odie McBride SMITH (b. 15 Jun 1903, MO, d. 6 Sep 1988, KS), parents Elbert Columbus and Etta Gertrude GROVES-SMITH

++++5 living

++++5 Darlene Odean (b.1 Feb 1929, OK, d. 9 Apr 2006, KS) m.1^st bef, 1948 Kenneth E. WHETSTINE (b. 15 Jun 1927, d. 3 Mar 2005, KS), parents unknown

+++++6 living

+++++6 Penny Dawn (b. 27 Jan 1949, d. 25 Feb 2007, KS) married.

---Darlene m. 2^nd bef. 1953 Bejamin Robert CALVERT (b. 1929, KS, d. 9 Jan 1997, KS), parents Benjamin Roy and Eva Mae TETER-CALVERT

+++++6 Ricky Dee (b. 25 Oct 1953, KS, d. 6 Mar 2001, KS) married.

+++++6 Rocky Dale (b. 25 oct 1953, KS, d. 17 Jan 1984, IA) married.

+++++6 Bobby Dean (b. 9 Oct 1957, d. 27 May 2005, KS)

+++++6 living

++++5 living 

++++5 living

++++5 living

++++5 living

---Capatola m. 2^nd c.1909 Wilbur L. DAVIS(b. c.1885, IL, d. ?), parents unknown

---Capatola m. 3^rd c.1916 Salem Jackson HARDIN (b. 15 Jul 1882, TX, d. ?), parents William H. and Mary A. HARDIN

---Capatola m. 4^th aft. 1930 Paul Roy MENEFEE (b. 31 Mar 1890, MO, d. 13 Jan 1961, CO), parents John M. and Charlotte YATES-MENEFEE 

++3 William Lazareth (b.16 Oct 1889, KS, d. 14 Dec 1970, OK), m. 14 Oct 1924 Anna Margaret SHANAHAN (17 Aug 1894, O.T., d. 12 Feb 1977, OK), parents Edward and Mary SHEEHAN-SHANAHAN

+++4 Mary Olive (b. 13 Nov 1925, OK, d. 11 May 2010, OK) m. 22 Aug 1953 Frank CROMWELL (b.23 Jul 1920, OK, d. 11 Aug 2008, OK), parents Guy and Emma R. WOOD-CROMWELL

++++5 living

++++5 Guy William (b. 30 Nov 1960, OK, d. 22 Dec 2008, OK)

++++5 Laura Jane (b. 1962, OK, d. 24 Jul 1973, OK)

+++4 living

++3 Harrison E. (b. 4 Jun 1891, O.T., D. aft 1930)

++3 Jasper Joseph (b. 16 Oct 1893, KS, d. Jul 1967, IL) m. bef. 1917 Marybelle (b. c.1890, OH), parents unknown

---Nick m. 2^nd c. 1897 Mary Ettie WARRICK (b. Sep 1872, IL, d. 28 Mar 1931, OK), parents Lazarus W. and Catherine BROWN-WARRICK

++3 Hellen Ellen (b. 15 Jan 1898, O.T., d. 22 Dec 1974, CA), m. 10 Jul 1916 James Matthew GAUZE (b. 19 Sep 1892, WV, d. 9 May 1963, CA), parents GAUZE and SANCHEZ

+++4 Catherine Pauline (b. 14 Feb 1917, OK, d. 27 Jun 1993, CA) m. 11 Feb 1936 Woodrow Erdman BAY (b. 21 Apr 1913, KS, d. 1 Sep 1987, CA), parents Hugh and Ruby Barbara ERDMAN BAY

++++5 Billy Joyce (b. 4 Jul 1940, AZ, d. 3 Nov 1940, TX)

++++5 living

++++5 living

++++5 living

++++5 living

+++4 Agnes (b. 1922 d. ?)

+++4 Virginia Maxine (b. 8 Aug 1923, OK, d. 3 May 1997, CA) m. 11 Jan 1961 Loren E. JOHNSTON (b. 27 Mar 1922, KS, d. 9 Dec 1987, CA), parents Howard R. and Lola M. FOSTER-JOHNSTON

+++4 Jane (b. 1925, d. 1925)

+++4 Helen Naomi (b. 17 Dec 1926, KS, d. 30 Apr 1993, CA)

+++4 Delores Jeanine (b. 7 Dec 1928, KS, d. Apr 1992, CA) married.

+++4 James Matthew Jr. (b. 14 Jan 1931, KS, d. 1 Feb 2001, CA) married.

++3 Raymond R. (b.17 Dec 1899, O.T., d. 13 Aug 1947), m. bef. 1928 Mattie A. BECK (b. 12 Jan 1905, O.T., d. 1 Jan 1969, OK), parents James Gibney and Mary Elizabeth McGINLEY-BECK

+++4 Wanda May (b. 1 Jan 1928, OK, d. 8 Feb 2009, TX) m. 5 Jun 1946 Gene Raymond HAWKINS (b. 20 Mar 1926, OK, d. 12 Dec 2000, GA), parents Henry L. and Hazel HAWKINS

++++5 living

+++4 Leroy (b. 5 May 1931, OK, d. 24 Jan 2010, WI)

+++4 Roseann

+++4 ?

++3 Christopher (b. 1900, O.T., d. ?, O.T.)

++3 Charley (b. 1902, O.T., d. 20 Jan 1915, OK)

++3 Ida Bell (b. c.1904, O.T., d. 6 June 1968, MO) m. 1943 Roy G. WILLIAMS (b. 3 Apr 1892, MO, d. 11 Jul 1966, MO), parents Christopher Columbus and Teresa M. LUMPEE-WILLIAMS

++3 ??? 

+2 Eliza A. (b. c.1866, IN, d.?)

O.T. = Oklahoma Territory

Marriage Certificate: Wesley Ditzenberger and Capatola Viola Eller

Certificate of marriage performed 4 March 1906 in Woods Co., Oklahoma Territory between Wesley Ditzenberger, white, age 26, born in Indiana, and Miss Capitola Viola Ellers, white, age 18, born in Kansas, both currently of Alva, O.T.  Officiating was Hermann B. Mayo, Presbyterian Minister.  Witnesses were J.A. Bowling and Lillie Bowling. 

Antler's Cafe, Alva, OK

The Antler’s Café, site of Harrison Eller’s crime a year earlier, Alva, OK, in 1918 after a fire. (café sign highlighted in pink.)  source: The Okie Legacy, V.11 Iss.13, 2009-03-29.

Gravestone Photo: Mariah J. Ritter (1831-1908), McPherson Cemetery, McPherson, KS

Inscription: "Mariah J. Ritter Born Feb. 14 1831, Died Feb. 28 1908"  Mariah was the wife of William Eller (1831- 1895), and they had (at least) three children, Nick Frelow, Elias Franklin 'Frank' and Eliza Eller.

Do you know this man? Is he a Ditzenberger or an Eller?

This photo was taken in Alva, OK at Bradley Studios.  It is not dated.  It was found among the family photos of my grandmother, Myrtle Edith Ditzenberger (b.8 Nov 1908 in Alva, Woods Co., OK, d. 9  May 1992, Wichita, Sedgwick Co., KS).  Her father was Wesley Jacob (Jacob Wesley) Ditzenberger (b.14 Jul 1879 in Eagle, Boone Co., IN, d.1909, Alva, Woods Co., OK).  It could be Wesley Jacob, who died at age 29, but it is not labeled as such.  Myrtle's mother was Capatola Viola Eller (b. Jun 1887, Okla Territory, d. 1956, CO).  She had several brothers.  It could be one of my grandmother's uncles or someone else altogether, although the way it was found and the format suggests a family relationship.

Does anyone have information about Bradley's Studio in Alva?  Perhaps dates it operated?  Would anyone like to take a guess at the era of this photo from the man's appearance?

If anyone knows who this man is or has any guesses, I would love to hear from you.

Isabella A Eller and David Brown's Marriage Certificate

I have left few stones unturned in trying to find the father of Nick Frelow Eller.  Isabella (from my title) was the daughter of a man named William Eller,  born in NC around 1831.   That's according to the 1860 census of Castor, Madison, Missouri.  Also according to that census, Isabella was herself born in 1854 in Indiana, and she had a younger brother named James E., born in Missouri in 1858.  That tells me that the Eller family moved from Indiana to Missouri between 1854 and 1858.

The main reason that Isabella is so interesting is because the man I'm trying to trace, Nick Frelow Eller's father, was (according to the 1880 census for Scott, Taney, MO) William Eller, a man born around 1830 in NC.  By 1880, Isabella would have been 26 and probably married, so she would not have appeared on that 1880 census with her father, but the children that do appear, Franklin, Nick and Eliza were born, respectively, in MO, IL and IN.  For that to be true, the family had to have been living in MO at the time of Franklin's birth, 1860, subsequently traveled north to IL by the time Nick was born, 1865, later lived in IN, where Eliza was born in 1866 and, finally, returned to MO by 1880, the date of the census.

Isabella, too, was living in MO with her father, William Eller, in 1860, and Franklin could have been born that year after the census was taken.

My hunch is that William had Eller relatives living in Indiana.  It's possible that the Civil War, brutal in Missouri, was a factor in the family's move north again between 1860 and 1865.  Also, if Nick's place of birth, IL, is accurate, the family was moving quite a bit and that might explain why I have yet to find a census record for them in 1870 (the record, by the way, which would possibly show Isabella and James in the household along with the younger children).  Lacking this record, I can't be sure that Isabella's father is the same as Nick F Eller's father.

I've tried to replace that record with other information and that's why I ordered this Indiana marriage certificate.  It shows Isabel Eller marrying David Brown in Indiana in 1872, but I was hoping it might show the name of the bride's father or mother.  It doesn't.

Nevertheless, date and place and name are all consistent with the timeline I sketched above.  If Nick's older sister was to marry, it would have been in Indiana between 1870 and 1880.

I'm still trying to confirm a hypothetical timeline I've constructed for William Eller's life.  I'm searching Indiana for Ellers, especially in Monroe (where David and Isabella are buried) and in Greene (where they married) counties, and I continue to look for records between 1866 and 1880 for William.

If YOU have any information that could help me, please comment.

Headstone: Richland Cemetery, Bloomington, Monroe County, IN

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.

Eller v. Noah

Apparently Nick Eller was involved in a legal dispute over some lots in the city of Alva, Woods Co., Oklahoma. While I can't follow all the legalese, I can glean some genealogical information from the record. Unfortunately, not for Nick, but for the Moe family (no relation to me as far as I know), and I present it here.

source: 168 Pacific Reporter (Okl., p. 820), case #6666

Eller v. Noah, Supreme Court of Oklahoma, Nov. 6, 1917

Commisioners Opinion, Division No. 2. Error from District Court, Woods Co., R.H. Loofbourrow, Judge.

Ejectment by H.A. Noah, adminstrator of the estate of Carrie A. Moe, deceased, against Nick Eller.

T.J. Womac, of Alva, for plaintiff in error.
H.A. Noah, of Alva, for defendant in error.

West C. This suit in ejectment was begun in the district court of Woods county by defendant in error against plaintiff in error to recover lots located in the town of Alva, in said county...

In part of the suit, those parties from whom Nick obtained the lots are listed, incidentally, revealing the surviving family of Carrie A. Moe. These are, "John Moe, Oswald F. Moe, Lottye E. Moe, Arnolda C. Burns and Burt E. Burns, her husband, and Anna A. Johnson and James A. Johnson, her husband, heirs at law of the said Carrie A. Moe, deceased..."

More on the Woods County Ellers

Following a tip from a genealogy query, I’ve discovered additional records of the Woods County, Eller family in OK. I’d like to say these clear up confusion over Nick F. Eller’s two wives, Mary, but they do not. In the interest of completion, I’ll present what I’ve discovered and make some logical guesses about how these records fit in with previous information.

First, the burial places of Nick F. Eller and a few family members are found to be in the Alva City Cemetery. The locations within the cemetery and the dates of death are recorded online. Numbers preceding the names are the section, lot and space within the cemetery.

06-046-06, Eller, Charley, Jan 20, 1915
06-046-01, Eller, infant
06-046-3N, Eller, infant, May 13, 1911
06-046-3S, Eller, infant
09-025-08, Eller, Mary Warwick, Mar 28, 1931
06-047-06, Eller, Mattie A., Jan 2, 1968
06-046-08, Eller, Nick F., Jan 15, 1932
06-047-05, Eller, Ray R., Aug 13, 1947

According to census records, Mattie A. was Ray R. Eller’s wife, and they are buried side-by-side. Charley Eller was Nick’s son, born in 1902, so we see that he died young at around age 13. Assuming that Mary Warwick Eller is Nick’s wife, it’s a good guess that Warwick was her maiden name. Accordingly, I searched the records and discovered Catherine Warwick, buried at 09-025-06, Dec. 25, 1900. Mary and Catherine are, therefore, separated by one burial space in the cemetery, and it looks as though Catherine is a good candidate for Mary’s mother.

Following up on this lead, I searched the Alva, Woods, OK census records for families named Warwick and discovered two Warrick households.

1900 Alva, Woods, OK, District 213
Warrick, Isaac, head, b. Aug 1828, NC, Father/Mother born NC
Warrick, Catherine, wife, b. Sep 1835, IL, Father born NC, Mother born IL
This couple was married in 1855. Catherine was the mother of 13 children, four of them living.

The second household contained a younger family with children:
1900 Alva, Woods, OK, District 213
Warrick, James A., head, carpenter, b. Dec. 1866, IL, Father born PA, Mother born IL
Warrick, Rhoda J., wife, b. Sep 1866, IL
Warrick, Ida E., dau, b. Sep 1890, KS
Warrick, Rose E., dau, b. May 1892, KS

While I assumed that Catherine Warrick of the first record was that same one buried in the Alva City Cemetery of that same year, I could not be sure that James A. Warrick was related. However, I now had the name Isaac Warwick with which I could search the records. Subsequently, I found two records which appear to identify Isaac Warwick and his family.

1880, Cache, Johnson, Illinois
L.(I?) W. Worick, age 55, b. NC F/NC, M/NC
Catherine Worick, age 48, b. IL F/NC, M/IL
Marggret Worick, age 21, b. IL
James A. Worick, age 14, b. IL
Mary Ettie Worick, age 8, b. IL
Forence Ida Worick, age 2, b. IL

This first record is revealing in that it links both a James A. and a Mary E. with Catherine Worick and her husband, Isaac. That same family appears in a second record, but they have moved from IL (as the census states).

1895 Kansas census collection, Kiowa, Wellsford
L.(I?) W. Warrick, age 65, b. NC, farmer, moved from IL
C.W. Warrick, age 61, b. IL
Mary Monroe, age 22, b. IL
Ida Warrick, age 16, IL

This second record doesn’t list the family relationships, but Mary and Ida are most likely the two daughters, although it appears that in the intervening years, Mary married and then returned to her father’s household. If this is, indeed, Nick F. Eller’s future wife, that information is consistent with the 1910 census record which states that Mary E.L.’s marriage to Nick is her second. A note about Kiowa, KS; it’s located adjacent to Woods Co, OK, just north of the state line.

Incidentally, another record can be found for James A. Warrick, in which he has moved his family to Lindsay, Tulare, CA by 1910. In that record, he lists his father’s birthplace as Virginia, although he had claimed it as PA in 1900. In my research, I have found that this business of a parent’s birthplace is a notoriously unreliable piece of census information. When it fits, it’s satisfying, but it’s just as often incorrect.

One more important record requires mention, that is, the Mar 1 1895 Kansas state census for Pratt, Springvale:

N.F. Eller, age 34
M.J., age 35
C.V., age 8
Willy, age 5
Harrison, age 3
Jasper, age 2
M.J. in this record, then, is Nick F.’s first wife, Mary, although the 1900 census indicates she should be only 22 in 1895. This is not the only possible error on this record. Nevertheless, it appears to be the correct family.

Conclusion:
I’m fairly certain that I’ve identified the parents of Nick F. Eller’s wife, Mary, at least his second wife, Mary E.L. I believe she was Mary Ettie Warwick, daughter of Isaac and Catherine Warwick, that they moved from IL, Mary’s birthplace, to KS, and then south to Alva, OK. If there were two Marys, and evidence (jumbled as it is) suggests there were, then the first Mary was the mother of Capetola Viola, William Lazreth, Harrison and Jasper Joseph, Nick’s older children, and that is the lineage in which I am most interested. Therefore, I am left still searching for the maiden name of Mary, Nick’s first wife.

Eller Update

WWI Draft Registration Cards 1917/1918 confirm that the names Jasper and Joseph Eller, which appear on the 1910 and 1920 Alva, Woods, OK census records, respectively, belong to the same Jasper Joseph Eller. In addition, we know from the card that he was born 16 Oct 1893 in Liberal, KS, and was residing in East St. Louis, St. Clair Co, IL in 1917. He was married to Marybelle, age 30, born in OH. He was assistant foreman in a steel foundry, American & ? ?. In 1920, he is listed as foreman.

Jasper's older brother, William L. Eller, also filled out a draft card in 1917. He is said to be a "cement quickener(?)," employed by Nick Eller of Woods, OK. William was born 16 Oct 1889, also in Liberal, KS and remains single at that time. He wrote out his middle name, so we know the L. to stand for Lazreth, William Lazreth Eller. The 1930 census records William as a WWI veteran. Jasper, on the other hand, marked "no" for veteran in 1920.