Eller Chronicles May 1990-p1

The Eller Chronicles


Vol. IV NO 2. p1THE ELLER FAMILY ASSOCIATIONMAY 1990


PRESIDENT'S PAGE


1990 MEMBERSHIP DUES: I wish to encourage you who have not already done so to forward your 1990 dues to Charlotte Marshall as soon as possible. We are sending the May issue of the Chronicles to all our members, even to those who have not yet tendered their dues.

STATUS OF Vol. I: REPRINT OF HOOK'S GEO. M. ELLER BOOK: We are still corresponding with two publishing companies in the east regarding printing and/or marketing.

The major need now is to determine the approximate demand for the reprint. Although we set a June 1 date for receiving orders, that date is not a deadline. Please place your order as soon as possible; 75 orders have been received and 15 more are promised. Keep 'em coming!

See the enclosed flyer and the Order Blanks in the back of this issue of the Chronicle. Use these to help publicize the book among your relatives. Some ads will be placed in newspapers in areas where several Eller families are known to live. Let us know the names of newspapers serving such areas that you know about. The reprint will probably be in hard cover without pictures. Cost for 500 copies will be $22.00 per book; cost, for 250 copies will be $28.00 per book.

REPORT ON CONF '91: We very much want your input for the Conf '91 agenda, especially what you, as individuals, wish to present to the gathering or the services you might render in connection with the conference. Please advise me on your interests in helping at the conference and on your talents (entertainment or genealogical), genealogical interests, displays, and reports on your particular family line. The report may range from a research paper to an informal talk. By Feb. 1991 we will want to begin listing in the Chronicles those members who plan to attend. This may influence the decision of others about attending.

It now appears promising that Dr. Napp-Zinn of Koln, West Germany may return; hopefully, he can continue his interesting reports on the status of the "Eller German Connection." We look forward to his joining us again possibly along with other Eller descendants from Germany.

REGARDING PLANS FOR PUBLICATION OF VOLUME II: In my February 1990 letter, I explained that Vol. II of the projected publications of the EFA would be a revision of Vol. I. it will include revisions, corrections to Val I, plus new data pertaining to the George Michael line. I have had no response whatsoever to my request for help from researchers/compilers. Now that Vol. I is in the ordering stage, we should begin to plan for other volumes. Everyone seems to be hanging back, waiting for others to step forward when, in fact, it will take all of us to make it happen.

(50)


We have an organization that now numbers over 185 people. Since the EFA has achieved this level, it seems important and timely to tap the wealth of information and ideas within the membership, and begin to gather and compile the genealogical data that exist in many files of our members.

The full task before the organization includes compiling not only new genealogy of descendents of George Michael but doing the same for his brothers, Christian, Henry, Melchoir, Jacob, and others. To accomplish this, it is necessary that each of us acknowledge the need for initiative and to offer that degree of participation to make it happen.

I will be writing to a few individuals known to me but I need to hear from many more in order to broaden the base for this effort to include every limb, branch, and twig of this great family.

Very Sincerely,

A. William Eller
370 Upham St.
Lakewood, CO 80226




FROM YOUR EDITORS: In the first issue of the Eller Chronicles (Nov. 1987), a policy was announced that the originator of information to be published in the newsletter was solely responsible for its accuracy. This policy continues in effect. Some members have expressed concern that insufficient proof or documentation accompanies some genealogical data published in the Chronicles. This was a concern of your editors from the outset, but we decided not to push the matter unduly for fear that members, the majority of whom are not professional researchers, might not submit any information. Perhaps we should begin to address this matter directly. We suggest that readers, who question the accuracy of data published in the Chronicles or who wish further documentation, contact the originator of the material as well as your editors. Only in this way can corrections be made, and, in the case of disagreements, the editors may be helpful in resolving the matter. If in the future we return material to a member with a request for more documentation, you will know we are trying to avoid possible errors and the concerns of our readers. We invite comments and suggestions from the membership, especially from researchers, on how best to deal with these matters. Perhaps a member who is an experienced researcher will develop an article or guidelines on such topics as primary vs. secondary sources, examination of evidence, documentation, and what constitutes proof of a genealogical relation- ship.


Constructive criticisms concerning the last issues of the Chronicles indicate that some felt too much Eller Conference and too little genealogical material was included. We accept this valid criticism and hope that other members of the EFA feel equally free to make known to us (51)

their views. However, please remember your editors operate under some basic realities that those members who are primarily interested in genealogical data may tend to forget. The Chronicles came into existence to serve the several purposes embraced by the EFA. Among these genealogical research is only one concern, although a most important one. Also, we have to take into account that only a few of our members are active researchers. Genealogical data, if available, always receives first priority for inclusion in the Chronicles. However, before we can publish genealogical information it must be compiled and submitted by someone.

The explanation for the absence of genealogy in the last issue is very simple; none was available. In an effort to offer more such data in this issue we have been forced, because of the limited amount received from members, to include more material prepared by your editors than we like to use at one time. Please spend some time reflecting upon the above and on the general type of publication you want for the EFA. A questionnaire will appear in the next issue that allows each member to evaluate the Chronicles and make suggestions for improvement. We wish to serve the best interests of the total EFA to the best of our abilities. We very much doubt we can meet the full expectations of each member in every issue. After all, there are 185 EFA members around the world. We remain open to your criticisms and invite your suggestions. We especially urge members to send in unpublished genealogical information.


We lost some important letters, pictures and other materials at the Eller Family Conference. Among the items were several letters with queries from Mrs. Lawerence H. Jones, 509 E. Moore Ave. Gilbert, AZ 85234 and a picture of Capt. Calvin Eller that was intended for the Civil War story in this issue. If they turn up in anyone's Conference materials we would appreciate their return.


Louise Eller, the EFA German translator, has been called back to her home in Germany because of the death of her mother on the 16th of March. She remains in Germany to care for her father who is in ill health. Her husband, Neal, writes she may not get back home this year. Neal will be commuting back and forth this summer. Louise's address in Germany is: Moorstr. 22, 6799 Altenglan 3.


Charlotte Marshall has received a letter from Dr. Rose Eller who lives in Austria. The letter awaits translation. We had already heard of Dr. Rose Eller from Georg Eller of Bingen who writes that Dr. Rose is a well known educator in Austria who has been researching her Eller family for many years, She has expressed an interest in joining the EFA and continuing her Eller research on a world-wide basis. We are anxious to know what is in her letter and look forward to receiving information from her an the Ellers of Austria. We hope she will join the EFA and perhaps attend the Eller Conf' 91.

(52)

EFA member, Pat Beck of Salisbury, NC, has sent a delightful manuscript, THE JAMES ELLER FAMILY AND THE BUSHWHACKERS OF WILKES COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, 1864-1865, by Paul E. Hubbel with a foreword by James B. Hubbel, Sr. If proper permission can be obtained from the authors, the story will appear in a future chronicle. Can anyone provide an address for either of the Hubbels?


Our president, Bill Eller, is working hard to get the 1957 book on George Michael Eller by James W. Hook reprinted. Every Eller descendant should have a copy of this book, which at $22.00 is a real bargain. Some members have purchased five copies and some have announced intentions to purchase ten or more copies as an investment in family heritage and to help reach the minimum required number of 250. We hope those who can afford to do so will purchase several copies for resale or distribution to relatives now or in the future when the reprint is no longer available. Don't under estimate the thrill that this book can give a future descendant when the book is no longer in print.



Since the publication of the Feb. 1990 issue, your editors have had little time for EFA matters and we have fallen behind in our work. Several problems converged since Christmas but we are pleased to report that matters are about back to normal. We hope to be back on schedule soon. - J. Gerald & Juanita Eller.



KARL ELLER



This month's Cover Photo

Click on a thumbnail picture above to get a larger representation, then use your browser's back button to get back here. [ADE]



[From the Arizona Republic, Phoenix Arizona, Monday, August 20, 1984, - by Margery Rose-Capp]

The jangle of a midafternoon telephone call interrupts a conference in Karl Eller's modest office at Circle K Corp. on South 40th street. Eller snatches the receiver off its cradle. After greeting his caller briefly, he gets right to the point. "How's the market doing?" he asks. No one in the room knows whether he's referring to Wall Street or one of the convenience stores in his chain of Circle K's and recently purchased U-Totems.

"I guess I've been an entrepreneur since the day I was born," he says, once off the phone. His track record speaks for itself. In the last two decades, he has served as chairman of the board not only of Circle K but of Swensen's Ice Cream Co., an outdoor advertising company, and other corporations. Before Columbia Pictures Industries merged with Coca-Cola Co., Eller was President of Columbia Pictures Communications.

"I always wanted to be rich. I guess you can say a lot of it is luck; But it isn't all just luck. You have to make opportunities. I'm a guy who makes things happen. Just look what has happened here in the last 12 months," he said, referring to the date in July 1983 when he became chairman
of the board of Circle K.

(53)

Eller has been in business since he was 9, when he took a paper route. "I got up faithfully every morning at 4 o'clock," he said. "I always had to be the best. I guess I was an overachiever. When you're hungry, you've gotta work hard."

Eller said he didn't have an easy start. "I was the product of divorced parents, and I had to help support my mother. She ran a boardinghouse across the street from the Univ. of Arizona." he said. "I was the kind of guy who knew nothing but hunger, that you had to go out and work."

His family moved to Tucson from Chicago when he was 3. He was the youngest of three children. . . Eller is an admitted workaholic. He said his career is more than a career; its a quest. Ali, m a clear-cut decision maker." he said. He admitted that, after a continued regimen of speeches, meetings, more speeches and meetings, he sometimes burns out.

Eller set his sights on success early in life. After he finished high school in 1946, he and a buddy, Frank Borman, enlisted in the Army. Borman got a West Point appointment and went on to become an astronaut and, later, president of Eastern Airlines. Eller finished his military duty and enrolled at the University of Arizona, graduating in 1952 with a marketing degree.

He went to work for Foster and Kleiser Co., a billboard company. Two years later, the company sent him to San Francisco and then to Chicago, where he eventually became vice president in charge of the Chicago office. In 1959 he joined the Chicago advertising agency of Needham, Louis & Brorby. He returned to Arizona in 1962, where he became president of Eller Outdoor Advertising Co.

Six years later, he and the owners of KTAR-TV agreed to merge their companies, creating the parent company of Combined Communications Corp. In June 1979, that company merged with Gannet Co., where he was a member of the office of chief executives. . .

He left Gannett at the end of 1980. At the time he had already added the chairmanship of the boards of Red River Rsources- a land, oil and cattle investment business- and Swensen's Ice Cream Co. to his corporate collection. Then he went to work as president of Columbia Pictures Communications, and in 1982, the company merged with Coca-Cola. . .

Eller and his wife, Stevie, have been married 32 years. During the lean years of their marriage, she taught school. They have a married son, Scott, 27, whom Eller describes as “a venture-capital partner." The couple's daughter, Elissa, 24, sells telephone systems for Intertel.

(54)

He serves on the boards of Eastern Airlines, Arizona Public Service, Southwest Forest Industries, and Intertel. He is also an original member of the Phoenix 40. . . He recently funded a school of entrepreneurship at the University of Arizona. The first class, which will begin in September, will be held in the Karl Eller Center in the business school.

Eller proudly held up a plaque. "I received this not too long ago," he said, with a self-conscious smile. The award was from the American Academy of Achievement and named him a "giant of accomplishment." He was one of 40 Americans to receive the Golden Plate award at ceremonies in Minneapolis in July. . .

[Eds. We thank EFA member, Calvin W. Evans, 201 East State Ave., Phoenix, AZ for sending the above newspaper article and other information about Karl Eller. We also thank Karl Eller for permission to reprint the story in the Chronicles and for the picture which appears on the front cover. We hope he will decide to join our association and share more about his Eller heritage.]



THE FIRST ELLER FAMILIES OF GRAHAM COUNTY, NC
J. Gerald Eller

Near the mid-1880's Rev. WILLIAM H. ELLER with his wife, Sarah Loucinda "Lou" Bradley, and five children, moved westward about 100 miles in a covered wagon from Eller Cove on Reems Creek, Buncombe Co., NC to a log home on Little Snowbird Creek, 10 miles southwest of Robbinsville, Graham Co., NC. J. W. Iona Eller, my father and the eldest son, was about seven years of age at the time of the move.

Rev. JOHN H. ELLER, the elder brother, (whose wife, Cordelia Ballard, was deceased,) soon followed with his three children and settled in the same valley. The valley became the second place in NC to bear officially the name of "Eller Cove," and the tributary stream on which they settled is known today as Eller Mill Creek.

Jobs were available in the timber operations that began on Little Snowbird soon after the arrival of the two Eller families. Farming and cattle raising, supplemented by game from the virgin forests and trout from the pristine streams, were the means of livelihood. John and William Eller and their sons were skilled fishermen and hunters. My father recalled going to the creek early in the morning to catch fish for breakfast. Hunting dogs were numerous around the homes of any Eller family in those early years. "Earn," son of William H., killed a bear when he was only eleven years of age.

(55)











Click on a thumbnail picture above to get a larger representation, then use your browser's back button to get back here. [ADE]


(56b)

Grandmother "Lou" Bradley Eller said that the decision to leave Buncombe County came from the family's opposition to the enactment of the "fence law" which required all live stock be kept within fences and not be allowed to range freely as in the past. If a desire for open range brought the Ellers to Graham County, they chose wisely since Graham county was the last in North Carolina to adopt such a law. I was eleven years old in 1932 when the fence law was enacted in Graham County. I was pleased because no longer did I have to go out on the open range to hunt for the milk cows each evening.

The Eller properties on Little Snowbird were adjacent to land owned by Cherokee Indians. Several Cherokee families, who had escaped the removal to Oklahoma in 1838, lived on Little Snowbird Creek, where many of their descendants still live today. The Ellers and Cherokees became friends. I recall standing with my father on the streets of Robbinsville, when I was a mere child, listening to him talk with Cherokees. He often employed them in his timber operations.

The Eller men became skilled in all jobs associated with the timber industry: cruising, logging, saw milling, log and lumber grading, etc. My father, Jonathan Wesley Iona "J.W." It Earnest "Earn", and Alexander "Zan," sons of William H. "Bill" Eller, spent most of their lives in these activities, sometimes working for large companies but often conducting independent timber operations. The same was true for the descendants of John Eller. While timber was their main interest, small scale farming and cattle raising were also conducted by all of the early Eller families.

My father had three given names, Jonathan Wesley Iona. His first two names came from his two grandparents; Iona was added and used by his family in order not to risk alienating either grandparent. His official signature was always "J.W. Eller" but most of his friends called him "J.W." or "Smith." I never knew the origin of his nickname "Smith," by which he was known to many people. His parents and wife called him "Iona" and we children called him "Papa."

For many years the William and John Eller families lived a pioneer existence in their log homes deep in the Southern Appalachian mountains. The fathers and their sons were skilled craftsman, making all the buildings, furniture, wagons, sleds, and many tools. The women also possessed an array of essential skills, including carding, spinning and weaving wool for clothing. Virtually all items had to be made by hand in those early years.

My father mastered every phase of the timber industry. He developed unusual expertise in logging and sawmill operation; he was especially skilled as a "sawyer". During most of his adult life, he was an independent timber and sawmill operator. His brothers, "Earn" 1, and "Zan" were also well known in Western North Carolina as skilled timbermen. I spent more than one summer working in the timber business for my father. I was not enthralled.

(57)

Musical talent, first expressed in the "shape-note" gospel tunes of the country churches of that period, was evident among many of the early Ellers of Graham County. This talent reached a high level of expression in John Doke Eller, eldest son of John Eller. Doke became a well- known local singing master" who held frequent "singing schools" throughout Graham and adjacent counties. He was blessed with a marvelous voice and played several instruments including the organ. He was the composer of dozens of published gospel songs. Musical talent was evident among his children, some of whom played the fiddle, banjo, and guitar.

We had an organ in our home and two of my sisters played; They and many of my cousins are gifted musicians but I received or developed no such talent. My father sang and each Sunday following church he sat on the front porch with his song book and sounded out the various notes to the songs.

Both Rev. JOHN H. and Rev. WILLIAM H. ELLER were Free Will Baptist preachers, probably ordained at the Ox Creek Free Will Baptist Church in Reems Creek Valley before they arrived in Graham County. Together they founded the first church on Little Snowbird and later moved it to the adjacent Atoah Valley where today an active Free Will Baptist Church still exists. Another church was founded by the two brothers in the Beaver Creek ' section of Cherokee Co., NC. After working all week in the Snowbird Valley the brothers walked or rode horseback many miles through rugged mountains to serve their churches. Several of their descendants became preachers and teachers.

Soon after 1900 the two brothers sold their property on Little Snowbird. John moved to Cherokee County to better serve the Beaver Creek Church while William continued to pastor the Atoah church. John later returned to Graham County and acquired considerable property in the Atoah Valley where he lived until his death in 1919. William and my father moved their families to small farms, which they acquired on Moose Branch, a tributary of Long Creek, one mile southwest of Robbinsville, the county seat. Here the two families lived in close proximity for many years until after the death of my father in 1956. It was here all the eleven children of J.W. and Lillie Rogers Eller, including this writer, were born. (While still officially Moose Branch most people today know the stream as Eller Branch)

Some of the grandchildren remember John Eller as full of fun and inclined toward practical jokes. William was said to be somewhat more stern and serious-minded. I have only a faint recollection of Grandfather William; John died before I was born. Both John and William were respected citizens who observed high standards of morality in all matters. They were staunch Christians who held close the teachings of their church. Around the turn of the century, both served as local magistrates and W.H. served a term as U.S. Commissioner. While lacking much formal education they were literate and intelligent men.

(58)

William and John Eller were young children on Reems Creek in Buncombe County, NC in the 1860's when they lost their father, John Wesley Eller (1865), their grandfather John (cl866), their great grandfather, Joseph Eller (1863), and great great grandfather Jacob Eller, Jr. (ea 1862). Jacob Eller, Jr. was reputed to be 108 years of age when he died. To lose such a large number of immediate relatives in so short a period of time must be a record.

According to family tradition, John Wesley, was killed in Civil War action in East Tennessee in 1065. Only a single record of his Civil War service has been found- "Eller, Westley, Private. Reported on bounty roll dated Sept. 20, 1864." (Company B, 69th Reg. N.C.T. (7th Reg. N.C. Cavalry), from "N.C. Troops, 1861-1865, A Roster, compiled by Louis H. Manarin, Vol. II, State Dept. of Archives and History, Raleigh, N.C.

His Company never became a part of the Confederate Army. The unit remained in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee as Home Guards and mainly chased bushwhackers and arrested deserters. Some Skirmishes were fought and in one such action, apparently in East Tennessee, according to family tradition, John Wesley was killed in late 1864 or early 1665, although no official record has been found. Family tradition says he was buried in the Veterans Administration Cemetery in Knoxville', TN but no official records support this fact. He very well may lie in one of the several unmarked graves. Battle casualties were buried often where they fell with only a crude marker. Later when the bodies were removed to federal cemeteries the markers were often missing or decayed beyond recognition.

John Wesley Eller's wife, Sarah Hamilton Eller, was left with four children; John, who was 9 years old, William H., who was 7, and Lillie and Laura were still younger. The sudden loss of the father and other paternal grandparents meant that the children were reared more under Hamilton than Eller influence.

GENEALOGY

Paternal Lineage of WILLIAM H.(7) and JOHN H. ELLER(7) [John Wesley(6), John(5), Joseph(4), Jacob, Jr.(3), Jacob(2), Casper Eller(l).] Jacob (2) of Rowan County, NC was the immigrant ancestor. (see The Eller Chronicles, Vol. I, No. 1, Nov. 1987 p.8 and Vol. II, No. 1, Feb., 1988, pp.4-7)

WILLIAM H. "Bill" ELLER, b. 15 Oct.1858, Buncombe Co., NC.; d. 16 Mar. 1926, Graham Co., N.C.; bur. Metz Cemetery, Atoah Valley, Graham Co., m. 20 Oct. 1876, Buncombe Co. NC, Sarah Loucinda Bradley (see below); Father: John Wesley Eller, b. ca 1839 Buncombe Co., NC, d. ca 1864-1865 (Civil War Action) and Mother: Sarah E. Hamilton, Buncombe Co., NC, b. 1833, Buncombe Co. NC, d. after- 1900, Buncombe CO.NC; dau. of John Hamilton and Rebecca McVey.

SARAH LOUCINDA "Lou" BRADLEY, b. 28 Jan.1860, Buncombe Co., NC, d. 12 Feb. 1949, Graham Co., NC; bur. Metz Cemetery, Atoah Valley, Graham Co., NC, dau. of Jonathan H. Bradley and Sarah Goldsmith (both b. in SC and later moved to Buncombe Co., NC).

(59)

Children of William H. Eller and Sarah Loucinda Bradley:

  1. JONATHAN WESLEY IONA, b. 28 Sept. 1877, Buncombe Co., N.C.; d. 24 Mar. 1956, Graham Co., NC; m.(l) 2 Mar. 1901, Docia Hooper, Graham Co. NC (d. 1901, no child.); m.(2) 16 Oct.1905, Lillie K. Rogers, b. 24 Feb. 1885, Graham Co., NC, d. 10 Jan. 1966, Cherryville, Gaston Co., NC; dau. of David Jasper Rogers and Caroline Carpenter. (11 children)
  2. WALTER C., b. 1 Feb. 1879, Buncombe Co., N.C.; d. 5 Jan. 1897, Graham Co., NC; (did not m.)
  3. SAVANNAH L., b. 17 May 1881, Buncombe Co., NC; d. 15 Mar.1882, Buncombe Co., NC.
  4. E. IVALEE, b. 26 Oct. 1882, Buncombe Co., NC; d.12 Nov. 1963, Graham Co., NC; m. George Rogers, Graham Co. NC, son of Jesse Newton Rogers and Sarah Farr. (several child.)
  5. OPHRA D., b. 28 May 1884, Buncombe Co., NC; d. 9 July 1909, Graham Co., NC; m. 26 Jan.1906, Harriet Phillips Graham Co., NC. (No child.)
  6. HUGH EARNEST "Earn", b. 15 Mar. I886, Buncombe Co., NC; d. 31 Dec. 1952, Swain Co., NC; m. 13 May 1905, Octa Viola Rogers, Graham Co., NC, b.22 Oct. 1886, Graham Co., NC, d.31 Oct. 1964, Newport News, VA, dau of David Jasper Rogers and Caroline Carpenter.
  7. GIRLIE, (infant), b. 10 Nov. 1887, Graham Co., NC; d. 22 Nov. 1887, Graham Co., NC.
  8. ALEXANDER HAMILTON "Zan", b. 3 Dec. 1888, Graham Co., NC; d. 9 Oct. 1960, Clay Co., NC; m.(l) 13 Dec 1913,Katherine Slaughter, Graham Co. NC, d. 23 June 1931, Graham Co., NC, dau. of Dee Slaughter and Callie Colvard; (3 child.) m(2)Irene Davenport, Clay Co., NC. (I child.)
  9. BERTHA, b. 6 Mar. 1891, Graham Co., NC; d.1 Dec. 1961, Lincoln Co., NC; m. date(?), Henry Moore, Graham Co., NC (deceased d. Lincoln Co., NC) ( 5 children, resided in Lincolnton, NC).
  10. JAMES ALVAH, b. 19 Aug. 1893, Graham Co., NC; d. 29 Sept. 1918, (Germany, WW-I), (did not m.).
  11. EDITH (twin), b. 25 Mar. 1896, Graham Co., NC; d. 14 Aug., 1912, Graham Co., NC. (did not m.)
  12. ETHYL (twin), b. 25 Mar. 1896, Graham Co., NC; d. 29 Mar.1896, Graham Co., NC.
  13. LOUISE MAE, b. 7 June 1898, Graham Co., NC; m. Willard Slaughter (deceased), son of Dee Slaughter and Callie Colvard. (Louise lives in Robbinsville, Graham Co., NC.)
  14. WILLIAM MCKINLEY "Little Bill", b. 13 Sept, 1900, Graham Co., NC; d.17 Nov. 1969, Haywood County, NC; m. 12 July 1924, Bennie Wright (dec.), Graham Co. NC; (2 adopted child.)
  15. ROBERT O., b. 24 Jan. 1903, Graham Co., NC; d. 2 Feb. 1903; Graham Co., NC.



(60)

JOHN H. ELLER, b. 3 Mar. 1856, Buncombe Co., NC; d. 1 Dec. 1919, Graham Co., NC; (Father and Mother-same as for W.H. Eller above); m.(l) ca 1873, CORDELIA BALLARD, Buncombe Co., NC, d. before 1880, Buncombe Co., NC; m.(2) 21 July 1888, KANSAS JOSEPHINE HOOPER, Graham Co., NC, b. 1 Feb. 1869, d. 8 Dec. 1943, Graham Co., NC.


Sources: Marriage, death, and birth records (Buncombe and Graham Co, NC); W.H. Eller Family Bible; Louise Eller Slaughter (dau. of W.H. Eller), Grandchildren: Bell Eller Rogers, Grace Campbell Hooper, Mrs. W. Dewey Eller, Hildred Eller Millsaps, and Clarine Eller Pitts.


(61)




Click on a thumbnail picture above to get a larger representation, then use your browser's back button to get back here. [ADE]


CALVIN NEAL ELLER PEDIGREE


(62)



MORE ON IMMIGRANT HENRY ELLER, SR.

Thelma N. Hepper Gettysburg, South Dakota 57442

Letter to Charlotte Eller Marshall, dated 30 Nov. 1889, copied herein.

Dear Charlotte, Nov. 30, 1989

Enclosed find my application for membership and my check. Your Eller family reunion sounds great!

I am sending the sheets I have on the Eller family. They were given to me by a distant cousin, Creta Eller Roby, many years ago. She has since passed away and now I wish I had listened more carefully when she told me where she got the information. Since I heard from you, I also received a letter and sheets from one Nancy Myers, Woodbine, MD, who also works on the Eller line. She sent material from a book by James W. Hook which I think may have been where Creta got hers. So maybe there will be little new material in these sheets. They are certainly lots of puzzles to unravel yet. By the way, to my knowledge I am no relation to the Wm. Eller of the Black Hills. The Ellers of my branch are large people, strong-minded, and (for the most part) religious. I never knew my great grandmother, Mary Jane Eller Crane, but of the next generation I remember a few and they all fit that description.

I have been finding many Ellers on the microfische in both N.C. and Virginia. Guess I'll try MD next week. . . My parents retired from their S.D. farm in the late 40's and moved to Oregon. They lived in Aloha and then moved to Seaside where they are both buried. My brother, Ray Norris, lives in Dayton. . .

(s) Thelma N. Hepper

[Eds. Much information included with this letter but omitted here apparently came from Hook's books except for the following on immigrant Henry Eller and some of his descendants. This is the same Henry Eller in the story by Gale Edwin Spitzer Honeyman, The Eller Chronicles, Vol. 2, No. 2 May, 1988.]





HENRY ELLER, Sr. married Elizabeth Bigler, daughter of Mark and Catherine Bigler, in Pennsylvania.

According to a deed recorded in Deed Book K, pg. 1284, of Frederick County, Maryland, Henry bought a parcel of 90 acres in "Hammond's Strife" near his brother George Michael, on June 6, 1767. He sold his property on June 14, 1771, as shown in Deed Book O, pg- 3.

On June 23, 1772, Henry bought 110 acres on Beaver Dam, a draught of Little Pipe Creek, in Frederick County, Maryland, and sold it on May 16, 1785. This deed was recorded in Deed Book P, pg. 128, and Deed Book WR 6 pg. 4.


(63)

Henry Eller died in 1788 in Washington County, Maryland. According to a deed dated Dec. 4, 1793, his children were as follows:


* DANIEL, son of Henry Eller, Sr.

Daniel was born about 1770 in Frederick County, Maryland. He married Hannah, who was born about 1760 in New Jersey.

No record can be located listing his children, or heirs. No will was left.

However, on the 1850 Census of Indiana, he was shown as living with his son, Peter and was around the age of 81. He probably died in Indiana sometime during the next 5 or 10 years. This census record also gives his birthplace as Virginia.

* PETER ELLER, son of Daniel Eller

Peter Eller was born about 1800 in Virginia. He was married to Margaret J. Little in Pennsylvania. She was born in 1810 in Pennsylvania.

(64)


Peter Eller is listed on the 1850 census of Ripley County, Indiana, as 50 years of age, with his wife, Margaret, and their five children. His father and mother, Daniel and Hannah, are also shown as living with him at the time this census was taken. He lived in Brown Township.

In 1860 he was living in Fayette County, Iowa, near Fairfield Township, and in 1880, he was living in Illyria Township. On Feb. 19, 1861, Peter bought a section of land described as the SE 1/4 SW 1/2 21-93-7, in Fayette County, Iowa.

He died on Feb. 20, 1885, in Fayette County, Iowa, and is buried in Lima Cemetery in Westfield Township. He was 84 years of age.


Return to TOP of Page
Return to MAY. 1990 Table of Contents
Karl Eller
First Eller Families of Graham Co., NC
Calvin Neal Eller Ancestoral chart
More on Immigrant Henry Eller Sr.
Next Page, Searching for Our German Ancestors
BACK to Table of Contents of CHRONICLE ISSUES