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The Eller Chronicles

Vol. IV NO 4. p-3	THE ELLER FAMILY ASSOCIATION	NOVEMBER 1990

DISCOVERY OF A NEW ELLER BOOK
by

A. William Eller

MARY EDITH COCHRAN ELLER, at age 75, completed the compilation and printing of a very creditable genealogy of her and her husband's families titled: ELLER-COCHRAN and GENEALOGIES of ASSOCIATED FAMILIES.

The book is a hardbound volume of 135 pages complete with a 17 page index of over 500 surnames. A copy will be available at the Eller Family Conference, Estes Park, CO, July 18-20, 1991.

Exciting discoveries during her early research encouraged Mary to keep at the task until 1984 when the book was copyrighted and printed. Her discoveries included:

becoming aware of her eligibility for and gaining membership in the Mayflower Society in 1969;
becoming aware of her eligibility for and gaining membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1969; and
confirming in 1970 her husband's genealogy from James W. Hook's 1957 book; GEORGE MICHAEL ELLER and Descendants of His in America. This book helped establish that her husband, Denver, was a descendant of Henry Eller, brother of George Michael Eller.

Now at age 81, Mary assisted in preparing this brief sketch of her book and her life to share with members of the Eller Family Association. Included in the following are some excerpts directly from her book, a picture of Mary and Denver, and a pedigree stick chart.

Mary gave specific credits throughout her book, as well as in the FOREWARD, reproduced below.

FOREWORD

This was begun with records of J. J. O'Brien, father of J. A. O'Brien, both of whom together with Rose Shilt and Mary Eller compiled this work.

When reading these records, there may be some errors owing to the fact that bible records and court records often don't correspond.

The research started from records of Maryland to Ohio including the Ohio counties of Montgomery, Preble, Miami, and Drake.

Were it not for the dedication of other family historians such as Daniel W. Howe and James W. Hook, the Howe Eller genealogies could not have been completed. Special thanks are due to those who have gone on before, and my personal thanks to those in the present who have assisted including but not limited to the O'Briens-father and son, Rose Shilt, Karen Shuttleworth who typeset the manuscript, and others whose names are too numerous to list.

Mary C. Eller

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My discovery of Mary and her book came about this way. In 1989, I inherited a considerable amount of correspondence of James W. Hook and his widow, Hattie B. Hook, that related to requests received by the Hooks for copies of the 1957 book. One of the letters was from Mrs. Mary Eller. I wrote to many of the individuals who had sent letters and Mary, who had not strayed far in the interim, replied to my letter.

Her letter led me to her son, Richard E. Eller of Colorado Springs, Colorado, only 60 miles south of my home in Denver. Meeting Richard was a real treat in that he had a box full of his mother's genealogical data including a copy of her book, which I had not seen. As I read the book, I became very impressed with the great effort Mary so obviously had expended to produce a book not only rich in genealogical detail but one of unusual scope and pleasing arrangement. The amount and quality of narrative distributed throughout the book contributes greatly to pleasant reading. Needless to say, by the time I had finished the book, I was very excited and my first thought was to share my discovery of Mary and her- book with the readers of the Eller Chronicles.

MARY COCHRAN ELLER AND HER BOOK

MARY COCHRAN who had married DENVER ELLER was determined to write a genealogy of the ELLER-COCHRAN families. Some work had already been started years before by her uncle, Joe Ashley 0'Brien (1907-1982). Mary's work began in 1965 when she decided to compile the material she knew to exist and to research and compile the Howe and Eller lines into book form. She began her work by compiling her mother's line, the Howe family. Her quest for her Howe ancestry led back several generations to the 1600s in England.

Then she turned to research on the Eller family. Wanting to confirm her husband's genealogy, she contacted the Hooks in January, 1970 only to be advised by Hattie B. Hook that the 1957 book by her husband was out of print. She finally obtained a copy from a genealogical bookstore in Boston and with it was able to confirm her husband's family line. Encouraged with each new finding and with growing excitement, she was able to connect her husband with the Henry Eller genealogy outlined in Hook's book.

In order to gather up some of the loose ends and to confirm some of the data in hand, Mary and Denver drove to many county court houses, cemeteries, etc., and were quite successful in obtaining the information that makes her book nearly complete and quite readable.

Mary excerpted from the Hook book the early Eller history, setting the stage for the continuing family line that culminates in her husband's family and their children, including the son, Richard E. Eller, of Colorado Springs, CO, an EFA member. Thus, new information on the descendants of Henry Eller, the immigrant, is added to that which has already been published on the Henry Eller line in this and previous issues of the Chronicles.

I sense that probably the high point of Mary's work was the impressive and exciting revelation that she was eligible for an enviable and unique membership in two prestigious organizations, the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) and the Mayflower Society.

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Mary first found that she was able to trace her mother's family line back to a Peregrine White who was born aboard the Mayflower in 1620 while at anchor in Massachusetts Bay. Additionally, she was able to trace her mother's family back to William Ashley who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.

Referring to the pedigree stick chart on P. 207, it is fairly easy to follow Mary's forbears. Her genealogy includes 13 generations in America of the White family which gained her the Mayflower status and finally on the Eller side back to Henry Eller, brother of George Michael Eller, through Henry Eller, Jr., Daniel Eller, Daniel S. Eller, etc.

As Paul Harvey puts it, and now for the end of the story." The book that Mary Eller conceived, compiled, wrote, and after much research, traveling and consulting with printers etc. finally published in l984 is even more spectacular when one learns that Mary was declared legally blind about the time she began her work on the book. Her accomplishment is an inspiration to all of us. We are proud to honor Mary Edith Cochran Eller for her fine work in spite of her handicap and to introduce her to the readers of the Eller Chronicles.

EXCERPTS FROM MARY'S BOOK ON HER HOWE ANCESTRY -

Mary tells of her mother's forbears going back to John Howe, Esq., in England, whose son John Howe/1/ was the first generation Howe on American soil in the early 1600s. Following is a listing of the Howe family in America, showing only the direct ancestors of Mary Eller (also see chart on p.207.

Howe/I/
Howe/2/
Howe/3/
Howe/4/
Nehemiah Howe/5/his daughter, Phebe Howe, married William Ashley, the person who gave Mary entitlement to the DAR; further, Nehemiah's wife, Beulah Wheeler was descended from William White, whose second son, Peregrine White, was born aboard the Mayflower, entitling her to membership in the Mayflower Society.
Howe/6/
Howe/7/subject of the following gruesome account, "The Spirit of Lake Massacre;" Abbie Gardner, the only survivor of the massacre, was a daughter-in-law of Joel/7/.