Eller Chronicles Feb 94 p- 2

The Eller Chronicles

Vol. VIII NO 1.	THE ELLER FAMILY ASSOCIATION	FEB 1994

Page - 7

THE TRAVELS OF JOHN AND LUCY ELLER OF SKIATOOK, OKLAHOMA

Eds. note- JGE: The meeting of cousins John and Hermon Eller of Skiatook, Oklahoma with their cousin Ed Eller of Dalton, Georgia and and their activities at the Eller Family Conference in Portland were recounted in the regular Nov. 1993 issue of the Chronicles. Since the Conference John and his wife Lucy, sometimes with Herman and his wife Bernedene and Ed and his wife Betty, have traveled thousands of miles to attend mini-family reunions in four states and made dozens of telephone calls, all in an effort to meet their relatives, publicize the EFA, and recruit new EFA members. Lynn Eller, Juanita and Gerald were fortunate to be included in some of these travels and meetings, the first being in Hiawassee, Georgia on.

After the Board meeting in Crowley, TX and the James Granville Eller reunion in Cleburne, Texas, Juanita, Gerald, Ed and Betty and Ed's sister, Jean Davis, spent Thanksgiving at John's and Lucy's beautiful and comfortable home in Skiatook, OK, where they played the role of host and hostess to perfection. By conservative estimate they have added over two dozen new EFA members to our roll since the Portland Conference. John has taken on the task of coordinating the EFA Recruitment Project and Ed the task of coordinating the Computer-user Group of the Jacob Eller line. The following summary notes were submitted at our request by John D. Eller of Skiatook, Oklahoma.

3 Sep 1993: "Herman, Bernedene, Lucy and I, after traveling from Oklahoma, met Ed Eller in Dalton, Georgia, and traveled to Hiawassee, Georgia, (home of our ancestral Ellers), where we stayed at the Fieldstone Lodge on Lake Chatuge. Ed's wife Betty and their son Eddie and his girl friend Susan Bagby met us at the Fieldstone. Also, to our surprise Ed had invited Gerald and Juanita Eller of Whittier, NC, Lynn Eller (EFA President) from Atlanta, his sisters Jean Eller Davis and Lois Eller Handy and her husband Lee from Akron, Ohio, Ed's brother Kent and his wife Faye from Florida and their friends Gill and Marge Faulkner, from Clayton, Georgia. From Blairsville, Georgia came Ed's uncle, Robert Eller, his friend Dorothy, and his daughter, Amelia Eller Whitmire and Truett Eller and his friend Shirley from near Hiwassee."

"Together the group enjoyed dinner and a happy evening spent looking at Ed's 12 leather-bound volumes of his mother's diary, pictures, and sharing Eller stories until the management turned out the lights. Before we disbanded Robert Eller led the group in singing hymns including my favorite, "Amazing Grace." On Saturday Ed, Betty, Herman, Bernedene, Lucy and I visited in Helen and Clarksville, Georgia, where we made several new contacts and visited several cemeteries. Little did we know then that this would be the first of several Eller family reunions we would attend over the next several weeks although I knew when we left Hiwassee to return to Oklahoma that Lucy and I would soon be back."

Sep 25, 1993: "Lucy and I hit the road again and arrived in the Akron area Friday, Sep 25, 1993, to visit with Ed's brothers, sisters, and in-laws. Ed of course could not miss out on all the fun so he soon showed up. The next day we visited the Amish country enjoying the many gift shops and wonderful food. While in Ohio Ed's sister EFA member Jean Eller Davis had a get- acquainted mini-Eller family reunion of twenty six people.

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Sep 30, 1993: " Thanks to the Ohio Ellers we had an exceptional visit and and enjoyed meeting so many new cousins for the first time. We left for North Carolina, traveling through West Virginia to Asheville, NC where we spent the night and called Gerald and Juanita for directions to their home."

Oct 1, 1993: "We had lunch with Gerald and Juanita at their home on Barker's Creek near Cherokee, NC, where we saw the back-yard office where The Eller Chronicles are produced each three months. After promising to return on Monday, we traveled on to Hiwassee, Georgia where we met Ed and Betty for another enjoyable evening at the Fieldstone Inn."

Oct 2, 1993: "Ed, Betty, Lucy and I went to the Young Harris Library to gather information on the Jacob Eller line. We visited cemeteries in the Upper- and Lower-Hightower areas near Hiwassee where so many early Ellers had settled and where several still live. In the afternoon we traveled to Clayton to visit with Johnnie Dewey Eller, a real mountain man. Johnnie has never owned a car- lives in a house that is very old with only a path leading up the hill to the house which must have been built in the late 1800s. Johnnie has a full beard, wears overalls and keeps 85 chickens in his backyard. He was a most entertaining host - performing musical sounds by blowing through his cupped hand and playing the harmonica; he also sang several songs and quoted poetry. Johnnie is well known and respected in the area where he has led a most interesting life. He is the subject of story published in the Fox Fire publications. ( This story will appear in a future Chronicle as soon as permission is obtained to republish) Johnnie says he was 68 years of age and seldom goes anywhere. His mother is over ninety and lives in a nursing home in Clayton. We hope to get more pictures of Johnnie, his mother and his family. We spent the night in Jasper, Georgia with Betty's sister Sue in her lovely home where we were treated most graciously."

Oct 3, 1993: "Betty left us to return home to Dalton in order to teach her Sunday School class and Ed, Lucy and I went back to Hiwassee. We visited with Bert and Montine Eller in their home which is located on my great grandfather William Billy Eller's old home place. Bert and Montine are in their eighties. Montaine, who had prepared Sunday dinner enough to feed a large number, insisted that we eat with them. We enjoyed her candied apples, hoe cakes, corn bread and many vegetables which they had grown and canned themselves. We had a very enjoyable and appreciated meeting with Bert and Montine and met two of their sons, Dion and Dale. While in the area we visited several cemeteries and saw many graves of our relatives. Bert is a retired schoolteacher and his son Dion teaches and coaches in the local High School"

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Oct. 4, 1993: "We returned to the home of Gerald and Juanita Eller where we spent two nights before heading back to Oklahoma. There we enjoyed our first experience of sleeping in a real log cabin. Monday we visited Western Carolina University in near-by Cullowhee, NC where Gerald taught for thirty six years. We visited the Conference Room in the School of Arts and Sciences that was dedicated to Dr. J. Gerald Eller, Founding Dean of the School.

Oct 5, 1993: "On Tuesday we met EFA member Olivia Daniels Cunningham in Asheville and visited the Weaverville area where we visited the grave of Mary Biffle Eller wife of John Jacob Eller, Jr. - the common ancestors that makes us cousins of Gerald and hundreds of their other descendants. We also visited other graveyards in the Weaverville area. That evening we met Olivia's husband Tommy who treated us all to dinner where we relived the recent Portland Conference where we first all met. On the following morning we left for Oklahoma very appreciative of the hospitality of all we had met.

Oct 19, 1993: "After a couple of weeks of rest Lucy and I resumed our search for more Ellers. This time we flew to California where we visited our daughter and celebrated Lucy's birthday on 22 Oct 1993. Before we left home we had been given the telephone number of Wanda Eller Lyles of Fairfield, California. We made contact and met Wanda and her husband Cal along with Wanda's mother for a get-acquainted cup of coffee. This was the beginning of several contacts with my Eller relatives in California. Cal and Wanda invited us for breakfast at their home on Tuesday morning where Wanda proved to be a good cook and Cal a great host. Cal and Wanda invited their cousin, Shirley (d/o Arthur Eller) and her husband Jim Vaughn. Also invited were Wanda's sister Delores and her husband Gerald Baldwin of Modesto, California ( Their son played baseball for the New York Mets- could be another interesting story for the Chronicles)." Cal is into genealogy and is a computer user; we have put him in contact with Ed and Gerald and they have discussed the sharing of information.

"We met Holly Eller Jaco, her husband Ken, Jim and Shirley Vaughn and Mildred Eller in Sacramento, California. The same day we traveled to Coming, California where we had dinner with Paul and Jean Eller. While there we visited their mother, Dorcas Eller w/o John Chester Eller, deceased. Also present were Paul and Jean's daughter and husband, Leon and Barbara Eller - these Ellers were the mother, brothers and sisters-in-law of Wanda Eller Lyles. We never missed an opportunity to tell them about the Eller Family Association, The Eller Chronicles and the plans for the big Eller Conference in Asheville, North Carolina in July 1995. The California Ellers all accepted us and we enjoyed the visit."

Nov 18, 1993: Lucy and I drove to Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport where we picked up Ed and then checked into the motel in south Fort Worth where we met all the officers and board members of the EFA who had come for an EFA Board of Directors meeting. Details of the board meeting will be covered elsewhere in the Chronicles but Lucy and I were delighted to be present. We had met all these people in Portland so it was great to be able to renew our acquaintances. One unexpected event came from this meeting - I was named to become the first EFA Coordinator of Recruitment. So it appears that Lucy and I will continue to be busy seeking our more Ellers for the next two years. We will long remember the great food and hospitality we enjoyed at the home of Walton and Nancy Eller in Crowley, TX. Walton treated many of the group to a showing of his Emu's and Rhea's (relatives of the Ostrich) which he and other relatives have begun to rear."

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Nov. 19, 1993: "Today we met with the officers and board members of the EFA with about 200 Texas Ellers in Cleburne, Texas for the James Granville Eller Annual Reunion. This is a branch of the Jacob Eller and Mary Biffle Eller line and includes Charlotte Eller Marshall, Hank Eller, Joe and Walton Eller. These Texas Ellers know how to have a good time when they get together. The Eller Family Band was ready to perform in great style. Sam Eller, from Hope Arkansas (home of President Clinton), played the steel guitar and his brother Leo played the fiddle. Various other Ellers of all ages played other instruments, including the banjo, mandolin.. One beautiful young lady (Amanda ) only ten years of age played the fiddle like a veteran. Food was great and the music was special. We invited the musicians to come to the Asheville conference and perform - they promised to do so. I got to sing two of my favorite songs with the band, Amazin Grace and The Hills of Oklahoma. I practiced my recruitment technique on this bunch and came up with about a dozen new EFA members."

Nov 27, 1993: " Herman, Bernedine, Lucy and I decided we would attempt the first Eller family reunion for the Tulsa, Tahlequah, Muskogee, and Skitook areas of Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. For this occasion we also invited Ed and Betty Eller from Dalton, Georgia, Ed's sister Jean from Akron, Ohio, and Gerald and Juanita Eller from North Carolina. For our Thanksgiving Dinner and afterwards we invited several relatives in to meet our guests from Ohio, Georgia and North Carolina. By Saturday bad weather moved into portions of Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma so several who had planned to attend could not make it to the reunion. Even with threatening weather, around 100 attended this first Oklahoma Eller reunion at the Family Life Center, Immanuel Baptist Church, Skitook, Oklahoma. Everyone had a grand time and agreed that the event should be repeated again next year. Incidentally, I signed up some more new EFA members."

Post-Thanksgiving: Lucy and I are resting and contemplating our next moves. At Christmas we have plans to attend another Eller reunion- this in Muskogee, Oklahoma. With the help and support of all members the E F A can build the membership to new levels before Conference '95. We believe the Asheville Conference in 1995 will see the largest gathering of Ellers ever held in America. WE CHALLENGE EACH EFA MEMBER TO SIGN UP AT LEAST TWO ADDITIONAL MEMBERS AND BRING THEM TO THE CONFERENCE.

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Eller Pedigree of John David Eller of Skiatook, Oklahoma:
John David⁷ (William Alford,⁶ David Bogard,⁵ William "Billl"⁴ Susannah,³ John Jacob,Jr.,² John Jacob, Sr.¹

Eller Pedigree of Hermon Edri Elelr of Skiatook, Oklahoma:
Hermon Edri ( David Melton, David Bogard, William "Bill", Susannah, John Jacob, Jr.,John Jacob, Sr.)

Eller Pedigree of Edward Kermit Eller of Dalton, Georgia:
Edward Kerrait⁸ (Norman Esco,⁷ Robert Asbury,⁶Hardy W.,⁵ Jacob "Jake",⁴ Susannah,³ John Jacob, Jr.,² John Jacob, Sr.)¹

Hiwassee, Georgia, 3 Sep 1993- Mini-Eller Reunion! Front center, Lois Eller Hardy and Lee Hardy (Akron, OH); 2nd row L-R: Bernedene Eller (Skiatook, OK), Lynn Eller (Atlanta, GA), Faye Eller (Florida), Lucy Eller (Skiatook, OK), Juanita Eller (Whittier, NC),Shirley Eller, (Hiwassee, GA), 3rd row L.R.: Hermon Eller (Skiatook, OK), Kent Eller (Florida), John Eller (Skiatook, OK), Ed Eller (Dalton, GA), Jean Eller Davis (Akron, OH), Truett Eller (Hiwassee, GA) Ed, Kent, Lois and Jean are brothers and sisters.

Eddie Eller, Betty Eller, Susan Bagley, Ed Eller (all of Dalton, GA)	Truett Eller and Robert Eller greets Lois and Lee Hardy
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GOOD FOOD! GREAT FUN!	Amelia Eller Whitmire (Center d/o Robert Eller) Greets Hermon Eller, Lynn and Lucy Look On

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