Eller Chronicles Nov 94 p- 4

The Eller Chronicles
Vol. VIII - NO 4.THE ELLER FAMILY ASSOCIATIONNOV 1994

Page - 182





24 Church Road
Brownsburg, IN 46112
June 10, 1986

Iris G. Britton
1104 Avenue A
Fredericksburg, TX 78624

Dear Ms. Britton:

Thank you so much for your letter of June 5 regarding the ELLER and HAYS families. Long before the entries were listed the JAN/FEB '85 GENEALOGICAL HELPER, I had to "shelve" my genealogy so my files are a little "dusty" at the present time. I'm afraid that I can not help you in any way with the HAYS line. I have looked through my records and can find no information on your family. There is a Hays Newsletter published however - you might be interested in submitting a query.

The ELLER line looks more promising. At a quick glance through your information and my files, it seems possible that we are on the same line here primarily through George Eller, born ca. 1752 VA, m. Christena Yost, d. 25 Dec, 1808 Grayson Co, VA. I believe you descend from his son Washington and we descend from his son John, born 23 Oct, 1786 VA, m. Susan Smith, d. 24 Aug., 1840 Monroe Co, IN. Since my files are in such sad array, I can't find what I need to show you this, but I have enclosed some copies of various things which might be of interest to you.

Our line continues down as follows:

Francis A. b 6 Mar 1830 KY
m 20 April 1848 Monroe Co, IN to Elizabeth Pauley
d 8 Aug 1905, Monroe Co, IN
John Giles b 25 June 1850 Monroe Co, IN
m 24 Dec 1871 Monroe Co, IN to Laura Sadler
d 13 April 1933 Monroe Co., IN
Minnie V. b 6 Nov 1881 Monroe Co, IN
m 28 Oct 1914 Monroe Co, IN to Calvin Barker
d 29 May 1927 Monroe Co, IN
Marjorie b 27 Nov 1919 Monroe Co, IN
m 14 June 1942 Monroe Co, IN to John F. McCormick
Janet b 25 Nov 1946 Montgomery Co, IN
m 5 Feb 1972 Marion Co, IN to Brian E. Rice

If you have the time, I would like to know more about your ELLER line. I have enclosed a SASE for your convenience. Thanks again for writing.

Sincerely,

    signature
Janet A. Rice

enclosures




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1104 Avenue A
Fredericksburg, TX
July 29, 1986
Dear Janet,

Your letter with the wonderful enclosed material is the most exciting development since I started root-tracing. I had really been discouraged over the possibilities of tracing the Ellers. You see, Leander Eller (Washington Eller's son and my mother's father) died when mother was only 6 years old. Further. mother's mother remarried twice after she was widowed, so mother never really had too much contact with her father's people. I do remember as a child hearing mother mention "Uncle John and Aunt Kate" as well as "Tom and Ethel�-they are pictured on one sheet of the Gray County history excerpt I'm enclosing.

The Washington Eller family moved from Kentucky to Collin County, TX around 1865. The Jamesons moved from Missouri first to Victoria. TX. and then later to Collin County, TX. There. in Collin County, Washington's son Leander married Nellie Dean Jameson (mother's mother). One of the Jameson boys was In the Oklahoma Land Rush (when they opened the Territory for settlement) and filed on good land. Trouble was, he was not old enough for It to be legal, and when he discovered there were those planning to report him in order to acquire the land, he sold it to Leander Eller for a good mule and a small amount of money. Leander left his family In Collin County the first year while he lived in a dugout on the land and fenced it completely and built a small house for his family (wife Nellie Dean, son William Grover, and daughter Viola Lea (my mother)) Mother has often remarked that her life would have been vastly different had her father lived. She said that he had great plans for his children to have good educations. He was apparently a good manager and had planted large orchards on the Oklahoma land -- apples and pears -- some for home use and the other varieties for shipping. I think he died of pneumonia--anyway when he felt his Illness was critical he made Grandma Eller promise to go ahead and build the larger house that he had planned. Grandma did (picture enclosed) I don't know whether the house is still standing, but I have visited Leander's grave in the old cemetery at Moore. Okla. I don't think my grandmother Nellie Dean (I've heard that she was named after a ferry boat but have not been able to verify) was much of a farmer. There were some very lean years. I know that mother was parked in a Catholic Convent boarding school (probably during one or both of Grandma's subsequent bad marriages. One of the bad marriages left her with one baby girl and nothing else. In the mean time the elder Jamesons (Nellie's parents, B.F. & Lucinda) had moved to the Texas Panhandle (Gray County � Pampa, TX--although they also acquired land In three other counties). So eventually Grandma Eller sold the Oklahoma place and bought several acres adjoining her parents in Pampa. She also took back the name Eller (probably because her two eldest children were in Texas too and also that quite a few of the Ellers had settled In Gray County too. Her son, William Grover, never married; he died In 1975. My mother was 99 on June 7 (first birthday she ever celebrated in the hospital-congestive heart condition and viral pneumonia) She's home now--lives with my youngest brother Jerry and his wife Arlene in Amarillo.



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The first thing I saw when I pulled your enclosures from the envelope was the oval picture of J.W. Eller on his foreword. It reminded me at once of the only picture we have of my grandfather Leander Eller. (copy enclosed) perhaps someday we will find others but I doubt It.

My mother lived alone in Pampa (109 S. Purviance) in the house I was born in until well Into her 94th year--and she left then only with the understanding that she Would be back when she "felt a little better". The house was 12 miles from Pampa in the exact center of a one-section wheat farm when I was born. However my father lost the place during the depression and they moved the house to lots that Grandma gave them across from her house in Pampa. During all her years In the house my mother put things in good safe places and promptly forgot about them. Last February my sister and BJ my brother who lives in Pampa and I tried to locate papers that we needed to put some of her affairs In better order. We found grocery lists carefully filed and property titles tossed in with Christmas correspondence Twas the mood of the moment probably.

I'm enclosing an envelope and hope you will have time to write--I am hoping you might know something about Malinda Jones (Washington's wife). Until you letter came and I discovered there were Ellers in Indiana, I used to look at that line: "Malinda Jones b. Indiana 1827" and wonder how Washington Eller met a girl from Indiana and most of all where in the world to start looking for a Jones in the state of Indiana. Perhaps you know of some Jones In Indiana who lived near the Ellers. I'd like to hear from you before I ask the local library to order from the National Archives the 1830 census records for Monroe & Lawrence counties in Indiana. Even If you have no clue on Melinda, the information you've already sent offers a good place to start and I am so grateful to you.

Also, I wonder if cemetery records or other In Indiana would show the date and place.of birth of Chriatena Yost.

By the way, Census records (and family) show Washington Eller born in Kentucky In 1816. Pg 429 of J.W. Hook's compilation says they went to Kentucky in 1819. Think census and family records probably correct.

I apologize for taking so long to answer and being so disorganized in the process of, but things have been hectic--my husband has had two stretches In the hospital In -July, each time for major surgery. He now feels wonderfully fit and equal to the enthusiasms and activities of our ten year old granddaughter visiting from California. And I am beginning to get back to my first love: painting (acrylic, realist) and my newest love: genealogy.

Thanks again for sending all the vital information. If I locate further Eller material or pictures here I will send them along.
Sincerely,

signature "Iris Britton ?"



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