Eleventh Generation
37. Francis Elmina
HAGER was born on 14 Jul 1849 in Cobelskill, Schoharie County, New York.1 She died on 25 Dec 1898 in Omaha,
Nebraska. According to the family story, a lamp fell onto a newly-waxed
floor at the Eller home, killing both Francis Eller (mother) and Donald. The
J.W.Eller Obituary, however, says she died in 1898 and Donald at age 15 (which
would have been Sep. 1902). Francis Elmina HAGER and James William ELLER were
married on 28 Nov 1872 in Exeter, Neb.. James
William ELLER (son of Henry ELLER and Elizabeth Nancy SHREVE) was born on
29 May 1846 in Bloomington, Indiana.3
Some records show his birth in 1845, not 1846. However, when he applied
for an Army pension he admitted he was only 17 when he joined the Union Army
and he provided the 1846 birth date. He died on 1 Sep 1923 in Tryon, Neb..
He was buried in Exeter, Neb.. On 26 Nov 1863, at the age
of 17, he volunteered for the Army (the Civil War). He served with his cousin,
Henry B.A. Eller. They were in Troop I, 10th Indiana Cavalry, where he served
until the end of the war. This unit moved from Indiana to Tennessee and Decatur,
Alabama. Later it was involved in battles around New Orleans.
At the close of the war, near Vicksburg, James William Eller became ill
from diarrhea. He was hospitalized. In his application for a Union Army pension,
he complained that this disability prevented him from doing any heavy work.
He was among the first students to attend the new State University in Indiana.
He later attended and graduated from Chicago Law School.
He moved to Nebraska in 1871 (date included in a pension application),
probably at the same time his parents moved. He settled in Exeter, Nebraska,
along what was termed the "Oregon trail." It must have been "the
fronteer," since his wedding was the first recorded in Filmore County. He
moved to Fairmont in 1873, and Omaha in 1886. He practiced law in that area until
(says his obituary) "..failing health forced him to close up that line of
his work." This health problem, he would claim, was related to the illness
he suffered in the war.
During that period, he was elected District Attorney for the Omaha area
(1875, two terms, Nebraska Blue Book). His obituary in the Filmore County News
of 06 Sep 1923 says he also served as a County Judge about 1903. Another obituary
(Tryon Graphic, 18 Oct 1923) says he served as the clerk of the Nebraska State
Legislature.
James' wife, Francis, died on Christmas Day 1898. Family stories suggest
she and Donald died in a fire, the record shows Donald actually died three years
later.
In the census of 1900, James William Eller is still in Omaha (and presumably
a lawyer or judge). The census shows eight children in the home and a 28 year
old woman, Louise Millagan, who is listed as a Nanny and who gives her profession
as a stenographer.
In 1905, James W. Eller left Omaha and the law and took a "soldier's
homestead" in McPherson County, Nebraska. Family stories say he was upset
over the death of his wife and son. Some say he went "round the bend."
Whatever the case, he remarried after the move.
On 29 May 1921, at the age of 76, he married 49 year-old Louise Millagan,
the former Nanny. She was alive at his death. Francis Elmina HAGER and James
William ELLER had the following children:
+42 | i. | Harley
M. ELLER. | 43 | ii. | Laura
Leone ELLER was born on 16 Dec 1879 in Nebraska. She died in
Dec 1970 in Omaha, Nebraska. Leone Eller was an "Old Maid"
school teacher in Omaha, Nebraska. | +44 | iii. | Wayne McVeigh
ELLER. | 45 | iv. | Francis
H. ELLER was born on 9 Mar 1883 in Nebraska. She died in 1951.
Based on the J.W.Eller Obituary in the "Fliimore County News" 06 Sep
1923, there were three married daughters. Mrs. Francis Crawford is Ida; that
leaves Mildred and Francis to be either Mrs. C.E.Eldy of Indianapolis or Mrs.
G.S.Campbell of Omaha. | +46 | v. | Bayard ELLER. | 47 | vi. | Donald K. ELLER was born in Jan 1886 in
Nebraska. He died in Nebraska. Family stories say Donald
Eller and his mother were killed on Christmas Day 1898 when an oil lamp fell
on a freshly waxed floor in their Omaha home. The 1900 census confirms the mother
had died, but shows Donald still alive. We are unsure if this means the story
is false or if he simply was injured and died later. We do know from family stories,
that Donald died as a youngster. According to his father's obituary, he died
at age 15 (that would be about 1901-2). | +48 | vii. | Ida D.
ELLER. | 49 | viii. | Mildred
I. ELLER was born on 13 Jan 1893 in Nebraska. She died on 13
Mar 1950 in Omaha, Nebraska. The obituary for J.W. Eller in the "Filmore
County News" of 06 Sep 1923 says there were three married daughters. Ida
has been established to be Mrs. Francis Crawford; that means that Mildred or
Francis must be Mrs. C.E. Eldy of Indianapolis or Mrs. G.S. Campbell of Omaha. |
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