Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Maria Eller

Female Abt 1769 -


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  • Name Maria Eller 
    Born Abt 1769  of, Rowan, North Carolina, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Person ID I3621  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father George Michael Eller,   b. Abt 1711, , , Germany Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Bef 25 Aug 1778, , Frederick, Maryland, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 67 years) 
    Married Bef 1754  of, Rowan, North Carolina, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F1147  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. FHL book 929.273 EL54ejg "John Jacob Eller and His Descendants with Other Pre-1800 Eller Immigrants to America...," by J. Gerald Eller, Edward K. Eller, and Janine Eller Porter (The Eller Family Association, 1998), pp. 22-27; the following is a partial excerpt from the full transcript which I place in the notes of George Michael Eller:
      "George Michael Eller.
      Many gaps in our knowledge of the genealogy of descendants of George Michael Eller are revealed in Table VI. Until new information was reported in the Eller Chronicles, the published genealogy of this immigrant and his descendants came exclusively from Hook (1925, 1955, 1957, 1957A). His genealogies were limited largely to descendants of four sons: Peter, Leonard, Jacob, and George. His listing of Jacob, as a son (1957, pp 53-63), has been questioned; this point is discussed further in chapters 8 and 10. Other researchers have now contributed extensively to the genealogy of this line, as shown in the bibliography at the end of the chapter. As can be seen in Table VI, little is known of the descendants of the daughters of immigrant George Michael Eller.
      Table VI
      George Michael Eller married (1st)? (2nd)? (3rd) Eva Maria. Frederick County, Maryland. Their children and grandchildren:
      1. Peter, married Elizabeth Dick, children John, Catherine, Peter Jr., Elizabeth, unnamed daughter, Jacob, Mary, Henry, George.
      2. Elizabeth married Heinrich Reb. Nothing more is known
      3. Leonard married Elizabeth Mast, children: Adam, Elizabeth, John, Joseph, Sarah, Mary Lucinda, Jacob, Henry, George.
      4. Jacob. No other known record unless he was the Jacob Eller of Chapter 8.
      5. George died in Davidson County, North Carolina, before 1841; his wife was Susanna. Children: George Jr., Henry, David.
      6. John married Catherine Fight (Fort)? Nothing more is known.
      7. Eve. Nothing more is known.
      8. Catherine married Peter Lehman? Nothing more is known. (From Hook, 1957, pp. 15-16).
      9. Maria (Mary) married Jacob Eller; Children: Cloah (Chloe) "Glory" Eller. (Troutman and File. EC, XI:1, Sp. Ed., Feb. 1997).
      Primary centers from which known descendants spread: Frederick Co., MD, Rowan Co., NC, Ashe Co., NC, Wilkes Co., NC, Miami Co., OH, Hamilton Co., IN, Wapello Co., IA. ...
      Based in part on an Eller family oral tradition in Rowan County, Maria, youngest daughter of George Michael Eller, a recent report says she married Jacob Eller, a grandson of immigrant (John) Melchior Eller.[8] Louise Barringer File of Salisbury, North Carolina, now in her eighties, has vivid memories of being told by her grandmother, Joyce Delinda Eller Morgan, of her descent from George Michael Eller, and how intermarriages among descendants of four different Eller immigrants enabled her and many other Ellers to claim four immigrant Ellers as ancestors. As previously mentioned, intermarriages among the four lines, taken from the work of Troutman and File (1997), appears as Fig. 2, Chapter 2, p. 10. ...
      End Notes:
      8. Troutman and File (1997). This tradition was long established in the Eller ancestral line of Louise Barringer File of Salisbury, North Carolina...
      New Information on George Michael Eller and His Descendants from the Eller Chronicles (EC)... [See notes of George Michael Eller for full bibliographical listing of these articles.]"

      2. The book "The Howard Leytham Stoker Von Dollen Family Histories," FHL 929.273 H833a, by Doris Lewis, 2017 So. 80th Ave., Omaha, Nebraska, 68124, p. 88 [FHL book 929.273 P684pn]: "Graybill/Stoker/Eller/Smith/Koons/Pitt Connections," by Norman E. 'Gene' Pitt, 1996, pp. 119-123, has almost the same verbatim except what I note in brackets]:
      "...James Hook wrote a history of 'George Michael Eller and His Descendants in America.' Much of the information I have on the Ellers come from this book or a book by Judge Johnson J. Hayes, called 'The Land of Wilkes,' a history of Wilkes County in North Carolina. In the ninth century Alamans, Teutons of Jutland, moved into Westallgan as early settlers. One group, called Ellers, started at the foot of Hirshberg in the Algauer Alp area near Bregenz, on Lake Constance. [They may have stayed in this general area for 600 years. This is the same area of the Palatinate that the Graybill religious refugees from Switzerland had fled and the same time frame. So the Ellers and Graybills may have known each other as neighbors or fellow churchmen.] Alta March, of Herman, Nebraska, has an Eller genealogy based in Germany, which probably connects with our family. In this record a Bartl and Barbara Swartz Eller had three children, Joseph, George and George Michael, the latter thought born in Baden, Sept. 5, 1695 and emigrated to America. He could well have been the father of our George Michael Eller, for he was a bit old to start his family in 1748. [The American Ellers apparently came from the Palatinate of Germany in the first half of the 18th century. The Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd Series, Vol 17, records the arrival of 13 Eller families who took the oath of allegiance between 30 Sep 1740 and 3 Nov 1772.] A Geo. Eller [age 20] emigrated on the ship 'St. Andrew,' and took his oath in Pennsylvania on Oct. 7, 1743 and [a George Michael Eller, apparently this same George Eller,] bought land he called 'Hammond Strife,' in Frederick County, Maryland. A Michael Eller aboard the ship Phoenix, took oath on September 30, 1743, and was on the tax list of Rowan Co. in N.C. in 1759. George Michael Eller, our ancestor, who may be the son or one of the above, was in Rowan County with Jacob, Christian and Melchoir Eller [Pitt book does not say location of the above three Ellers] at that same time and may have been there for a number years since his son Leonard said he was born at Fort Litters, N.C. in 1759. George Michael Eller bought land next to his brother Henry, in Frederick Co., MD in 1773, so he went back to Frederick County. His wife's name was Anna Marie and was the known mother of the last seven children, and may well have been Peter's and Leonard's mother. The Ellers of North Carolina have been connected with education since that state's earliest days. Academies in Virginia and North Carolina were started by Ellers and a list of the public school personnel today in N.C. is sprinkled with Ellers. [In 1790 there were 11 Eller families shown in the Rowan Co., NC census. At that time, members of the Eller family also were in Wilkes Co., NC and in Botetort Co., VA.] Children:
      a. Peter, b. [1746/]1748 [possibly in Germany]; d. [bef] 29 Jul 1799 at Ashe Co., NC; m. [abt 1766/7 probably of Frederick Co, MD] Elizabeth Dick.
      b. Leonard, b. 20 Mar 1752 at Ft. Litters [20 Mar 1754 probably in NC, possibly in Germany]; d. 1839, [probably] Hamilton Co., IN; m. Elizabeth Mast [Elizabeth ___].
      c. Elizabeth, b. 1756; d. 1777; m. Henry Repp [10 Jun 1777 to Heinrich Reb, s/o Caspar Reb of Bucks Co., PA].
      d. Jacob, b. 1758; d. 1830 [between 10 May 1830 and Oct 1830, Botetort Co., VA], m. Magdalena [___].
      e. George, b. 1760 [d. probably abt 1839, Davidson Co., NC; m. Susannah [___].
      f. John, b. 1762; m. [possibly] Catherine Fight [or Fort].
      g. Eve, b. 1764.
      h. Catherine, b. 1767; m. [probably 27 May 1788, Frederick Co., MD] Peter Lehman.
      i. Maria, b. 1769."

      3. FHL Book 929.273EL54h "George Michael Eller and Descendants of His in America," compiled by James W. Hook, 1957, also on FHL film 896571, item 2, p. 16: "Maria Eller. No further record found."

      4. FHL Book 929.273, film 6005243, "John Jacob Eller and His Descendants with Other Pre-1800 Eller Immigrants to America," by the Eller Family Association, 1998, 817-297-1280, p. 10, in commenting on Eller intermarriages in Rowan Co, NC, suggests that Maria Eller, dau. of George Michael Eller married Jacob Eller, son of John Melchior Eller, Jr. and grandson of the immigrant John Melchior Eller.

      5. FHL Book 929.273, film 6005243, "John Jacob Eller and His Descendants with Other Pre-1800 Eller Immigrants to America," by the Eller Family Association, 1998, 817-297-1280; Chapter 4, concerning the George Michael Eller and his children:
      "Many gaps in our knowledge of the genealogy of descendants of George Michael Eller are revealed in [the following:]
      George Michael Eller married (1st)? (2nd)? (3rd) Eva Maria [Why Eva and not Anna - later in same article they use Anna Maria]. Frederick County, Maryland. Their children and grand-Children:
      1. Peter, married Elizabeth Dick; Children: John, Catherine, Peter Jr., Elizabeth, unnamed daughter, Jacob, Mary, Henry, George.
      2. Elizabeth married Heinrich Reb. Nothing more is known.
      3. Leonard married Elizabeth Mast; Children: Adam, Elizabeth, John, Joseph, Sarah Mary Lucinda, Jacob, Henry, George.
      4. Jacob. No other known record unless he was the Jacob Eller of [Botetort Co., Virginia].
      5. George, d. in Davidson County, North Carolina before 1841; his wife was Susanna; Children: George Jr., Henry, David.
      6. John married Catherine Fight (Fort)? Nothing more is known.
      7. Eve. Nothing more is known.
      8. Catherine married Peter Lehman? Nothing more is known.
      9. Maria (Mary) married Jacob Eller; Children: Cloah (Chloe) 'Glory' Eller (Source: Troutman and File, 'Eller Chronicles,' XI:1, Sp. Ed., Feb 1997)
      The book comments on current thinking of the Eller Family Association (EFA) on Hook research into George Michael Eller (GME) which I summarize as follows:
      A. The two arrival records, Michael Eller in the ship "Phoenix" and Geo. Eler and Hans Jerg Ohler of the "St. Andrew" continue to lead to some confusion and differences of opinion. Recent analysis has led the Eller Family Association to believe that Geo. Eler and Hans Jerg Ohler were apparently the same individual. The clarification of the misinterpretation is that EFA does not feel that Hook documented where he got an age of 43 for Hans Georg Oehler. According to the actual records as reported by EFA as found in Strassburger and Hinke, Vol. 1, pp. 348-352: List 103A, p. 349, 'Geo. Eler listed age 20 and between Johannes Mayer and Peter Warner; List 103B, p. 350, Hans Jerg Ohler listed between Johannes Mayer and Peter Warner; List 103C, p. 351, Hanes Jerg Ohler listed between Johannes Mayer and Peter Warner. My note: did not the age come from the Oaths of Allegiance taken in 1743 in Pennsylvania right after the 1743 ship arrivals?
      B. The 1753 deed in Lancaster Co., PA to 25 acres, the 1759 Rowan County tax list, and the 1772 Randolph Co., NC, tax list for Michael Eller may or may not be for George Michael Eller. Specifically EFA thinks the 1759 tax list may actually be for Melchior Eller whom was in Rowan County at that early date - Melchior sometimes being rendered as Melker or perhaps even Michael. On the other hand, four of GME's sons were in NC in the 1770s including Leonard as a large landowner in Randolph County making the 1772 Randolph Co. tax list a possibility. There is still no concrete evidence that GME was in North Carolina before his 1773 evidence of being in Frederick Co., MD. 1773 was the same year Peter, his eldest son, first shows in Rowan Co. and it wasn't until 1778 that his other sons were in NC.
      C. The Bible record of Leonard being born at Fort (Ford) Litters, NC and his father from Bebon (Baden?) continues to puzzle researchers. No record or location of Fort Litters has yet been found. Most researchers believe Leonard was born in the United States and not Germany as reported by Hook on page 32. My note: I don't believe that Hook ever stated one way or the other except to quote what the Indiana history book he cites had quoted.
      D. A will for George Eller, son of GME has been located. An abstract of his will from the Division of Lands Book, pp. 32-33, Davidson Co., NC was obtained from the Public Library in Lexington, NC. His heirs listed in the may Term 1841 Court Record includes: Caroline Sowers, Katharene Darr(?), Sally Warlow, Dolly Long, David Eller, Christene Waggoner, Elizabeth Reket(?), George Eller, Sally Haines, Polly Reed.
      E. As for John, son of GME, no further record has been found. EFA acknowledges that the name John Eller is too unspecific making it difficult to identify which John Ellers if any of Rowan Co. may be him.
      F. "Based in part on an Eller family oral tradition in Rowan County, Maria, youngest daughter of GME, a recent report says she married Jacob Eller, a grandson of immigrant (John) Melchior Eller. Louise Barringer File of Salisbury, NC, now in her eighties, has vivid memories of being told by her grandmother, Joyce Delinda Eller Morgan, of her descent from George Michael Eller, and how intermarriages among descendants of four different Eller immigrants enabled her and many other Ellers to claim four immigrant Ellers as ancestors. …taken from the work of Troutman and File (1997)." A chart accompanies the book showing how children of the original immigrants John Jacob, Christian, Melchior, and GME intermarried over about four generations to produce Joyce Delinda Eller from all four immigrants. The connection with GME purports to be Maria, GME's dau., marrying the grandson of Melchior Eller.
      G. Questions still to be answered according to EFA: Where in Germany is he from, how was he related to others original immigrants (John Jacob, Christian, Melchior, and Henry), what of his son Jacob and his daughters, and how many wives did he have and who were they?
      H. When did the sons of GME arrive in North Carolina?
      Hook (1957, p. 21). "Peter Eller was living in Rowan Co., NC as early as 6 Mar 1773."
      Land deeds of Rowan Co., NC:
      "#3068, 1778, Leonard Eller 300 A on both sides of Sheit's Crk., adj Widow Bower, & Valentine Beard, including his improvements." (R.A. Enocks, Indianapolis, 1988, p. 233.)
      "#1605, 28 Sep 1778, Philip Sewell 100 A on the headwaters of Reedy Creek & Tinkers Crk [adj] Joseph Meizell, William Oliver & Lewis Defore, including his Improvements. Made to George Ellor by the Enterer." (ibid. pg. 115.)
      "#1608, 28 Sep 1778, William Oliver 100 A on waters of Reedy Crk adj Philip Sewell, Joseph Meizell & Peter Eller, including his Improvements. Made over to Ja's Cheney." (ibid, pg. 115.)
      Marriage Records, Rowan County, North Carolina: Hook (1957) p. 16: "This writer's guess is that this was the John Eller (s/o Geo Michael) who married Catherine Fight (Fort) 10 Aug 1785."

      6. Mentioned in father's will per FHL book 929.273 P684pn: "Graybill/Stoker/Eller/Smith/Koons/Pitt Connections," by Norman E. 'Gene' Pitt, 1996, pp. 119-123, see George's notes for full quotation:
      "George Michael Eller's will, possibly written several years before his death, was proved 25 Aug 1778 (Will Book G M., No. 1, p. 76, Frederick Co., MD) follows: 'In the name of God amen. I George Michael Eller of Frederick County in the province of Maryland living, ...my beloved wife, Anna Maria ...my oldest son Peter Eller ...my son Leonard Eller ...my daughter Elizabeth ...the overplus shall be divided by my Executors among my six youngest children namely, Jacob Eller, George Eller, John Eller, Eve Eller, Cathrine Eller and Maria Eller; further Jacob Eller shall have the Bible..."

      BIRTH:
      1. Mother of this individual and listing of this individual in father George Michael's will is expertly discussed in the following per FHL Book 929.273EL54h "George Michael Eller and Descendants of His in America," compiled by James W. Hook, 1957, also on FHL film 896571, item 2, pp. 6-14: "George Michael Eller died in Frederick County, Maryland before 25 Aug 1778 when his will, written in the German language and translated and put on record by Thomas Schley, was proved in the Frederick County court. The fact that his will was written in German indicates that he was born in Germany...
      The wife of George Michael Eller as given in his will was Anna Maria, but the way the will reads it is apparent that she was not his first wife and very likely not the mother of any of the children named in same. The will bore no date but was proved by its witnesses 25 Aug 1778. This writer suspects that it was written several years before his death. It reads as follows, (Will Book G.M., No. 1, p. 76, Frederick Co., MD):
      'In the name of God amen. I George Michael Eller of Frederick County in the province of Maryland living, am for this time sik and not right well but in my sound memory thanks be given unto God therefore seeing my nullity, ordain herein my Last Will and Testament in full love. I recommend my soul into the hands of God that gave it and my body to the earth, to be buried in a Christian like manner at the discretion of my Executors, my Executors shall in the first place pay out of my Estate all my just debts, and the overplus what the Lord gave me in this world I ordain as followith, my beloved wife, Anna Maria I give fifty pounds lawful Money, the small red cow with a white head, thirty bushels of wheat, her bed and her chest she bought (brought) to me, also the small and large Iron Potts, a half dozn peuter plates, one peuter basin, a dozn peuter spoons and a small melt pan, three iron kettles, a small washer tup a water tup and the churn, her spinnin wheel, her lamp, her Bible and Psal mody, one quart tin mog, and a pint do, on quart bottle, and every year fifteen pounds as long as they can live together also her clothing out of my Estate they can agree together, the aforesaid fifteen pounds to be paid to her in the first year only out of my whole estate, and if they can agree to live longer together, then the six younger children shall pay her the same by themselves out of my good consideration I caused to be right and is my last will and Testament that my oldest son Peter Eller, shall have the sum of 97 pounds lawful money, and my son Leonard Eller shall have the sum of 82 pounds and my daughter Elizabeth shall likewise have 82 pounds lawful money; and these said three children shall have that money three years after my decease then my two Executors, namely Henry Eller and Martin Gerber, shall be impowered to sell the Place, wagon and horses, all the creatures and moveables, and shall pay to my beloved wife her part of the same; and the overplus shall be divided by my Executors among my six youngest children namely, Jacob Eller, George Eller, John Eller, Eve Eller, Cathrine Eller and Maria Eller; further Jacob Eller shall have the Bible and to pay to George ten shillings, also shall Jacob have the young colt, if it mare bring the same luky. This is George Michael Eller his x mark and Seal X (Seal) Attested by John Bergers and Henry Schmaus (Smous) - John Bergers, Henry Smouse the above witnesses were sworn Frederick County, 25th August 1778. Then came the above Thomas Schley and made oath on the holy Evangelists of Almighty God, that the within and above writing is a just and true Translation to the best of his knowledge of the original Will of the above named George Michael Eller, which is written in the German language and that he hath not knowingly or intentionally translated any matter of substance contrary to the true meaning of said Will. Certified by George Murdock, Regr.'
      The phrases in the above will pertaining to his wife and the things 'she brought to me' and the legacies to her that were made contingent on his six youngest children and her being able 'to live longer together,' indicates that she was not their mother. The name of his first wife was not found. The Evangelical Lutheran Church records of Frederick County, Maryland, records the baptism, on 8 Nov 1756, of Marie Magdalena Aller, daughter of Michael Aller and his wife Salome. (Evangelical Lutheran Church Records, p. 40, Maryland Hist. Soc.) This, doubtless, was another family because in the same year (1756) Carl Aller baptized a daughter Anna Barbara and in 1775 one Michael Aller was recorded as owing money to Mr. Hass, the same probably being for the church. (pp. 42 and 49 Ibid.)
      If all facts were known they might show that George Michael Eller was married three times and that his first son Peter was a child by his first wife and all others by his second. Peter was a grown man with a wife and child as early as the late seventeen sixties. His brother, Leonard, was born 20 March 1754. Peter Eller was called 'my eldest son' in the George Michael Eller will and the latter's children, Jacob, George, John, Eve, Catherine and Maria, called 'my six youngest children,' were given the residue of the estate in equal shares. The son, Peter, was given 97 pounds and the son, Leonard, and daughter, Elizabeth, were given 82 pounds apiece. All of this adds up to the fact that Peter, Leonard and Elizabeth were his eldest children and that Peter probably was some years older than the other two, and, maybe, their half-brother."

      DEATH:
      1. This individual is listed living in father's will of 25 Aug 1778.