Elmer Lyle Waller (1892 - 1972)

Born 28 Jan 1892 in Dassel, Meeker Co., Minnesota

Ancestors

Husband of Hilda Julia (Hoven) Waller — married 9 Nov 1917 in Akeley, Hubbard Co., Minnesota

Descendants

Died 13 Sep 1972 at age 80 in Grand Rapids, Itasca Co., Minnesota

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Biography

Elmer was born in 1892. He is the son of Thomas Waller and Josephine Arrowood. ^[1]

The year 1917 was especially difficult for Elmer (25) and his wife Hilda (19). Elmer's mother, Josephine, died March 26th. Hilda's mother, Ingeborg, died September 6th. Elmer and Hilda were married November 9th. Both Hilda and Elmer's families had young siblings without a mother! They took in two of Hilda's siblings, Selmer (10 1/2) and Dora, (2 1/2). They began their own family the following year when Mildred was born. They first lived in the Akeley, Minnesota, area. There may have been another house but the first house remembered by Myrtle was a big white, two story house with a dining roo and nice furniture. She said there was a big clover field and an outdoor pump. They had a cow, calf, and chickens. Ernest believes this house was owned by John and Lorna (Arrowood) Grove. Lorna was Elmer's aunt, his mothers sister. Myrtle also remembered that they had a cream separator, a root cellar, and a large garden. She said the garden and meat obtained from hunting were the way they survived. Myrtle remembers that her dad, Elmer, had a pretty nice car for a while but she's not sure he finished paying for it. They didn't have it very long. Mildred, Myrtle and Hazel were born at that house. Myrtle believes Ernest was born at the home of aunt Bernice. Bernice was Elmer's sister. She and her husband, Milo Kimball, lived near a sawmill owned by Milo's father. It was located near Akeley in White Oak Township. Ernest remembers being told he was born near a sawdust pile and his birth certificate shows that he was born in White Oak Township.

In 1924 or 1925 something changed significantly because the family moved from the big white house to a tarpaper cabin in the country located near Popple, Kingston Township, Itasca County, Minnesota. Selmer Hoven, Hilda's brother, must have gone to live with his brother, Melvin, because he did not move with the family. Myrtle remembers moving from the big white house to Popple, Minnesota. However, the stories differ about how the family made the move to their new home about 75 miles north of Akeley. Mildred remembers going in a horse drawn wagon, while others remember being moved in a truck owned by cousin George Washington Waller Jr. It is very likely that both memories are correct because it would have been impossible to move the furniture along with eight people and two dogs in one wagon, or one truck.

In their 'new home' they had cardboard room dividers. The water was drawn from and open well with a bucket. They got their milk from Roy Robinson, a neighbor, and kept it cool by putting it in the well bucket and lowering it into the open water well. Clothes were carried a half mile to the creek to be washed. They had two dogs, Happy and Fritz. Fritz unfortunately had fits of some type and would unpredictably run and have unexplainable behavior. Once he jumped inside the house through an open window and landed on the hot cook stove. Fritz would run uncontrollably until he was so tired he could not move. He would then be just fine until the next 'seizure'. Another dog memory of this time had to do with their dog Happy. One day Roy Robinson, who cut the grass along the road with his mower attached to a tractor, was working near their house. Happy ran into the path of the mower and part of his leg was cut off. The dogs injured leg was cleaned, bandaged and each day it was soaked in a lye solution until it was healed.

It was also in Popple that another cutting accident happened. This involved Hazel accidentally cutting off Vivian's pinky finger between the first and second knuckle. It happened when Hazel was cutting the ends off green beans with a butcher knife. Vivian reached in to grab some beans just as Hazel was coming down with the knife. The end of her finger was only held on by a very small piece of skin. They ran into the house and told their mother what had happened. Since the nearest doctor was many miles away, people had to do a lot of their own doctoring. Hilda was no exception. She cleaned and reattached the little finger and tightly bandaged it. As with Happy's injured leg, Vivian's finger was also soaked in a lye solution everyday for the next seven days. During this time Hilda never changed the bandage. When they took the bandage off, the finger worked fine and never had anything else done to it. The only indication that something had happened to the finger was a very small bend where the end of the finger was reattached.

BURIAL: Elmer is buried in Itasca Cemetery, Itasca Co., Grand Rapids, Minnesota

Sources

The 'Waller Family Book' compiled by Arvid and Beulah Waller, 2011.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Entered by Cindy Damm, Monday, September 30, 2013.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Cindy Damm for creating Waller-975 on 30 Sep 13. Click the Changes tab for the details on contributions by Cindy and others.