Ethel Spillman
|
AMERICA THE GREAT MELTING POT
Contact information on HOME
page
Direct descendant is highlighted in red see
FAMILY
TREE
| |
| |
Ethel Spillman
by Susan Brooke
Nov 2022
Ethel Spillman was born 3 Mar 1883. (1) Her mother's first husband,
James Stephens, had
died and her mother, Susan Powers, had remarried to William Spillman
on 3 May 1882. It was a stormy marriage. Her parents had two more
children, twins, Ralph and Ray, born on 31 Jul 1885, but then one of the twins, Ralph,
died on2 Apr 1887 when he was only two years old. That must have added even more
stress to her parent's marriage. Her parents separated shortly after her
brother's death and her mother took off for Wyoming taking Bessie, her daughter from her
first marriage, and leaving her remaining two children, Ethel and Ray, behind with their father,
William Spillman. Her father remarried on 16 Jul 1890 and Ethel was then
raised by a step-mother. Her father and the step-mother had an additional
son, Roy, born in 1891. According to the oral history, Ethel felt that her
step-mother favored her own son, Roy, over her and her brother Ray. (2)
Her
mother did come back to visit from time to time. Ethel's half-sister,
Bessie Stephens, married her first husband, Charles Clyde Forbes, on 8 Jul 1897
in Indianapolis when Ethel was just short of her 14th birthday. The photo
below shows Susan Powers, her mother, with Ethel, Ray and Bessie. This was
probably taken around the time of that marriage. (3) The unknown man could be
Bessie's first husband. In the photo of Ethel with her brother Ray,
(above) Ethel and Ray look a bit younger. This leads me to think Ether's
mother, Susan Powers, came back to visit at least twice during this period.
And since Bessie married a man from Indiana, she and her mother, Susan Powers,
must have stayed around Indianapolis long enough for Bessie to meet Charles
Forbes.
Ethel met J. Earl Zimmerly when she was 16. She
lived with her father and step-mother and two brothers in her father's harness
shop on Delaware St. She was a student at Manual High School learning to
become a teacher. She was on her way home, walking along Meridian Street
when he saw her. It must have been love at first site. They began
dating, but according to oral history, her father did not approve. (2) He must
have changed his mind, because he issued the wedding invitations. (4) Her friend
gave her a surprise, linen and recipe, engagement party and they were married at
their first residence at 3651 Capital Ave. on 28 Jun 1904. (5) J Earl
Zimmerly was 23 and Ethel was 21.
In 1912 Ethel sent her mother
a postcard with a photo of her three children. (6) It starts out by saying
" I bet you you think I have forgotten you, but I haven't." She wrote that
she was back living at 3651 Capital Ave. and hoped her mother would come visit
soon.
By 1916 they had four children and her brother, Ray, and her
husband, J Earl Zimmerly, decided to go into business together in Goshen, IN.
They moved to Goshen in April 1916. Ethel became involved in the Chatagua Club.
She was in charge of programs at the church and adapted "Cratchets Christmas
Dinner" as a local production. (7) Her father, William Spillman moved to Goshen
in 1916 and opened a grocery store with her brother Ray. Her mother had a
paralytic stroke in 1916 and went to Seattle to live with her daughter, Bessie.
(8) In Apr 1917 her son Ray went out to Seattle to bring his mother back to
Goshen, IN. (9) There is an article in the Northern Wyoming Herald
saying Mrs. Katherine Holm (Susan Powers) had arrived in Goshen and was feeling
better. (10) She probably lived with her daughter Ethel for a short
time. Her daughter, Elizabeth (Betty) remembered her grandmother living
with them for awhile. Tex Holm (husband of Susan Powers) must have come to
get her about a year later. (11 )
The leather goods store purchased by
her husband and brother, Ray, was probably prospering for a while. But
there was a fire and loss of many goods. They were starting to move into a
new location when, on moving day, there was an explosion and more of their goods
were damaged. Ethel's husband sold his share to her brother. They
stayed on in Goshen for a short time and Ethel was still active in the Chataqua
Club and filling in for another teacher. (7) Her oldest daughter,
Elizabeth (Betty) came down with Scarlet Fever which led to Rheumatic Fever.
It must have been an awful year for everyone. They moved to South Bend in 1921
where J Earl was a contractor. Ethel returned to teaching school in South Bend
from 1921-1928. (12) But by 1930 they were back in Indianapolis.
Ethel was in an automobile accident about 1951 and she was thrown from the car.
She never really recovered from that accident and slowly loss mental acuity.
She was an invalid for the last six years of her life. Her daughter
Catherine never married and helped her father care for her mother. J. Earl
Zimmerly died in May of 1957 and Ethel died two months later in a nursing home.
Sources
(1) Date of birth was recorded on her death certificate
(2) Oral history as recorded by Mary Zimmerly Zenor in 1980
"This brings us to Ethel Blanche Spillman was was 16 when she met Earl.
She was a student at Manuel High School learning to become a teacher. She
was on her way home, walking along Meridian Street the day J. Earl first saw
her. She lived with her father and step-mother above the harness shop with
her two brothers. It must have been love at first sight. They began
dating, but her father did not approve (possibly because of the lack of his
education or her young years.) At any rate, they saved their money and were
married at their first residence, 3651 N. Capital Ae. on June 28, 1904. J.
Earl was 23 and Ethel 21.
Ethel's father was William Garrett Spillman, born
April 15, 1854. His father, Simeon Spillman married to Sarah Brewer, had
been one of the first settlers to Johnson Co. He must have been quite a
character. W. G. said his father used to have steak and two kinds of pie
for breakfast every morning. W. G. had a sister Sarah and a brother
Robert. He and his brother were well known around Greenwood, Indiana as
very active little boys up to lots of pranks. One of the stories he liked
to tell about himself was how they tricked a blind man into falling into a
shallow dry well. He and his brother had rerouted a rail fence along a
farm where this blind man walked daily knowing the blind man used the fence as
his guide. On the other side of the fence was an old mule named Belle with
a bell around her neck. Well, after the blind man fell into the well the
boys got a long stick with a bell tied to the end of it and pretended to be the
mule about to fall in on top of the blind man. They delighted in hearing
the blind man yell "woe Belle, Woe - Woe!" W. G. was also
quite the ladies man and delighted in telling another story about being out on a
date with one girl in a horse and buggy when the horse by habit turned in to
another girlfriend's house. With all this in mind it is possibly a little bit
more understandable why his first wife marched out on him one day.
Elizabeth, however, remembered her grandfather as a kind and lovable man who
loved to tell stories and who was especially wonderful to her.
but back to
W. G. He married Susan Catherine Powers (married name Stephens) on May 3,
1882. Susan had been married before and possibly widowed. She had a
daughter, Bessie Stephens, born September 22, 1879. Ten months after the
wedding another daughter was born, Ethel Spillman born March 3, 1883 in
Greenwood, Indiana. Two years later they had twin sons, Ralph and Ray born
July 31, 1885. During their marriage they must have had many stormy
battles. One election day, for example, there was some kind of argument
over the way to vote, so Susan went out and chopped up the buggy so no one could
vote. Susan was high spirited for those Victorian days. She and W.
G. must have been some match for each other. In April 1887 one of the
twins, Ralph, died and susan must have been very depressed over the death.
This coupled with the stormy marriage lead her to join a wild west show that was
in town. She packed up and moved west taking only Bessie with her.
She had beena musician and sang. Before the divorce she and W.G. had
played for square dances. After Susan got out West, poor health set in and
she was forced to leave the show in Cody, Wyoming. There, alone,
sick and with a small daughter to raise, she met Aarom Holm, known as Tex.
She eventually married him and they started taking guided tours through
Yellowstone Park. Together they built the Holm Lodge and Tex helped plan
the original road leading into Yellowstone National Park from the north.
Later when Susan came visiting to Indianapolis she told of many adventures and
of knowing Buffalo Bill.
Susan eventually came back to visit Indianapolis
once in a while. She even stayed with Ethel after Ethel was married. She
suffered from rheumatism in her old age and her hands became crippled. She
went back to Wyoming and is buried there. I am guessing she died around
1917. Susan's parents were Jacob Powers and Sarah Bronson. She used
to tell her granddaughter, Elizabeth, that Sarah Bronson was a first cousin to
Louisa May Alcott.
But, back to W. G.. After Susan left, he was left to
raise two small children, Ethel who was about 4 and Ray who was an infant.
Finally he married again to Sadie B Buser on July 16, 1890. Together they
had one more child, Roy. They all lived over the harness shop at 909 S.
Meridian St. Ethel did not have a particularly happy childhood. She
felt her step-mother, Sadie, was partial to Roy and ignored Ray leaving Ethel
caught in the middle, always there to protect Ray. I think she was
extremely happy to get married and move out. W. G. lived to be 71.
He died January 26, 1926. Sadie didn't' die until 1944."
(3) Photo taken when mother was in town for marriage of Bessie Stephens.
Susan is pictured above with her family. Susan is seated on the left.
Bessie is standing behind her. Her first husband, Charles Forbes, is front
center. Ethel is
standing behind him and Ray is on the far right. More than likely this photo
was taken in 1897, the year Bessie married Charles Forbes.
(4) Marriage of J Earl Zimmerly and Ethel Blanche Spillman 28 Jun 1904
(5) Engagement Party
Indianapolis News, 18 June 1904
(6) Postcard from Ethel to her mother in Wyoming
(7) Active in Gosphen affairs
Goshen Daily Democrat 7 Oct 1916
Mrs. J. E. Zimmerly has charge of program at First M. E. Church.
Goshen
Daily Democrat 22 Dec 1916
Mrs. J. E. Zimmerly adapts "Cratchets Christmas
Dinner."
Goshen Daily Democrat 13 Jan 1920
The Chatauqua club was entertained
last evening by Mrs. George State at her home on south fifth. Mrs. J. E.
Zimmerly had charge of the program. The subject was "don Quizote."
Goshen Daily Democrat 30 Nov 1920
(8) Northern Wyoming Herald May 26, 1916 "Mrs. Katherine Holm left Monday
for Seattle in company with her daughter, Mrs. Bessie Kramer, where she will
make her home for the present. "Tex" Holm accompanied them as far as
Billings. Mr. Holm has plans which will cause him to be way
from home too much for him and his wife to keep house and until they settle
again Mrs. Holm will be with her daughter."
Park Co. Enterprise May 24, 1916 "Mrs. Tex Holm went to Seattle in company
with her daughter last Friday. She had been ill for a long time with a
complication of troubles, and it is hoped the lower altitude will help her in
many ways. Tex Holm accompanied them as far as Billings."
(9) Goshen Democrat. 20 Apr 1917
"R. J. Spillman will leave in a few
days for Seattle, Wash. to return with his mother."
Her obituary says she had
a paralytic stroke in 1917 and was confined to a wheelchair afterwards.
(10) Northern Wyoming Herald 16 May 1917
"Mrs. Katherine Holm writes from
Goshen, Ind., saying that she is visiting her other children there and is
greatly improved in health. She asks that the Herald be addressed to her there."
(11) Park County Enterprise 8 May 1918
"Mr. and Mrs. Tex Holm
arrived home Friday evening from Indianapolis, Indiana, where Mrs. Holm has been
visiting for some time. She is much improved in health since leaving Cody and
states that she is glad to be home again."
(12) Obituary of Ethel Zimmerly
Obituary for Ethel Zimmerly
"Ethel Zimmerly Former Teacher by Bess Watson Devotion to her family was first
to Ethel Spillman Zimmerly, 74, 5737 Smock Rd. Until her health became
impaired, she and members of her family attended symphony or other concerts, for
they all loved music. For the last six years, Mrs. Zimmerly had been a total
invalid. She died yesterday in a nursing home. Mrs. Zimmerly's husband, J.
Earl Zimmerly, died in May. They had observed their golden anniversary. Born
at Greenwood, Mrs. Zimmerly lived most of her life in the Indianapolis area.
Her family was among the first settlers at Greenwood. She was a graduate of
Manual High School and attended Mme. Blaker's School. For about 10 years
before her marriage, Mrs. Zimmerly taught school here. After her children
entered school themselves, she returned to teaching from 1920 to 1928 at South
Bend. A firm believer in higher education, Mrs. Zimmerly saw to it that her own
children had such opportunities. It was her pleasure to see them achieve
success professionally. One daughter, Mary F. Zenor, is a teacher of music at
Harry Wood School; another, Elizabeth White, Santa Monica, Cal., formerly taught
art at Anderson, and a third, Catherine I. Zimmerly, teaches at School 35. Her
son Richard K. Zimmerly, is an Indianapolis architect. Mrs. Zimmerly was an
active member of the Southport Presbyterian Church. She helped to organize the
Remnant Club, an organization of older women members of the church, and for many
years taught Sunday school classes. In her younger years she played the church
organ. She saw to it that her children heard the best in music and started them
out on a musical career by teaching them herself. Services will be held a 3
p.m. tomorrow in the G. H. Herrmann Funeral Home, with burial at Greenwood.
Besides the three children, two brothers, Roy Spillman, Indianapolis, and Ray
Spillman, Waco , Tex., and seven grandchildren survive her."
Photos of Ethel Spillman Zimmerly
Photograph was taken around 1910. Ethel is holding her
daughter, Mary |
Ethel, J Earl, Betty
Mary and Catherine
About 1920 |
Photo taken at Turkey Run, 1932 Earle White, Mary
Zimmerly, Grace White, Ethel Zimmerly, Joe White, Betty White, J. Earl
Zimmerly, Catherine Zimmerly, Martha White, Max White with Joe David
White front and center |
|
About 1950 |
.
