Emma Iowa Pelsue 1862-1954

PELSUE, GILLEY, WEEKS, MOHLER, INGERSOLL, PORTER, TROWBRIDGE

Posted By: Georgea Clinton (email)
Date: 6/8/2011 at 08:54:48

Dec 7, 1954 - Carroll Daily Times - Mrs. Edison James Pelsue, Carroll's oldest native resident, died at the age of 92 years at 3:40 Monday afternoon. Mrs. Pelsue had been in declining health since suffering a stroke five years ago. She had been cared for at the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Glenn N. Weeks, 1242 North Court Street, for three and one-half years. During the last year and a half, she had been cared for by Miss Rose Soppe of Templeton. She had been bedfast for three years.

Funeral services will be at 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Huffman Funeral Home, where the body is remaining until the time of the rites. Officiating will be the Rev. Walter E. Schiel, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, and the Rev. Louis L. Akin. Burial will be beside her husband in the family lot in the Carroll Cemetery.

Mrs. Pelsue's life had been closely intertwined with the founding and development of Carroll. A daughter of William and Leah Mohler Gilley, she was a member of the fourth family to locate in Carroll. All but three of the city's homes have been built since Mrs. Pelsue came here.

She was born Emma Iowa Gilley Nov. 19, 1862, at Carrollton. Her parents had come from Ohio by prairie schooner to homestead on the Western Reserve. In 1854, they settled at Iowa City, which was then the capital of Iowa. In April, 1856, they moved to Carrollton, which was then the Carroll County seat. Roving bands of Indians were frequently seen pursuing the elk and deer that were abundant throughout this part of the state when the Gilley family first arrived in Carroll County. The nearest mill and also the postoffice were at Panora which was about 40 miles away.

With Mr. Gilley's election to the office of county treasurer, the family took up residence here in October 1869, the county seat having been moved to Carroll in 1868. Mrs. Pelsue's father had served with O.H. Manning and a Mr. Tracy as commissioners of incorporation when the Chicago & North Western Railway came through Carroll in 1867.

Mrs. Pelsue attended the Carroll Public school. Because there was no high school here at the time, she passed entrance exams and enrolled at a women's school in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, which is now Frances Shimer Junior College. She attended the school in 1880 and 1881, majoring in music. She studied piano and pipe organ. Returning to Carroll, Mrs. Pelsue taught music, holding private classes and also serving on the faculty of the old Carroll Normal College. She was a teacher of music for 30 years. She was also organist for the Presbyterian and Baptist Churches.

Her marriage to Mr. Pelsue took place June 7, 1887, in her parents home on North Adams Street. The Rev. Thomas Bailey, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, officiated. Mrs. Pelsue's father had been a founder of the church and had assisted in its establishment. Religious services had often been conducted in a log house which was the Gilley home at Old Carrollton.

Mr. and Mrs. Pelsue spent virtually all of their married life in the Gilley home, a landmark which was moved in 1951 from North Adams Street to 714 North Carroll Street to make room for the new building of the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company.

Mrs. Pelsue's home had been furnished with Carroll pioneer treasures which she generously shared with friends. Mrs. Pelsue is survived by her daughter, Mrs. Weeks (Luthern), Carroll; a son, Harold G. Pelsue, Canton, S.D.; two granddaughters, Mrs. Charles C. Ingersoll, Iowa City, and Mrs. James B. Porter, Butte, Mont., and three grandchildren, Scott and Barbara Ingersoll and Cheri Porter. Her son and daughter were with her when death came.

Mr. Pelsue died in 1931. She was one of a family of four children, the others having preceded her in death. They were: Willard B. Gilley, who drowned at the age of 12 years; Ira M. Gilley, and Mrs. W.T. (Ida) Trowbridge.

Mrs. Pelsue had watched with interest Carroll's development from its founding. Her interests included every family and every building. Her father was mayor at the time of Carroll's big fire in September, 1879. Many people who were left homeless by the conflagration were given shelter by the Gilley family. Throughout her long life, Mrs Pelsue maintained an interest in the cultural life of the community. She had purchased the first ticket to the concert series of the Midwest Civic Music Association when the group was organized here.

Mrs. Pelsue had held membership in the Presbyterian Women's Organization more than 50 years. She also belonged to Priscilla Alden Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Signet Chapter No. 1, Order of the Eastern Star. She was a former member of the Clio Club. She had also been one of the original members of the Music Club, which was organized in Carroll long ago. For many years, Mrs. Pelsue had served as a member of the board of directors of the Carroll Public Library. She had resigned because of ill health.