NELLA was born in Sumner township, Osborne county, KS, the second child of MARTHA JANE CURTIS and WILLIAM HENRY MCCLELLAN.

Her mother MARTHA JANE CURTIS died at age 31 in March of 1881 leaving her father with 6 young children to raise, which he did without ever remarrying. Her mother's obituary in the local Kansas Chief newspaper stated she was buried in the Masonic cemetery, now believed to be the Doniphan cemetery in Doniphan county. No marker now exists, however MARTHA'S brother had earlier purchased a family plot there following the death of his infant son, and several more of her CURTIS relatives are buried there.

Migration to Washington and Oregon: According to her father's Civil War pension file the family left Kansas, month unknown, by train sometime between 1890 and 1891, They traveled with other MCCLELLAN relatives. Her father's older brother and sister and their families came as part of one group and settled in Tenino, Thurston County, WA. Her father left Tenino soon after and settled with his 4 daughters and 2 sons in Oregon City, OR.

28 June 1893: A mysterious studio portrait photo, missing its lower half, shows NELLA in her best clothes (similar to those shown in her portrait photo here) standing with a handsome young blond man who is also formally dressed. The handwriting that remains legible says, "M McClellan & J. Pollanz Oregon City, Oregon" with an inscription that appears to say to N__ D__". This photo was made into a postcard and apparently was addressed and ready to go, possibly being put aside due to accidental damage or... the failure of an earlier engagement?

NELLA had a namesake niece in San Diego County, CA named NELLIE DODGE, the daughter of her older sister MARY ISABELLE MCCLELLAN DODGE. It may be to NELLIE that this postcard was originally intended. There was a POLLANZ family living in Oregon City at this time and a THOMAS J. POLLANZ who was 3 yrs. older than NELLA and who moved to Portland, became an engineer, and never married.

7 Oct 1894: At the O.C. home of DUBE'S older brother JOHN and wife FLORA ALLDREDGE, NELLA married REUBEN RUDOLPH "DUBE" ALLDREDGE. She was 21.

They had three daughters, two surviving being EDITH OLIVE ARMSTRONG and GRACE ELIZABETH LEWIS. An infant who lived six days in Dec 1900, GLADYS CLARA, is buried in Mountain View in the old section in Lot 322. EDITH is also buried in Mountain View. GRACE is buried in Evergreen Memorial Gardens in Clark Co., WA.

NELL worked as a private nurse throughout her adult life, which put her in contact with many members of Oregon City, Gladstone, and other small nearby communities. She probably was trained via an apprenticeship, although young women of her generation could also take correspondence courses in nursing. Being a married woman would have disqualified her so she likely got her start around age 18-19 before she married DUBE at age 21.

She and her husband had a rented home in Polk County in 1900 but otherwise lived in Clackamas County throughout their married life, with their longest residence at a house on Pierce St. in Oregon City. They returned to Polk County annually while raising their daughters to join other Oregon City families for the week of the hop harvest. It was combination of field work and camping out with temporary workers dining together in large tents and sleeping in family tents provided by the hops farmers. The money earned went for new school clothes for the fall, Christmas presents, etc.

In 1906 at age 33 NELLA joined the Women's Relief Corp Post # 18, an auxiliary for the Grand Army of the Republic, Meade Post # 2 of which her father, Civil War veteran WILLIAM HENRY MCCLELLAN, was a member. (WHM is buried in Idlewilde Cemetery in Hood River, OR.)

In later life she served as her WRC chapter president. She had a fondness for the music and lectures held during summer Chatauquas in nearby Aurora at what was then the Aurora Colony, south of Oregon City, and also in Gladstone.

In 1924 at age 51 NELLA traveled to Boston, MA to attend the national Women's Relief Corps convention. She made a side trip to Dedham, MA to visit the historic Fairbanks House. A photo of NELLA standing on the lawn outside the House has been donated to the Dedham Historical Museum.

She lived long enough to know all her grandchildren, and was reportedly not very good at pretending she didn't like it when her husband kissed her on the cheek in public. She was 53 when women got the legal right to vote nationwide - 72 years after they first demanded it at Seneca Falls.

Her daughters said her favorite song was "Kathleen Mavourneen", and her favorite actor was Charlie Chaplin.

Chorus

Mavourneen, mavourneen, my sad tears are falling,

To think that from Erin and thee I must part,

It may be for years, and it may be forever,

Then why art thou silent, thou voice of my heart?

It may be for years, and it may be forever,

Then why art thou silent, thou voice of my heart?

(Music by Frederick N. Crouch, lyrics by Marion Crawford, 1837.)

Sources from Ancestry.com:

Federal censuses for 1880, 1900, 1920, and 1930.

Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925 - 1 March 1885.

Oregon, Select Births and Christenings, 1868-1929 - Edith Olive Alldredge Armstrong.

Oregon, U.S., State Births, 1842-1920 - Edith Olive Alldredge Armstrong..

Oregon, U.S., State Deaths, 1864-1971.

Oregon Death Index, 1903-98.

U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

Washington, Select Death Certificates, 1907-1960

From Newspapers.com:

The Oregon Daily Journal, 14 May 1915, pg. 8.

The Oregon Daily Journal, 24 Jan 1922, pg. 10. T

he Oregon Daily Journal, 26 Aug 1921, pg. 3.

The Oregon Daily Journal, 7 Sept 1913, pg. 45.

Other sources:

Descendents, family group sheet at Clackamas County Historical Museum genealogy room.