Daughter of Joseph & Martha (McNeal) Armstrong, wife of Jackson Leaverton, married Dec 10, 1879. A daughter not mentioned below is Mrs Ruth Beall.

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Sept 1940
Princeville Telephone


MRS. ELLEN LEAVERTON PASSES AT AGE OF 86

Mrs. Ellen Leaverton, esteemed resident of the White's Grove neighborhood, passed away at her home last Saturday, September 7, at the age of 86 years, 11 months and 5 days.
Funeral services were held Monday afternoon at the White's Grove Baptist church, conducted by Rev. H. F. Jones of Macomb. Interment was in the Princeville cemetery.
Ellen T. Armstrong, daughter of Joseph and Martha Armstrong, was born October 2, 1853 at Wheeling, West Virginia. She was one of a family of ten children, only one of whom remains—Miss Rose Armstrong of Shenandoah, Iowa.
Her parents moved to Illinois when she was two years old, locating on a farm one mile south of her late home, a place now known as the Armstrong homestead.
Her marriage to Jackson Leaverton took place, Dec. 10, 1879 and in a little more than a year after her marriage she moved to the farm, which was her home for 60 years. Mr. Leaverton passed away Dec. 11, 1917.
In Mrs. Leaverton's death she leaves the following children: Mrs. Mabel LaMay of Monica, Mrs. Gertrude Mendell of Princeville, Mrs. Rhoda Cobb of Toulon, Mrs. Ruth Beall of Princeville, and Miss Elvira and Joseph, who lived with her in the home. There are also 13 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. In those young people and children she took a deep interest and never was happier than when they were around her in the home. In fact she loved to have her family come home, and looked eagerly forward to each Sunday when there always was a gathering of the family in her home for dinner. One of her outstanding characteristics was her motherly hospitality, her relatives, friends and neighbors always being welcome in the home she loved.
She was a charter member of the White's Grove Baptist church, which was organized in 1872, a girls of 17 when she joined. Through the 70 years she was a loyal member of that church and was the last of the charter members. She maintained a deep interest in the church, inquiring each Sunday about the service when she was unable to attend.
Until her last illness she enjoyed good health. Through all her illness of three weeks she was patient and often expressed appreciation for things done for her comfort.

In the death of Mrs. Leaverton the White's Grove neighborhood loses its oldest and most revered resident, one who was the best of neighbors, a woman staunch in her faith in the Divine.
Among those from a distance who attended the funeral Monday were: Miss Rose Armstrong of Shenandoah, Iowa, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Fraiser and daughter of Promise City, Iowa, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Moody and three children of Elwood, Ind., Mr. and Mrs. George Armstrong, Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Armstrong. Miss Esther Armstrong, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Squire and Mrs. Mabel Grierson of Champaign, Mrs. Nellie Smith, Mrs. Arthur Ingles and Junior Easter of Galesburg and Mrs. Clara Jones, Mrs. Victor Gunther, Mrs. Chas. McJunkin and Miss Mary J. Spencer of Peoria and Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Mendell of East Peoria