William Oller, was born in Taylorville, Illinois, on November 22, 1859. He was the 6th child of eleven children born to Abigail and Peter Oller. He came to Comanche County to the town of Avilla, in October of 1884. He arrived in Avilla by Stage Coach, with only $1.80 in his pocket. He then walked three miles south of Avilla to a Mr. T.C. Heaton's place, where he took Bill to some land he could homestead. With the help of Mr. Heaton and his four sons, Bill built his dugout. In order to homestead the land, the Government required you to plant five acres, so Bill planted his to corn. He had to borrow a team of oxen and a plow from Mr. Heaton to do his work.
The Prairie grass was so tall you couldn't see above it and Bill stood 5 feet 10 inches tall, so he would drive a stake in the ground, with a white cloth on it and place it by his door so he could find his way back home. Also the grass fleas were so bad, Bill would soak up the rags dipped in oil and lay by the front of his dugout door to keep them out.
After Bill had his corn planted that fall, he went up into Northern Kansas to shuck corn, so he could make money to buy a team of horses and a wagon.
After spending many months up there working, he managed to get a fine team and wagon, so he decided it was time to start back home. His first night out, the mare he had just bought died, so he hooked the other horse up to the wagon and he held up the neck yoke on the wagon tongue and walked for about three miles, where he met a horse trader with about 15 head of horses, so Bill traded his rifle that he had bought for five dollars for a little buckskin mare, and started off again for home to do his spring farming.
By meeting Mr. and Mrs. Heaton and family, he also met his future wife, Elidiah Heaton, whom he married on June 5, 1888. Bill wrote to his family in Illinois that he was fine, and had settled up a quarter of land, and had married an Indian squaw. His family was so against his coming out West, because they had heard it was such an uncivilized place, with Indians running wild.
As grasshoppers, drought, and many other things happened to the settlers around Bill; they would pull up and leave, and he would buy up their land. He ended up buying 3,300 acres of land, giving from .50 cents an acre to $25.00 an acre.
Bill and Elidiah Oller, raised five children, four sons, Albert, Roy, Ernest and Ralph, and a daughter Mabel. They were all born and raised on the land Bill had homesteaded. In later years, Bill and Elidiah bought a home in Coldwater, Kansas, and turned the farming over to their sons. Bill lost Elidiah on November 20, 1928. He continued to live in their family home in Coldwater until his death February 20, 1940.
Information furnished by Willis Oller.
The Prairie grass was so tall you couldn't see above it and Bill stood 5 feet 10 inches tall, so he would drive a stake in the ground, with a white cloth on it and place it by his door so he could find his way back home. Also the grass fleas were so bad, Bill would soak up the rags dipped in oil and lay by the front of his dugout door to keep them out.
After Bill had his corn planted that fall, he went up into Northern Kansas to shuck corn, so he could make money to buy a team of horses and a wagon.
After spending many months up there working, he managed to get a fine team and wagon, so he decided it was time to start back home. His first night out, the mare he had just bought died, so he hooked the other horse up to the wagon and he held up the neck yoke on the wagon tongue and walked for about three miles, where he met a horse trader with about 15 head of horses, so Bill traded his rifle that he had bought for five dollars for a little buckskin mare, and started off again for home to do his spring farming.
By meeting Mr. and Mrs. Heaton and family, he also met his future wife, Elidiah Heaton, whom he married on June 5, 1888. Bill wrote to his family in Illinois that he was fine, and had settled up a quarter of land, and had married an Indian squaw. His family was so against his coming out West, because they had heard it was such an uncivilized place, with Indians running wild.
As grasshoppers, drought, and many other things happened to the settlers around Bill; they would pull up and leave, and he would buy up their land. He ended up buying 3,300 acres of land, giving from .50 cents an acre to $25.00 an acre.
Bill and Elidiah Oller, raised five children, four sons, Albert, Roy, Ernest and Ralph, and a daughter Mabel. They were all born and raised on the land Bill had homesteaded. In later years, Bill and Elidiah bought a home in Coldwater, Kansas, and turned the farming over to their sons. Bill lost Elidiah on November 20, 1928. He continued to live in their family home in Coldwater until his death February 20, 1940.
Information furnished by Willis Oller.
William Oller, was born in Taylorville, Illinois, on November 22, 1859. He was the 6th child of eleven children born to Abigail and Peter Oller. He came to Comanche County to the town of Avilla, in October of 1884. He arrived in Avilla by Stage Coach, with only $1.80 in his pocket. He then walked three miles south of Avilla to a Mr. T.C. Heaton's place, where he took Bill to some land he could homestead. With the help of Mr. Heaton and his four sons, Bill built his dugout. In order to homestead the land, the Government required you to plant five acres, so Bill planted his to corn. He had to borrow a team of oxen and a plow from Mr. Heaton to do his work.
The Prairie grass was so tall you couldn't see above it and Bill stood 5 feet 10 inches tall, so he would drive a stake in the ground, with a white cloth on it and place it by his door so he could find his way back home. Also the grass fleas were so bad, Bill would soak up the rags dipped in oil and lay by the front of his dugout door to keep them out.
After Bill had his corn planted that fall, he went up into Northern Kansas to shuck corn, so he could make money to buy a team of horses and a wagon.
After spending many months up there working, he managed to get a fine team and wagon, so he decided it was time to start back home. His first night out, the mare he had just bought died, so he hooked the other horse up to the wagon and he held up the neck yoke on the wagon tongue and walked for about three miles, where he met a horse trader with about 15 head of horses, so Bill traded his rifle that he had bought for five dollars for a little buckskin mare, and started off again for home to do his spring farming.
By meeting Mr. and Mrs. Heaton and family, he also met his future wife, Elidiah Heaton, whom he married on June 5, 1888. Bill wrote to his family in Illinois that he was fine, and had settled up a quarter of land, and had married an Indian squaw. His family was so against his coming out West, because they had heard it was such an uncivilized place, with Indians running wild.
As grasshoppers, drought, and many other things happened to the settlers around Bill; they would pull up and leave, and he would buy up their land. He ended up buying 3,300 acres of land, giving from .50 cents an acre to $25.00 an acre.
Bill and Elidiah Oller, raised five children, four sons, Albert, Roy, Ernest and Ralph, and a daughter Mabel. They were all born and raised on the land Bill had homesteaded. In later years, Bill and Elidiah bought a home in Coldwater, Kansas, and turned the farming over to their sons. Bill lost Elidiah on November 20, 1928. He continued to live in their family home in Coldwater until his death February 20, 1940.
Information furnished by Willis Oller.
The Prairie grass was so tall you couldn't see above it and Bill stood 5 feet 10 inches tall, so he would drive a stake in the ground, with a white cloth on it and place it by his door so he could find his way back home. Also the grass fleas were so bad, Bill would soak up the rags dipped in oil and lay by the front of his dugout door to keep them out.
After Bill had his corn planted that fall, he went up into Northern Kansas to shuck corn, so he could make money to buy a team of horses and a wagon.
After spending many months up there working, he managed to get a fine team and wagon, so he decided it was time to start back home. His first night out, the mare he had just bought died, so he hooked the other horse up to the wagon and he held up the neck yoke on the wagon tongue and walked for about three miles, where he met a horse trader with about 15 head of horses, so Bill traded his rifle that he had bought for five dollars for a little buckskin mare, and started off again for home to do his spring farming.
By meeting Mr. and Mrs. Heaton and family, he also met his future wife, Elidiah Heaton, whom he married on June 5, 1888. Bill wrote to his family in Illinois that he was fine, and had settled up a quarter of land, and had married an Indian squaw. His family was so against his coming out West, because they had heard it was such an uncivilized place, with Indians running wild.
As grasshoppers, drought, and many other things happened to the settlers around Bill; they would pull up and leave, and he would buy up their land. He ended up buying 3,300 acres of land, giving from .50 cents an acre to $25.00 an acre.
Bill and Elidiah Oller, raised five children, four sons, Albert, Roy, Ernest and Ralph, and a daughter Mabel. They were all born and raised on the land Bill had homesteaded. In later years, Bill and Elidiah bought a home in Coldwater, Kansas, and turned the farming over to their sons. Bill lost Elidiah on November 20, 1928. He continued to live in their family home in Coldwater until his death February 20, 1940.
Information furnished by Willis Oller.
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