Mary Ella Gaines 2nd great grandma on RootsMagic tree

Mary Ella was born June 3, 1855 in Bremer County, Iowa. William, her dad, was from New York and her mom Sarah from Illinois. Mary Ella grew up near Janesville, Iowa. She was the oldest of 8 brothers and sisters, three siblings died young. At age 23 Mary Ella married James Miller in Waverly, Iowa on November 13, 1878. They had 2 boys William and James and the family farmed in Bremer and Butler counties in Iowa. The 1895 Iowa census shows Mary Ella, her husband, her 2 sons, her dad William Gaines, her niece Clara and James’s brother Jacob Miller living in the house. The 1900 US census has Mary Ella, her husband and 2 sons, James’s brother Jacob and another niece Jeanette Gaines. Both nieces were daughters of Mary Ella’s brother William and Virginia Gaines from Minnesota.

Mary Ella’s dad, a brother and 2 sisters moved west to Junction City, Oregon about 50 miles south of Portland. In 1905 Mary Ella and James visited Junction City and attended the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland. The Expo lasted 4 months, had more than 1 million visitors and took close to 3 years to build.

Mary Ella was an artist, she painted and one of her paintings survives. According to a note written by her grandson, “The pond was on their farm near Janesville, Iowa. The tree leaning over the pond was a Honey Tree (partially hollow with bee hives in it).”

Sources

• Iowa State Census, 1895 at FamilySearch
• Iowa (Greene) recorder, Digital Archives, 1905 Sep 20 page 13 of 14 column 1 mid top Portland Fair.
  “Mr and Mrs James Miller living west of town have been enjoying the wonders of the Portland fair for the past week and Mr Miller’s brother Jake has been helping care for things on the farm during their absence.”
• The 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition via Young Architect website
• Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition at Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons