Family

Photo of unknown man found on page 90 of Mr. Boller's Scrapbook. The picture is labeled "In the Garden at Rondebosch Cape Town So. Africa, 1903."

Early on in Mr. Boller's scrapbook one begins to see items with familial connections.

In addition to the items pictured below, there appears on page 10 a promissory note for a loan made to his brother William Jeptha "Willie" Boller and the business card of his brother, J. F. Boller (also known as Jacob Franklin or simply "Frank") who was an attorney in California.

Mr. Boller, called "Vet" or "Vettie" by his family, also lovingly secured here items from his sister, Ada. In addition to the Piano Recital program pictured below, which can be found on page 84 of the scrapbook, Vettie also saved a postcard she sent to him from the Hotel Alcazar in St. Augustine, Florida in February 1902 on to page 80 on his book.

On page 90 there is a leaf pressed from a family trip taken to South Africa in July 1903. It is noted that the leaf is only found on Table Mountain in Cape Town and was "feathered" by Willie. It is also on that page where the shadowy image on the left appears. Is this a photo of Willie or Vettie himself? One cannot be sure as it is only labeled "In the Garden at Rondebosch Cape Town So. Africa, 1903."

What is certain, though, is that there are letters, and poems, and wedding invitations from family members near and far. On page 86 there is a very small, undated, calling card given to him by a niece, Mildred, the only child of his brother Willie, which simply states, "To Uncle Vet, Wishing you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Mildred." The presence of this tiny note indicates that he meant something to her as she did to him; as did all the family members who's mementoes are stored within the pages of his scrapbook.

This pin from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago can be found on page 9 of Mr. Boller's scrapbook. It was given to Mr. Boller by his father, John Boller, as indicated by the handwritten note on the card, "from father."

See this image listed on this map as "1893: World's Columbian Exposition" at: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z8cdarNxmZ0A.kZbbiNpkm6Xk

A poem written by Mr. Boller and his siblings for his mother's 60th birthday on August 19, 1888, found on page 8 of Mr. Boller's scrapbook.

This poem written by Katherine Tannis-Boller to her husband, Claude Villette Boller, for St. Valentine's day 1905 and can be found on page 98 of Mr. Boller's scrapbook.

Piano Recital by the Pupils of Miss Ada A. Boller.

This three-page program, found on page 84 of Mr. Boller's scrapbook, is from a piano recital given by the students of Miss Ada A. Boller, Mr. Boller's sister, on Saturday, June 7, 1902 at 8 p.m. at Ryder Memorial Church on Kimball Avenue near 64th Street in Chicago, Illinois. The first piece was "Charge of the Uhlens" written by Carl Bohm and performed by Mr. Clifford Walch and Miss Carrie E. Boller; also a sister of Mr. Boller's.

See this image listed on this map as "1902: Ryder Memorial Church" at: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z8cdarNxmZ0A.kZbbiNpkm6Xk

Biographies

Father: John Boller:

Born 1 February 1823 in Mifflin, Pennsylvania - Died 6 April 1895 buried in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, McLean County, Illinois. John was a school teacher.

Mother: Mary Boller-Plank:

Born 19 August 1828 in Ohio - Died 28 June 1912 in Freeport, Nassau County, New York and is buried in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, McLean County, Illinois. Mary was one of twelve children of John Plank (B. 31 July 1792 - D. 30 Dec 1888) and Elizabeth Schrock-Plank (B. 1792 - D. 9 Sept 1866); both born in Pennsylvania of Amish/Mennonite descent, both buried in North Pulaski Cemetery, Pulaski, Davis County, Iowa.^{^[1]}

Wife: Katherine Tannis-Boller:

Born 24 October 1880 in Kalamazoo, Michigan to Richard and Lucy Tannis. She married Claude Vilette Boller on 1 October 1904 in Chicago, Illinois. They had five children in 10 years. She died in about 1947 in Freeport, New York at about the age of 67.

Children:

Claude Villette Boller Jr.: Born 1 October 1905 in Cook County, Illinois - Died 23 April 1989 in Canada. He met and married a woman in Florida who was from Nova Scotia.
Katherine Boller-Spence-Foote: Born 17 September 1908. Her second husband was Norman Holland Foote (Born 12 Dec 1909 in New York - died 2 Mar 1999 in Sun City, Arizona) Mr. Foote was a professor and administrator at Farmigdale State College (State University of New York) in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.
Eloise Boller-O'Donovan-Brockner: Born 24 April 1910. She had one child with C. Glenn O'Donovan and one more child with her second husband; his name is unknown.
Geraldine Boller-Fry-Davis: Born 20 December 1911 in Freeport, Nassau County, New York - Died 26 May 1981 in Lee, Florida.
Audrey Parker Boller-Cunningham: Born 10 May 1915 in Freeport, Nassau County, New York - Died 19 September 2000 in Wantagh, Nassau County, New York.

Siblings:

Elizabeth Boller: Born in 1849 in Ohio - Died 13 March 1919, in Peoria, Illinois, at the age of 70, She is buried in Lexington, Illinois. In 1900, she is listed in the U.S. Federal Census as a resident of the Illinois Central Hospital for the Insane in Jacksonville, IL. In 1910, the census lists her as a resident of the Peoria State Hospital in Peoria, IL. The condition of her mental illness, if any, is unknown.
Margaret C. "Maggie" Boller-Woodward: Born in about Nov 1853 in Ohio - Died 11 September 1918 in Alameda, California. Maggie married Agustus Guthrie Woodward on 29 June 1879, in Lexington, Illinois.
Catherine Boller: Born in about 1854 in Indiana.
Jacob "Frank" Boller: Born in July 1855 in Indiana - Died in 1920 at the age of 65. He was buried in Porterville, California. He married Louella M. Bradley. They had two children during their marriage, one of whom was named after our "Mr. Boller"; Frank Villette Boller born 7 February 1885 in Nevada - died 19 February 1971 in Fresno, California, at the age of 86.
William Jeptha "Willie" Boller: Born 15 September 1857 in Lexington, Illinois. He had one daughter with his wife Minnie. His daughter, Mildred Virginia Boller-Renwick was born 23 June 1891 in Cleveland, Ohio. She died on 1 December 1934 in El Salvador, at the age of 43.
Ada Boller: Born in 1858 in Indiana. Ada was a piano teacher.
Chester Edwin "Eddie" Boller: Born in about 1860 in Lexington, Illinois - Died June 13, 1940, in Kings County, New York, at the age of 80. Chester was a construction engineer and worked for the War Department in Chicago prior to WWI. After WWI he lived in Philadelphia with his wife Minnie for a brief time.
Caroline E. "Carrie" Boller: Born in February 1864 in Lexington, Illinois.
Louis M. Boller: Born 18 August 1866 in Lexington, Illinois - Died 4 October 1887 in Omaha, Nebraska of typhoid fever. He trained as a pharmacist at the Chicago School of Pharmacy and at the time of his death was a pharmacist’s assistant in Omaha. He is buried in Lexington, Illinois.

^{^[1]} RLDrummer. “John Plan, Sr.,” FindAGrave.com, last modified September 8, 2010, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=58343583

This article was obtained from The Fort at Lexington [Illinois] which is run by the Lexington Genealogical and Historical Society in the town where Mr. Boller was born. It is an account of the life of Mr. Boller's mother, Mary Plank Boller. It supplies information about her upbringing, her children, and their lives in Lexington, Illinois.

This article was obtained from The Fort at Lexington [Illinois]. It is an account of the life of Mr. Boller's brother, Louis M. Boller. It supplies information about his life in Lexington, Illinois and the circumstances surrounding his death.

The article, also obtained from The Fort at Lexington [Illinois], is an account of the life of Mr. Boller's sister, Ada Boller, who was a school teacher in Lexington and a piano teacher in Chicago and New York.