Eleanor "Ellen" (Minerd)
Pritts Polen Pryor
(1874-1951)
Eleanor "Ellen" (Minerd) Pritts Polen Pryor was born on May 29, 1874 at Rogers Mills, Fayette County, PA, the daughter of Joel and Catherine (Seneff) Minerd.
At age 19, Ellen joined her church. The June 28, 1895 Connellsville Courier reported that "About three hundred people gathered at the backwater in Indian Creek near Rodgers' Mill on Sunday ... to witness the ordinance of baptism. The following named persons were immersed: ... Ella Miner..."
On Sunday, Nov. 15, 1896, at the age of 22, Ellen married Ludwick H. Pritts at his residence in Springfield Twp., Fayette County, PA, by the hand of A.G.C. Sherbondy. In 1898, they lived at Vanderbilt, where he worked as a laborer.
In the census of 1900, she and Ludwick are shown living near Normalville, Springfield Twp., with their children Bessie and Roy.
By August 1913, Ellen was married to Ebenezer B. Polen, according to a family history prepared that year. Nothing further is known about Polen. The census of 1910 shows an "Ebinezer" and "Ella" Polen living as farmers in Green Township, Harrison County, OH. They had been married for four years, but had no children. Ebinezer's birth year, as calculated from the census was 1883. He was several years younger than his wife.
By 1920, the Polens had migrated to Wayne Township, Jefferson County, OH. That year, Ebenezer was a brakeman in a local coal mine. A 17-year-old "son," Carl Polen, also made his home with them that year. Carl worked as a yardman on the section railroad.
Later, Ellen apparently married a man named Pryor, because that's her name given in inscriptions in the family Bible of her brother, William Henry "Squire" Miner. The notation states that she died on June 11, 1951, at age 77.
Ludwick Pritts is believed to have died in Somerset Hospital on Nov. 4, 1956, at the age of 78, leaving four daughters, 16 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Nothing further is known.
Copyright © 2000, 2002, 2008 Mark A. Miner