ColumbiaMagazine.com
Printed from:

Welcome to Columbia Magazine  
 




































 
Mike Watson history: Christine, Ella and Eunice

By Mike Watson
Adair County Historian

There was a time when every small community in America had a postoffice within an easy walk. There was no mail delivery, so a localoffice was considered a necessity. The names submitted, generally bythe potential first post master, had to be approved by the officialsin Washington, DC. Often, names submitted by men were in honor ofwife, daughter, sister, or sweetheart. Examination of lists of postoffices reveals a large percentage named for the ladies. AdairCounty was no exception.



Christine post office was established in Adair County in November1923. According to several sources, one being the late historian,Nancy Montgomery Berley, Christine was named for Christine Nell,daughter of Dr. Lawrence C. Nell. The first postmaster at Christinewas Mrs. Lena E. Wilkerson.

Ella post office was established in September 1904 with Silas G.Tarter as first postmaster. The post master submitted the name "Ella"in honor of either his wife or his daughter. Mrs. Tarter was named LouElla, commonly called Ella, according to some sources. The Tarter'shad a daughter, Laura E., born in 1898 or 1899.

Eunice post office was established in June 1896 with Robert WelbyAllen as first post master. The name submitted by Mr. Allen was"Eunice" in honor of his daughter. Mr. Allen operated a store at whatcame to be Eunice. The store burned one night in June 1900. Nothingwas said of the post office being destroyed, but it was almostcertainly housed in his store. Mr. Allen later resigned as postmasterand John M. Vaughan took over in April 1901. Mr. Allen moved hisfamily from Adair County about 1903 and settled first at Selma,Kansas, then at Anson, Kansas, where he was a merchant in 1910. Hiswife and daughter, Eunice, visited relatives in Adair County in 1909.

Mike Watson


This story was posted on 2012-04-28 05:44:57
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know.



 


































 
 
Quick Links to Popular Features


Looking for a story or picture?
Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com.

 

Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728.
Phone: 270.403.0017


Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.