NORTHWESTERN IOWA ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION VOLUME II 1804-1926 Nettie S. Eells Nettie Sophia Eells has been successfully engaged in teh millinery business at Ida Grove during the past seventeen years and is numbered among the highly esteemed and representative women of the community. Her birth occurred at Freeport, Illinois, on the 23d of June, 1865, her parents being Amos Gaylord and Adaline (Smith) Eells, the former born in Chautauqua county, New York, February 23, 1826, and the latter in Cattaraugus county, New York, October 23, 1831. The family is of English lineage. Amos G. Eells first arrived in Ida county, Iowa, in 1862, at which time he purchased and homesteaded a large tract of land two miles west of Ida Grove. Owing to the hostility of the Indians, however, he returned to Freeport, Illinois, and did not again come to this state until 1880, at which time he took up his permanent abode in Ida county. Here he passed a way on the 16th of June, 1891, while his wife was called to her final rest on teh 28th of January, 1894. Ida Smith, daughter of Edwin Smith and cousin of Mrs. Adaline (Smith) Eells, was the first white child born in Ida Grove and the town was named for her. The military record of the Eells family is notable one by reason of the distinguished war service of many of its representatives. The ancestral line is traced back to Sir John Eells, who was killed in Cromwell's army. His son was Major Samuel Eells, U. S. A. Fourteen of the name of Eells fought in the Revolutionary war, among these being Captain Waterman Eells. Major Edward Eells also made an honorable record as a soldier, while James J. Eells died in service in the Spanish-American war. All the male members of the family who were of the required age participated in the World war. Many of its representatives have dedicated their lives to the ministry and to the cause of higher education, some of the name being among the first white missionaries who sought to enlighten the Indians in the west. Nettie S. Eells enjoyed the advantages of a high school education. She was a maiden of fifteen summers when in 1880 she accompanied her parents on their removal from Freeport, Illinois, to Ida county, Iowa, where she has resided continuously to the present time. It was in 1909 that she embarked in the millinery business at Ida Grove, where she has since developed a patronage of extensive and profitable proportions and enjoys an enviable reputation as a woman of marked artistic skill as well as executive ability. Miss Eells belongs to the Daughters of the American Revolution and to the Women's Club. She is a Congregationalist in religious faith and a member of various church societies. She is widely and favorably known throughout the community in which she has lived from girlhood, the circle of her friends being almost coextensive with the circle of her acquaintances. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/