Mary "Ella" Ellen Throckmorton

Miss Ella Throckmorton, Pioneer of the West, Passes Away at the Age of 80

Familiar Figure, Beloved and Respected by Lusk People, Is Removed By Death

A familiar figure, beloved and respected by the citizens of Lusk, is gone from our midst.

Miss Ella Throckmorton, 80 years of age, passed away at the Lusk Hospital shortly after midnight, Friday, March 5th, having been found unconscious in her small home about 10 o'clock Thursday morning. She was found by her neighbor, Mrs. C.E. Marvin, and had evidently suffered a stroke of apoplexy the previous afternoon or evening, as she was fully dressed.

She died without regaining consciousness.

Crippled many years ago by a fall in which her hip was broken, she had been forced to use a crutch and cane since that time, but made almost daily pilgrimages down town, where she was known to almost every one and in spite of her affliction was always cheerful and patient.

Coming to Lusk in the early 90's, she was for many years a servant in both the Russell Thorp, Sr., and Russell Thorp, Jr., families and was known and respected by all the early day citizens. Russell Thorp, Jr., who is executive secretary of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, came up from Cheyenne to attend the funeral.

Funeral services were held from the Baptist Church on Sunday afternoon, with Rev. P.H. Evans officiating. Music was rendered by a mixed quartet composed of Mrs. C.E. Marvin, Miss Bessie Lunsden, D.D. Caley and J.M. Hungate.

The pallbearers were Russell Thorp, J.B. Griffith, Harry Hargraves, Fed Root, Frank DeCastro and C.E. Marvin.

Interment was made in the Lusk Cemetery and funeral arrangements were in charge of the Peet Mortuary.

Mary Ellen Throckmorton, the youngest of six children, was born at Fairfield, Iowa, on June 15, 1856. She passed away at the Lusk Hospital at 12:30 a.m., March 5, at the age of 80 years, 8 months and 18 days.

In 1857 her parents drove by ox team to Oreapolis, Nebraska, for the purpose of establishing a colony of Methodists, but on account of serious outbreaks of the savage Indians, the family was forced to leave the vicinity and located at Ashland, Neb. After the death of her father in 1888, Miss Throckmorton spent some months in Gillette, Wyo. Returning to Nebraska she later came to Wyoming about 1894. She was employed for some years at the Rawhide Buttes stage station, then owned and operated by Russell Thorp, Sr.

In 1902 she filed on a homestead four miles northeast of Lusk, but located permanently in Lusk, having suffered a injury from a fall which left her a cripple the rest of her life. Of a frugal nature, she had saved up sufficient money to keep her in comfort the rest of her life, but this was all lost in the series of bank failures which followed in the wake of the boom collapse. Miss Throckmorton's father was a Methodist minister and she followed and practiced the life of a genuine Christian character. She did not associate actively in public affairs, but was known by many people who loved her for her high ideals and refined manner.

The direct ancestors of Miss Throckmorton date back among the famous Avery and Denison families, outstanding in the settlement of the colonies and State of Connecticut. Also a family genealogy shows her as a direct relative of John D. Rockefeller.

All members of her immediate family have preceded her in death and only a few relatives could be located. Among these is Ralph Throckmorton and family of Torrington, Wyo., who were present at the funeral.

Her passing marks another vacancy in the already much thinned ranks of the early settlers of Niobrara County and from our midst will be greatly missed the familiar and cheerful figure of Ella Throckmorton.

Images & Attachments

Related/Linked Records