Louella "Ella" Steele (1868-1954)

Louella "Ella" Steele was born in Limestone County, Texas on April 21, 1868.

She was the third child born to the marriage of Francis "Frank" Marion Steele and Lucinda Chisum.

Ella's siblings included the following four sisters and one brother:

Lula
Lydia Frances
Isham Alfonso
Mary Allye
Lena Rhoda

LtoR:  Lula, Lydia,Mary, Lena and Louella "Ella" Steele

The 1870 and 1880 U. S. Census records show Ella living with her parents and siblings in Limestone County, Texas.

1870 U. S. Census

1880 U. S. Census

Ella Steele married Walter Alfred Walling circa 1888.

Ella's great grandfather was James Walling, Sr. who was a brother to Walter's great grandfather, Alfred Gaines Walling; making Ella and Walter third cousins.

However, the connection/kinship between the Walling, Chisum and Steele families was much more intertwined than the mere third cousin relationship suggests.

Parents of James and Alfred Walling were John Walling, Sr. and Anna Chisum. Anna Chisum's brother, Elijah Kaufman Chisum, married Elizabeth Walling, a sister to John Walling, Sr.

Elijah and Elizabeth Chisum's son, Isham Russell Chisum, married Mary "Polly" Walling who was the daughter of James Walling, Sr. and the niece of Alfred Gaines Walling. 

Elijah and Polly Chisum's daughter, Lucinda Chisum, married Francis Marion "Frank" Steele. Lucinda and Frank Steele were the parents of Louella "Ella" Steele.

Ella Steele and Walter Walling had the following children:

Travis John, 1896-1970; m. Catherine Cecilia Barnhart

Allie Steele, 1898-1943; m. Ruby Selman

The 1900 U. S. Census record shows Ella, Walter and two sons living in Robertson County, Texas.  The record also shows their second son, Allie, listed as Terry G.

1900 U. S. Census

The 1910 U. S. Census record shows Ella and family living in Childress County, Texas.

1910 U. S. Census

By the 1920s and through the 1940s, Ella was living in Cottle County, Texas. Walter Alfred Walling died in 1928.

1920 U. S. Census

1940 U. S. Census

Ella was living in Childress County, Texas when she passed away on May 12, 1954.  She is buried near her husband in the Chlidress Cemetery in Childress, Childress County, Texas.

Photograph by FindAGrave member, Jerry Montgomery

Amarillo Daily News - 5/13/1954

Louella "Ella" Steele Walling was my great grand aunt through her brother, Isham Alfonso Steele, who was my great grandfather.