Ella was registered at the cemetery as "Ella Groneman" however, the circumstances of her marriage to Hjalmar Groneman and her death soon after would seem to make using his name inappropriate, and so she is listed under her maiden name, "Clemmons."
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One of San Francisco's most interesting characters, Ella May led an eventful life. Born in Montezma, Pike County, Illinois, to farmer/merchant Seldon Perry Clemmons and wife, Martha Kilpatrick Clemmons, she had two sisters. Ida died as a child, and Viola Katherine, who eventually became an actress and married Howard Gould, son of the "robber baron" Jay Gould. When the Clemmons girls were very young, their parents divorced. Ella and Viola stayed with their father. Ella had a very brief marriage, to Charles Watts, at 15. Mother moved to Oakland, California where she remarried, and the girls joined her.
In 1882, Ella married Charles B. Overacker, a young man from a substantial farm family of Niles, Alameda County, California. They had no children, and Ella became bored with social prominence. She moved to San Francisco in late 1890s. In 1898, a newspaper article said she became a Catholic and was going to open a mission to teach Catholicism to the Chinese.
In 1900, she was divorced from Mr. Overacker, and shortly after there was an announcement of her intention to go to China to work in a leper colony. We don't know if she went to China, but in 1903, was in San Francisco, where she opened the first Catholic Sunday school in Chinatown.
By 1906, she was established as a Chinatown missionary, called the "Christ Angel." After the earthquake and fire devastated most of the city, she was relocated to a camp in the Presidio with other Chinatown residents. Here she met Wong Sun Yue whom she married. As soon as they could, the couple returned to Chinatown and opened a store, "Relics Dug From the Ruins." They sold things such as melted cups and stacks of plates fused together by the fires that swept through the city after the earthquake.
Perhaps more popular than relics were photo postcards that showed "Mr. and Mrs. Wong Sun Yue Clemens," in various costumes, posed in their store. Each card was hand-signed not only with "Mr. and Mrs. Wong Sun Yue Clemens," (note the adjusted spelling of her maiden name) but with the added line "Mrs. Howard Gould's sister."
In 1916, Ella, Wong, and her sister Mrs. Gould, sailed to China, where they opened a school in Peking (now Beijing), financed by Mrs. Gould. However when Mrs. Gould withdrew her support, the school failed. Ella returned to San Francisco but Wong Sun Yue remained in China. Ella reopened the relics shop, with a tearoom.
In 1920s she met Hjalmar Groneman, a Danish mechanic turned chiropractor, upon whom she grew to rely. She had a number of health problems that had intensified by 1935. Ella and Hjalmar were married in September 1935, just a few days before her death. Ella's marriage and death were not announced until January 1936. There was an investigation and Dr. Groneman was indicted for Ella's murder, however, the only witness who could testify against Groneman disappeared. Eventually prosecutors dropped the charge.
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You can see more about Ella's interesting life, complete with growing collection of newspaper clippings, on an Ancestry tree. Contact Find A Grave lister below for access.
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One of San Francisco's most interesting characters, Ella May led an eventful life. Born in Montezma, Pike County, Illinois, to farmer/merchant Seldon Perry Clemmons and wife, Martha Kilpatrick Clemmons, she had two sisters. Ida died as a child, and Viola Katherine, who eventually became an actress and married Howard Gould, son of the "robber baron" Jay Gould. When the Clemmons girls were very young, their parents divorced. Ella and Viola stayed with their father. Ella had a very brief marriage, to Charles Watts, at 15. Mother moved to Oakland, California where she remarried, and the girls joined her.
In 1882, Ella married Charles B. Overacker, a young man from a substantial farm family of Niles, Alameda County, California. They had no children, and Ella became bored with social prominence. She moved to San Francisco in late 1890s. In 1898, a newspaper article said she became a Catholic and was going to open a mission to teach Catholicism to the Chinese.
In 1900, she was divorced from Mr. Overacker, and shortly after there was an announcement of her intention to go to China to work in a leper colony. We don't know if she went to China, but in 1903, was in San Francisco, where she opened the first Catholic Sunday school in Chinatown.
By 1906, she was established as a Chinatown missionary, called the "Christ Angel." After the earthquake and fire devastated most of the city, she was relocated to a camp in the Presidio with other Chinatown residents. Here she met Wong Sun Yue whom she married. As soon as they could, the couple returned to Chinatown and opened a store, "Relics Dug From the Ruins." They sold things such as melted cups and stacks of plates fused together by the fires that swept through the city after the earthquake.
Perhaps more popular than relics were photo postcards that showed "Mr. and Mrs. Wong Sun Yue Clemens," in various costumes, posed in their store. Each card was hand-signed not only with "Mr. and Mrs. Wong Sun Yue Clemens," (note the adjusted spelling of her maiden name) but with the added line "Mrs. Howard Gould's sister."
In 1916, Ella, Wong, and her sister Mrs. Gould, sailed to China, where they opened a school in Peking (now Beijing), financed by Mrs. Gould. However when Mrs. Gould withdrew her support, the school failed. Ella returned to San Francisco but Wong Sun Yue remained in China. Ella reopened the relics shop, with a tearoom.
In 1920s she met Hjalmar Groneman, a Danish mechanic turned chiropractor, upon whom she grew to rely. She had a number of health problems that had intensified by 1935. Ella and Hjalmar were married in September 1935, just a few days before her death. Ella's marriage and death were not announced until January 1936. There was an investigation and Dr. Groneman was indicted for Ella's murder, however, the only witness who could testify against Groneman disappeared. Eventually prosecutors dropped the charge.
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You can see more about Ella's interesting life, complete with growing collection of newspaper clippings, on an Ancestry tree. Contact Find A Grave lister below for access.
Ella was registered at the cemetery as "Ella Groneman" however, the circumstances of her marriage to Hjalmar Groneman and her death soon after would seem to make using his name inappropriate, and so she is listed under her maiden name, "Clemmons."
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One of San Francisco's most interesting characters, Ella May led an eventful life. Born in Montezma, Pike County, Illinois, to farmer/merchant Seldon Perry Clemmons and wife, Martha Kilpatrick Clemmons, she had two sisters. Ida died as a child, and Viola Katherine, who eventually became an actress and married Howard Gould, son of the "robber baron" Jay Gould. When the Clemmons girls were very young, their parents divorced. Ella and Viola stayed with their father. Ella had a very brief marriage, to Charles Watts, at 15. Mother moved to Oakland, California where she remarried, and the girls joined her.
In 1882, Ella married Charles B. Overacker, a young man from a substantial farm family of Niles, Alameda County, California. They had no children, and Ella became bored with social prominence. She moved to San Francisco in late 1890s. In 1898, a newspaper article said she became a Catholic and was going to open a mission to teach Catholicism to the Chinese.
In 1900, she was divorced from Mr. Overacker, and shortly after there was an announcement of her intention to go to China to work in a leper colony. We don't know if she went to China, but in 1903, was in San Francisco, where she opened the first Catholic Sunday school in Chinatown.
By 1906, she was established as a Chinatown missionary, called the "Christ Angel." After the earthquake and fire devastated most of the city, she was relocated to a camp in the Presidio with other Chinatown residents. Here she met Wong Sun Yue whom she married. As soon as they could, the couple returned to Chinatown and opened a store, "Relics Dug From the Ruins." They sold things such as melted cups and stacks of plates fused together by the fires that swept through the city after the earthquake.
Perhaps more popular than relics were photo postcards that showed "Mr. and Mrs. Wong Sun Yue Clemens," in various costumes, posed in their store. Each card was hand-signed not only with "Mr. and Mrs. Wong Sun Yue Clemens," (note the adjusted spelling of her maiden name) but with the added line "Mrs. Howard Gould's sister."
In 1916, Ella, Wong, and her sister Mrs. Gould, sailed to China, where they opened a school in Peking (now Beijing), financed by Mrs. Gould. However when Mrs. Gould withdrew her support, the school failed. Ella returned to San Francisco but Wong Sun Yue remained in China. Ella reopened the relics shop, with a tearoom.
In 1920s she met Hjalmar Groneman, a Danish mechanic turned chiropractor, upon whom she grew to rely. She had a number of health problems that had intensified by 1935. Ella and Hjalmar were married in September 1935, just a few days before her death. Ella's marriage and death were not announced until January 1936. There was an investigation and Dr. Groneman was indicted for Ella's murder, however, the only witness who could testify against Groneman disappeared. Eventually prosecutors dropped the charge.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
You can see more about Ella's interesting life, complete with growing collection of newspaper clippings, on an Ancestry tree. Contact Find A Grave lister below for access.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
One of San Francisco's most interesting characters, Ella May led an eventful life. Born in Montezma, Pike County, Illinois, to farmer/merchant Seldon Perry Clemmons and wife, Martha Kilpatrick Clemmons, she had two sisters. Ida died as a child, and Viola Katherine, who eventually became an actress and married Howard Gould, son of the "robber baron" Jay Gould. When the Clemmons girls were very young, their parents divorced. Ella and Viola stayed with their father. Ella had a very brief marriage, to Charles Watts, at 15. Mother moved to Oakland, California where she remarried, and the girls joined her.
In 1882, Ella married Charles B. Overacker, a young man from a substantial farm family of Niles, Alameda County, California. They had no children, and Ella became bored with social prominence. She moved to San Francisco in late 1890s. In 1898, a newspaper article said she became a Catholic and was going to open a mission to teach Catholicism to the Chinese.
In 1900, she was divorced from Mr. Overacker, and shortly after there was an announcement of her intention to go to China to work in a leper colony. We don't know if she went to China, but in 1903, was in San Francisco, where she opened the first Catholic Sunday school in Chinatown.
By 1906, she was established as a Chinatown missionary, called the "Christ Angel." After the earthquake and fire devastated most of the city, she was relocated to a camp in the Presidio with other Chinatown residents. Here she met Wong Sun Yue whom she married. As soon as they could, the couple returned to Chinatown and opened a store, "Relics Dug From the Ruins." They sold things such as melted cups and stacks of plates fused together by the fires that swept through the city after the earthquake.
Perhaps more popular than relics were photo postcards that showed "Mr. and Mrs. Wong Sun Yue Clemens," in various costumes, posed in their store. Each card was hand-signed not only with "Mr. and Mrs. Wong Sun Yue Clemens," (note the adjusted spelling of her maiden name) but with the added line "Mrs. Howard Gould's sister."
In 1916, Ella, Wong, and her sister Mrs. Gould, sailed to China, where they opened a school in Peking (now Beijing), financed by Mrs. Gould. However when Mrs. Gould withdrew her support, the school failed. Ella returned to San Francisco but Wong Sun Yue remained in China. Ella reopened the relics shop, with a tearoom.
In 1920s she met Hjalmar Groneman, a Danish mechanic turned chiropractor, upon whom she grew to rely. She had a number of health problems that had intensified by 1935. Ella and Hjalmar were married in September 1935, just a few days before her death. Ella's marriage and death were not announced until January 1936. There was an investigation and Dr. Groneman was indicted for Ella's murder, however, the only witness who could testify against Groneman disappeared. Eventually prosecutors dropped the charge.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
You can see more about Ella's interesting life, complete with growing collection of newspaper clippings, on an Ancestry tree. Contact Find A Grave lister below for access.
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