Mrs. Peter S. Roller
Gone to Her Reward—Widely Known Lady Expires In Her 85th Year.
Mrs. Frances Sidney Roller, wid­ow of Peter S. Roller, and a mem­ber of one of
the best known Rock­ingham families, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs.
Bertie R. Calwell, on High street, Thursday afternoon between 3 and 4 o’clock.
Mrs. Roller had been in failing health for six or eight years and during the
last few days her death had been momentarily expected.
Mrs. Roller's illness dated from several severe falls, while she was living with
her daughter at the Warren House. She never fully recovered from the effects of
these falls and had been confined to her room the greater part of the time
since.
Twenty-four hours before her death she was fully conscious and was able to
recognize members of her family who were at her bedside. During Wednesday
evening, she relapsed into a state of coma and so remained until the end.
A daughter of the late Major John Allebaugh, who lived in the ancient Harrison
property at Dayton, now known as the Burtner farm. Mrs. Roller was connected
with a number of the leading families of the county. She was a namesake of the
wife of Judge Daniel Smith, whose picture hangs in the Rockingham county
court-house. She was one of ten sisters, only one of whom is now living, Mrs.
Delia Cowan, widow of Jacob N. Cowan, now living in Harrisonburg in her
eighty-eighth year. Mrs. Roller herself was in her eighty-fourth year.
She was married to Peter S. Roller, November 9, 1843, and was the mother of
eight children, six of whom are now living—Gen. John E. Roller, Col. O. B.
Roller, Mrs. Josie Hollingsworth, and Mrs. M. B. Calwell, of Harrisonburg; Rev.
Dr. Robert D. Roller, of Charleston, W. Va.; and Peter S. Roller of Mt. Jackson.
Another daughter, Mrs. Sallie A. Richardson, and another son, William Wirt
Roller, died some years ago. Her husband died eight or ten years ago. Mrs.
Roller also leaves twenty-eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Roller had been a member of the Reformed church since 1844 and was one of
the two surviving members of the original Trinity Reformed congregation at Mt.
Crawford. Mrs. Roller was a woman of Christian character and had many friends in
the vicinity of Harrisonburg and Mt. Crawford, by whom she was held in the
highest esteem. Since the death of her husband she had resided in Harrisonburg
with her youngest daughter, Mrs. Calwell.
The funeral was held Friday afternoon at 4 o’clock from the Reformed church on
High street. The services were conducted by Rev. M. A. Keiffer, assisted by Rev.
A Theo. Wright, of Mt. Crawford. Interment was in Woodbine Cemetery.
—Rockingham Register (Harrisonburg, VA), 30 Oct 1906, pg. 7