Ellen Rudolph

Ellen and John Rudolph siblings of First Lady Lucretia Rudolph

NPS

Quick Facts

Significance:

Sister of First Lady Lucretia Garfield

Place of Birth:

Garrettsville, Portage County, Ohio, USA

Date of Birth:

June 4, 1845

Place of Death:

Queens, Queens County, New York, USA

Date of Death:

November 16, 1933

Place of Burial:

Proctor, Rutland County, Vermont, USA

Cemetery Name:

South Street Cemetery

Ellen "Nellie" Rudolph youngest child of Arabella and Zeb Rudolph was born June  4, 1845. She was 13 years younger than her sister, Lucretia. Like the other Rudolph children, Ellen was very educated for that time, and she attended Western Reserve Eclectic Institute like her siblings before her. It is believed that she could read Greek and Latin text like her sister and that she would continue her education throughout her adult life. While her brothers John and Joseph were off fighting in the Civil War, Ellen assisted her sister with household chores and in raising “Little Trot.” She later became a teacher.

On November 22, 1866, she married Camden Oren Rockwell. They had three children: Arthur (“Archie”) Clennam in 1868, Bertha Lucretia in 1878, and Ethel Ellen in 1881.

Like her brother-in-law James A. Garfield, Ellen kept a diary which can still be found in archives today.  During the Civil War, and when their children were young, Lucretia and Ellen relied on each other. They often shared domestic responsibilities—especially at the Rudolph home in Hiram when their mother was ill. 

By 1873, Nellie and her family lived in Akron, Ohio. They moved to St. Louis, Missouri in September 1874 and were living there when James A. Garfield was elected president in 1880.

In 1925, Ellen’s husband Camden died. She lived her remaining years with her unmarried daughters, Bertha and Ethel. Ellen died on November 16, 1933, in Queens, New York and is buried at South Street Cemetery, Proctor, Vermont with her Rockwell family.