Lydia Ellen Hoel was born on October 24, 1879 in Darke County, Ohio. She is Walt’s great-aunt.

Lydia was one of ten children born to John Swisher and Lydia Finkbohn Hoel/Hole. The family were farmers in Darke County, Ohio. We can find Lydia in the center of this photograph. I wrote about her parents marriage in this post.

There is some interesting history of her marriages. We do know that she went by the name of Ellen, and some record show Ella.

According to most records, Ellen was married to Edward Gray on August 29, 1895. Records say they had a son in December of that year. According to the 1900 census, she was widowed and working as a servant in Jefferson, Ohio. Other information show that Edward died in 1960. I will have to see if there were two Ellen Hoels or if there is more to this story.

Sometime after 1900, she married Charles Helmer. This is the family we had information on from Georgie. Their first three children, Gladys, Hazel and Edna, were born in Mercer County, where the family farmed.

Sometime between Edna’s birth in 1907 and the 1910 census, the family moved to Missaukee County, Michigan. There they continued to farm. Their 4th child, Jessie was born in 1910. Charles and Lydia had a son, Donald, in 1914. I wrote about Charles in this post.

Lydia Ellen Hoel Helmer died on August 24, 1924 in Missaukee County, Michigan. She was only 44.