Our Family
 Genealogy Pages

Eliza Pester

Female 1901 - 1991  (89 years)


Personal Information    |    Event Map    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Eliza Pester 
    Born 17 Dec 1901  Resolven, Glamorgan, Wales, UK Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Died 21 Feb 1991  Edwardsville, Madison, Illinois, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • "Liza" or Lize as she was known by her friends and family or "Liz" was the eighth child of Alfred and Selina Pester. She was born Resolven South Wales after her parents moved there from Aberaman, Aberdare.

      Liza was a toddler, a little over two years old when her family emigrated to Fernie, British Columbia, Canada in 1904. The Pester family travelled on board the H.M.S Manitoba on a trip that took them a week. According to Liza's niece, Nellie Rogers Gusewelle, the family made their first stop in Pennsylvania to visit family who were living there. It is possible this was the Seymour family in Girardville Pennsylvania. The family have a picture dated in the late 1890's of Liza's Uncle Aquilla Seymour and his family. Eliza's parents Alfred and Selina had married in Girardville in 1882 and had their eldest child Jack there in 1884 before returning to England to live.

      After their stay in Pennsylvania, along with her family Eliza went to Fernie, Canada travelling westwards from Quebec. While living with Fernie, Liza's older sister, Lizzie got married. Later the entire family moved to Coal Creek, Canada where the men in Eliza's family worked in the coal mines.

      In 1908 Eliza along with her parents and brother and sisters, with the exception of Lizzie and Tillie (who had recently married) and possibly Jack, emigrated to Thurber Texas. They entered the U.S.A. at Rexford, Montana and continued travelling by rail through Idaho and on to Texas. A legal document of entry into the United States Of America kept by Liza's brother Jim verifies this route.

      Thurber, Texas was a booming coal mining town at the time the Pester family moved there. They again engaged in coal mining. Eliza's father possessed his competency as a coal miner from Coal Creek, BC, Canada.

      Many of Liza's childhood years were spent in Thurber. Her mother died when she was around nine years old. Her baby brother William died soon after he was born in 1908. Those children who were not of legal age continued to live with their father in Thurber. In 1919 when Eliza was around 18 years old, her father Alfred died of the Flu epidemic that was raging through Texas at the time. After her father's death, Eliza and her brother Jim went to live with her sister Lizzie and her family on main street in Edwardsville Illinois.

      Lizzie and Frank had moved to Illinois early as the Thurber coal mines began to decline. Liza got a job at the shirt factory and worked there for a number of years. Later around 1925 Liza met and married William Rex Hacker who lived in the Collinsville, Illinois area Bill was a world war one veteran and his health wasn't too good. Eliza suffered from a hearing condition brought on from a severe case of measles as a child. Although the couple had no children they were very close to their brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews.

      The author remembers both Liza and Bill being "full of fun" and loving to "cut up". Many parties and much dancing was held at their house with friends of the family coming in to play the fiddle and accordion. The author remembers that on New Years after the stroke of midnight everyone went out doors clanging on pots lids and beating on pans with a spoon. Delicious foods brought by everyone were eaten. Later the children were stretched out on Eliza and Bill's bed to sleep until the wee hours of the morning when the older folks decided it was time to go home.

      Bill who died on 8/12/1950 preceded Liza by more than 40 years. Eliza, a very independent woman, made her way on her own with the help of her sisters Florrie and Lizzie and their children. Prior to Liza's death her helpers were her sisters

      Florrie's children Ronald and his wife Clarice Mary and Jackie. All of Liza's family, parents, brothers and sisters had preceded her death when she died at the advanced age of 90. Eliza and Bill are buried beside one another at Sunset Hill Cemeteries in Edwardsville Illinois.

      FROM THE PESTER FAMILY TREE BY ANITA KOLESA nee ROGERS
    Person ID I18962  Lasbury Family
    Last Modified 10 Jan 2024 

    Father Alfred Lewis Pester
              b. 1858, Chilcompton, Somerset, England, UK Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 16 Apr 1919, Thurber, Erath, Texas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 61 years) 
    Mother Selina Seymour
              b. 3 Nov 1862, Radstock, Somerset, England, UK Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 27 Feb 1910, Thurber, Erath, Texas, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 47 years) 
    Married 14 Jun 1882  Girardville, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F6739  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Husband William Rex Thacker
              d. 8 Dec 1950 
    Married 1926  Illinois, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Last Modified 10 Jan 2024 
    Family ID F6740  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 17 Dec 1901 - Resolven, Glamorgan, Wales, UK Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - 1926 - Illinois, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 21 Feb 1991 - Edwardsville, Madison, Illinois, USA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth