Lizzie Risser Ebersole

What an exciting post this will be.

In our last installment featuring one of the many Mennonite families from Lancaster, PA, we got to know a young woman by the name of Lizzie Rutt. If you remember, she married a man named Joseph N. Risser, so it should come at no surprise to the reader that upon finding that marriage detail, I immediately knew there had to be some connection to today's Lizzie Risser.

Yes, yes - Lizzie Rutt became Lizzie Risser upon marriage, but rest assured: she's a different Lizzie Risser than this Lizzie Risser being featured today... it gets confusing, but bear with me.

This Lizzie Risser was born in 1876 in Mount Joy Township to Martin Nissley Risser and Maria Horst. Martin Nissley Risser was the son of Catherine Hershey Nissley, who was the daughter of... yes, you guessed it: Martin Nissley and Elizabeth Hershey, the same patriarch and matriarch from the family tree shown on Lizzie Rutt's post.

So, that would make our Lizzie Risser related to both Lizzie Rutt, and brothers Martin and Alvin Nissley. 

Confused? Here's an expanded family tree.

So, Lizzie Risser and Lizzie Rutt are 2nd cousins (along with Alvin and Martin Nissley)...but wait. What about Lizzie Rutt's husband, Joseph Risser? If Lizzie Rutt is related to a Risser by blood, could she possibly also be a distant cousin of her own husband?

We'll just let that slide.

Anyway, back to our Lizzie Risser. Lizzie married Martin R. Ebersole on November 18, 1897 in Lancaster at age 21. The photo we have of her was taken sometime around her wedding day, as Rise and Gates Photography operated in Lebanon, PA from 1896-1901. This means Lizzie, in this photo, was between the ages of 20-25 when the photo was taken.

Lizzie and Martin had four sons: Abram, Elam, Jacob, and Ira, and the family lived in West Donegal, PA through 1940 where Martin worked as a farmer and Lizzie, a housewife. The family were members of Good's Mennonite Church, in Elizabethtown according to Lizzie's obituary.

Lizzie died on December 24th, 1952.