(1853-1929)
« return to database listElla Williams and her four younger sisters attended the Nash & Kollock School; they were leaders in installing a memorial plaque honoring the Nash sisters and Miss Kollock in the Hillsborough Presbyterian Church [1].
Ella Parmelee Williams is mentioned in Ladies in the Making by Ann S. Nash as one of fthe ive daughters of John G. and Miriam Williams of Raleigh to attend the school.
She arrived at the age of twelve from Raleigh, NC and Nash records Ella’s own account of her arrival at school:
“How well do I recall the sultry August afternoon more than fifty years ago, when my father, leading me by the hand, placed me in the care of my new teachers. We had left Raleigh a few hours previous; a wreck had occurred on the road a short distance from our destination, and we were told we must walk the rest of the way. There had been a heavy thunderstorm and the red mud was almost ankle deep. When I reached the school I was literally covered with mud from head to foot. I had slipped and fallen several times in trying to climb the hills near the station. Imagine my timidity on meeting strangers in this plight, when we are always so anxious to present on first sight, a good appearance. A change of clothing was soon provided for me, for with the slowness of the times, I was told to expect my trunk two or three days later.”
She married William Stuart Primrose, a prominent Raleigh bank and insurance executive of considerable industry and civic dedication. Primrose is credited with suggesting the establishment of the college which today is NC State University in Raleigh, and served on its governing board for many years. Ella was herself busy with civic life in Raleigh, active in several organizations. She and William had nine children: John Selby (1874-1929), William Stuart Jr. (1876-1904), Hugh W. (1878-1904), Eliza Dorothy (1889-1904), Robert Owen (1882-1951), Henry Fries (1882-1951), Jesse Lindsey (1887-1951), and Helen Carson (1880-1970). Sadly, in the year 1904 the couple suffered the deaths of three of their children from different causes [1] [2] [3] [4].
Ella Parmelee Williams was born on August 20, 1853 [5], in Raleigh, NC. She died on June 29, 1929 [6], heart disease, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, NC.