Elias Disney
| Elias Disney | |
|---|---|
 Elias and his wife, Flora |
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| Born | February 6, 1859 Bluevale, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | September 13, 1941 (aged 82) Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Spouse | Flora Call (1888–1938) (her death) |
| Children | Walter Elias Disney Herbert Arthur Disney Roy Oliver Disney Raymond Arnold Disney Ruth Flora Disney |
| Parents | Kepple Elias Disney (1832–1891) and Mary Richardson (1838–1909) |
Elias Disney (February 6, 1859 – September 13, 1941) was the Canadian father of Roy Disney and Walt Disney.
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[edit] Early life
Disney was born in the rural village of Bluevale, Ontario, Canada, to Irish-born immigrant Kepple Elias Disney and Mary Richardson who was of English descent. He became a farmer and a businessman with little success. He moved to California with his father in 1878 in hopes of finding gold. Instead, Kepple was convinced by an agent of the Union Pacific Railroad to buy 200 acres (81 ha) of land near Ellis, Kansas. Disney was an ardent socialist and a supporter of Eugene Debs.[1]
[edit] Career
Disney worked on his father's new farm until 1884, when he left to find another job. He was hired in a railroad machine shop (one of his co-workers was Walter Chrysler), then he joined the railroad crew building the Union Pacific line through Colorado. After the railroad contract was over, he became a professional fiddle player in Denver. Again he was unsuccessful, and he returned to his father's farm. He also worked for a short time as a mailman in Kissimmee, Florida, close to the eventual site of Walt Disney World.
He was a construction worker for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, an event which author Erik Larson cites as a source of inspiration for his son Walt and the Disney kingdom he would eventually create.[2]
[edit] Family
Disney married Flora Call on January 1, 1888, in Kismet, Florida, 50 miles from the land on which Walt Disney World would eventually be built and lived for a short time in adjoining Acron, Florida.[3] She was the daughter of his father's neighbors.
Soon after marriage, the Disneys moved to Chicago, Illinois, where Elias met and befriended Walter Parr, St. Paul Congregational Church's preacher for whom the Disneys' fourth son, Walt, was named.
The couple had five children:
- Herbert Arthur Disney, born on December 8, 1888-January 29, 1961. (72)
- Raymond Arnold Disney, born on December 30, 1890-May 24, 1989. (98)
- Roy Oliver Disney, born on June 24, 1893-December 20, 1971. (78)
- Walter "Walt" Elias Disney, born on December 5, 1901-December 15, 1966. (65)
- Ruth Flora Disney born on December 6, 1903-April 7, 1995. (91)
According to some sources, Disney worried about the rising criminality of the city. In 1906 he moved with his family to a farm near Marceline, Missouri. The family sold the farm in 1909 and lived in a rented house until 1911, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri.
[edit] References
- ^ Schlosser. Fast Food Nation. pg. 36
- ^ Larson, Erik. "The Devil In The White City". Random House. http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/devilinthewhitecity/fair.html. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
- ^ Walt Disney by Neal Gabler - eBook - Random House at www.randomhouse.com
[edit] External links
- Elias Disney at Find a Grave
- Biography of the Disney Family in Canada
- Elias Disney at the Internet Movie Database (documentary footage)
