Elizabeth Oyster Clements, who was typically identified as “E. O.” was a well-known Indiana hotel owner and operator. At the time she retired as owner of the Indiana House—the forerunner of the Indiana Hotel–she had earned a reputation for high housekeeping standards and excellent dining facilities. She had a long, impressive career in the hospitality industry.
The daughter of Daniel and Sarah Nicely Oyster, E. O. Clements was born on August 19, 1829, in Helen’s Mills, Elk County, PA. By 1850, she and her husband, John Clements—whom she had married in 18—were operating the Exchange Hotel in Brookville, PA. The couple had five children: Rosa, Joseph, John; Coralinn, and Daniel. In 1864, John died suddenly, leaving E.O. with a business and five young children. She sold the Exchange and returned to Elk County, where she managed the Hyde House in Ridgway. In 1869, Clements purchased her own hotel, the Indiana House. Clements oversaw operations of lodgings, dining room, and tavern in her well-respected establishment.
In the late 1880s, E. O. turned business operations over to her son Joseph W. Clements. Fully retired in the early 1900s, she enjoyed entertaining at her home on North 6th Street. In 1904, she took her grandson Richard Clements to the St. Louis Exposition. E. O. spent her remaining years in Indiana, donating generously to a range of charities, organizing birthday parties, and performing quiet acts of generosity to those in need. Clements died at age 86, on May 10, 1916, at the home she shared with her son Joseph and his wife Luna Jamison Clements. A week later, Joseph died. Both are buried in Oakland Cemetery, along with E. O.’s daughter Coralinn “Linnie” Clements Zeigler and Luna Clements.