I'm doing a little digging for someone on this, and found a small piece of info. Apparently in the 1880 census, the son, Elmer Eldred was living with his mother Lucy and stepfather Joseph Holland in Arlington, Van Buren County, Michigan. So it at least looks like by 1880, the father may have died. Makes further research a little more difficult. There was the confirmation that the fathers birth place was PA, and Elmer's birthplace was OH.