John Samuel Ellis was born 01 May 1822 at Chatham Co. N.C. and died 1906 in Evansville, IN. He was the 9th child of Jesse Ellis (born 04 January 1784 in N.C. and died 09 Sept. 1845 in Batavia Ohio) and Nancy Medearis (born January 1788, place unknown. and died 23 May 1832 in Batavia Ohio)They were married at Chatham Co. N.C.,08 October 1807. and had 13 children four of whom died young.

John Samuel was married six times and had a total of thirteen children and helped raise various step-children. He moved from his place of birth in N.C. with his parents to Ohio, then to Illinois and Lastly to Indiana where he died. He was a Methodist Preacher, a farmer of note and worked as an upholsterer for the L&N Railroad before his death.

1. John first married MARIA LEONARD, at Batavia Ohio on 01 May 1844. Maria was born 02 July 1825, the first daughter of Aaron Leonard and Elizabeth Perrine. Maria died of cholera on 29 January 1850 at the age of 25. He sons were four and five years old. Maria was buried at the Old Union Cemetery in Batavia, Ohio.

John and Maria Had two sons;

A. William Jesse born 05 April 1845 at Batavia Ohio, died 19 March 1898 at the age of 53 in Mt Vernon Illinois and is buried in Oakwood cemetery there. He was a Civil War veteran He married Harriet Elizabeth Wiley on 04 October 1871.They had issue of 5 children.

B. Henry Le Aldas, born 14 November 1846 in Batavia Ohio and died 09 March 1896 at age 50 in Mt Vernon ,IL. ,and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery there. At the time of his death he was receiving a pension due for his service as a Drummer during the Civil War. On 23 Jan. 1877 he married ZELLA MAE APPLEGATE, born 17 may 1860, the daughter of Andrew Jackson Applegate and Mary Ann Chambers Zella Mae died of cholera 26 August 1882 at age 22. She was buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Miami Co. Ohio. She left behind three young daughters.

a. Hattie Marie b. 12 November 1877,in Batavia Ohio, married 25 February 1896 to Elmer Frances (Fred) Strattan who was born 04 November 1873. b. Mabel b 31 October 1879 Batavia Ohio c. Elizabeth b. 12 June 1887 in Batavia Ohio.

After the death of Zella Mae , Henry took his young to Mt Vernon where he had family . He got a job at the Register News as a printer. Again tragedy struck the family as Henry’s daughter Elizabeth died on 27 January 1883 at the age of two. There must have been an epidemic at the time because that is when Henry’s brother aged 9 died also. One year and one month later His daughter Mabel died on 25 February 1884 at the age of five. There is no record as to where these three young children were buried.

Henry married his second wife, IDA MAE JOHNSON on 17 November 1888 in Mt Vernon. It is not known what happened here as she was not mentioned in his obituary eight years later.

2 MARTHA ELIZA PAVEY was John’s second wife whom he married on 21 February 1850 in Batavia, Ohio. She was b. 05 November 1829, the first child of Charles Twyford Pavey and Lucinda Taylor. Martha was well educated in a private school and wrote for a leading ladies magazine of the time’s. She was allegedly a relation of President Zachary Taylor.

John and Martha had four children, and she was a loving mother to John’s two orphaned boy’s as well as her own.

C. Nancy Adelia b 27 Nov.1850 in Batavia ,Ohio and d. 31 August 1934 in Los Angeles at the age of 85, the oldest age that any of John’s children attained. She married George Witham on 15 Apr. 1877. He was born in 1855. They had issue of four children.

Around 1853 John and Martha moved to New Lexington Ohio where he went into the dry goods business with his brother-in-law Stephen Thatcher Strattan, who married Martha’s sister Isabelle.

D. Edward Everett b.28 Feb. 1853 in New Lexington Ohio and died 24 Dec.1926 in St Louis MO. at age 73. On 18 Mar. 1875 he married Antoinette “Netty “ Thorn who was born 20 Oct.1858. They had issue of seven children. Evidently the dry goods business wasn’t successful as by 1854 John and Martha are back in Batavia where they have two more sons.

E, John Albert b.26 January 1854 in Batavia Ohio and died 28 Oct.1939 in Buhl Idaho at age 85. He too was an employee of the L&N Railroad and lived in Sturgis KY. Before returning to Idaho in 1915.

F. Charles F. b. 22 July 1855 in Batavia Ohio and Died 01 Oct. 1889 in St. Louis MO. At age 38 of locked bowels. His body was returned to Mt Vernon IL. For burial in Oakwood Cemetery there. Charles Obituary mentioned the Rev John Ellis and his son Edward Everett of Howell amended the services. Charles was formerly the proprietor of the Jefferson Co. Democrat and he worked at various printing offices and at one time published a paper and still later managed a printing office. He married Lucy Land on 18 Oct. 1899. She was born in Carmi IL. At some time they had moved to St Louis. MO. They had issue of three children.

In 1857 John and Martha moved to Mt. Vernon IL. Martha taught in the public schools for a time and they were active in the Methodist Church. The 1860 census lists John as a saddler. He worked for the L&N Railroad upholstering the passenger car seats.

On 24 November ,1862 at the age of 33. Her burial place is unknown. John was 40 years old and a widower again. His oldest son William Jesse was seventeen and the youngest Charles F. was seven.

3. Mrs. ELIZABETH BETTY” MOSS HINMAN became wife number three on 14 June 1863. She was born in 1833 and was a thirty year old widow with a 9 year old son named Robert, and a three year old daughter named Alma at the time of the marriage. She was called Aunt Betty and it is said loved by all who Knew her. She and John Samuel had issue of three more children before she died at the age of 39 in 1872. Her place of burial is unknown.

G Jake T Ellis, born 16 Mar.,1864 and died of diphtheria in 1906 at the age of 42 in Carbondale IL. He married Beulah Noland of Sandoval IL. B 28 Dec.1878. They had no children. After the death of his mother Jake was raised by his Uncle, Captain John R. Moss. He raised Jake as one of his own and saw that he had the best education available. He became a great Educator whose wife shared his love for education.

H. Annie E. Ellis was born 10 February, 1867 but only lived to the age of three or four. She was named in the 1870 census. No record of burial.

I. Myra Ellis b. 10 Nov. 1869, Married 03 July. 1886 to Asa Collins who was born in 1866. Myra died 21 Mar. 1934 in Arthur IL. She was a Gold Star Mother lost her only son in WWI at the age of 22. They are said to be buried in the Arthur Cemetery.

So John is again a widower with a young daughter, Myra was three, Jake was eight, but went to live with his Uncle, all the rest were in their teens and upwards The oldest ones were married.

4 LOUISA M. CARPENTER, No dates known became John’s fourth wife on 20 November 1872. They had issue of one child.

J. George Ellis b.03 February 1874, died in 1883 at the age of nine. No record of burial.

By the 1880 census John and Myra Ellis (john was 58 and Myra was 11) are living with son William Jesse. It is assumed he and Louisa had parted ways well before the death of George

A transcript written in 1949 by Edward Edgar Ellis,(John’s grandson) states, “ When I was young there was an elderly lady that I used to call my great grandmother in Mt Vernon Illinois. It was about 1881 Her name was Mrs. Sheppard. I don’t know how she fits in the picture. She was my great grandmother on my fathers side. My father was William Jesse Ellis son of John Samuel Ellis son of Jesse Ellis. I wonder who she was. We did some research and found that she was Lucinda Taylor b. 1799 m. Charles Twyford Pavey and after his death She married Levi Sheppard of Wilmington Ohio and they moved to Mt Vernon He died in 1870. She was the mother of Martha Pavey John’s second wife. She died in 1885 at the age of 86 and was buried in West Salem Cemetery

5. Johns fifth wife was Mrs Trafton. She had a farm outside Mt.Vernon Not much is known about her except she had two grown sons who didn’t like John and they ran him off. They were divorced.

On the 20 Feb. 1888 a tornado destroyed the center of Mt.Vernon and much of the surrounding area. Reports of the storm were devastating ! Henry and his half brother Charles were on the injured list. We don’t know the extent of their injuries

. He met his next wife when a cyclone blew her into his front yard one Sunday afternoon. John said “she was a gift from God.” He made her his housekeeper and later married her on 19 Sept 1891 in Indiana. John was 69 and Fanny was 29 years old.

6. Fanny Lawry b. about 1869. Fanny had a son from a previous marriage, Morris Lawry, who was 5 years old. In 1897 the L&N Railroad moved their shops to Evansville IN. John and Fanny moved with them the two places being a short distance apart by rail. John and Fanny had issue of three more children.

K Edna Ellis b 1892 in Mt Vernon, developed T.B. and moved to Bhul Idaho and later to Denver Colorado

L. Margaret Ellis b 1895 Mt. Vernon IL.

M. Hobart Ellis B 1897 Evansville IN. Buried at oak Hill Cemetery . No dates.

John and Fanny resided at 113 Oregon Street Evansville IN. where John suffered a stroke and died in 1906.at the age of 84.

We heard that Edna died at Denver CO. and that she had married a Mr. Maga Brown at twin Falls Montana and that Martha married a Mr. Brady in Sturgis KY. And they were divorced and that Hobart was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Evansville but we have no date for any of it..

Written by Nancy E. Davis,
G.G.Grand Daughter of John Samuel Ellis Nov 15 2007