Who Was W. P. Ellis?
William P. Ellis was my oupagrootjie. Ongelukkig, he passed away when my grandfather, Gilbert P. Ellis, was only two years old. My great grandmother did not know much about William’s family. The actual information Grandpa had on him was sparse, so William was the real mystery man in the family history up until 2006 of 2007.
Grandpa had a picture of William sitting on a fake moon. William was a giant of a man. Ek sou sê 6'4″ te 6'6″. My grandfather was 6’4″ homself. Danksy die digitale ouderdom, I know more about my great grandfather than his own son did, but the journey was complex and illustrates the joys and challenges of the genealogical journey.
Picture of William Ellis, his wife Caroline and her parents, Frederick and Johanna Johannpeter
I started out knowing William died in St. Louis, Missouri tussen Junie 22, 1917, en Junie 21, 1918. My oupa was die mees eerlike, direct person I have ever known. I knew his information was as correct as his memory allowed. I limited my search to this period even with memory not being 100 persent akkuraat.
The Missouri Secretary of State uploaded most Missouri death certificates from 1910 te 1955 to it’s website, toe ek begin hierdie soektog. The first few times I searched, Ek kon dit nie vind William P. Ellis. Uiteindelik, I decided I would search for every death certificate from St. Louis City in beide die jaar 1917 en 1918 met die laaste naam Ellis.
Gelukkig, Ek slaan betaal vuil in 1917. You see my great grandfather’s death certificate listed his first name as “W.P.” en die laaste naam “Ellis”, so I could have search William Ellis throughout the state until the cows came home and never found him. Finding William’s death certificate was like hitting the lottery.
William was born August 1, 1877, William H. Ellis and an unknown mother in the state of Kentucky. He lived at 5311A Magnolia Avenue, where died of lung disease on December 4, 1917. The death certificate listed his occupation as a clay miner. St. Louis was home to a large amount of clay mines along S. Kingshighway Boulevard and the “Dogtown” neighborhood at the turn of the century.
These mines turned out the bricks that St. Louis is steeds bekend vir. William’s death certificate proved that my great grandmother only had limited knowledge of William’s background because she did not know his mother’s name or where she was from. Dit is die uitdaging van genealogiese en geskiedenis. As jy nie vir iemand sê nie, of nie te teken nie, die inligting is verlore.
William moved to St. Charles, Missouri, iewers voor 1900 because he mustered into one of the volunteer units going to fight the Spanish-American War on July 9, 1898, by St. Charles, Missouri. He served in the 6th Volunteer Missouri Regiment, Lig Battery A. He served for two years and mustered out on May 10, 1899.
My oumagrootjie, Caroline Ellis, lived in St. Charles also. Hulle ontmoet iewers voor 1912, toe hulle getroud. Op Mei 15, 1912, William P. Ellis getroud Caroline Leah “Lee” Johan Peter in St. Charles. Hulle sou my oupa verwelkom, Gilbert P. Ellis, into the world on Tuesday, Junie 22, 1915, by which time, hulle woon in St. Louis City. They moved to the city to be closer to his work. Clay mines were located within a couple of blocks of their flat on Magnolia Avenue.
Whether it was from the working in the clay mines, environmental factors, or some other cause, William was stricken with lung problems for six months prior to his premature death on December 4, 1917. Hy was net 40 jaar oud.
His obituary was printed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on December 5, 1917: Dood boodskap van Wm P Ellis, St. Louis Post Burger, 05 Desember 1917 Ellis-Aangegaan res op Dinsdag, Desember. 4, 1917, op 11:20 is in koshuis, 5811 Magnoliastraat, William P. Ellis, geliefde man van Lena Ellis (nee Johann Peter), liewe vader van Gilbert, ons geliefde seun, broer, en seun-in-wet op die ouderdom van 40 jaar, 4 maande en 3 dae. Begrafnis Vrydag om 2:30 uur van Blederwieden-Dunkmann kapel, 1934 St. Louis Laan, New Bethlehem Begraafplaas. Motor.
Vir jare, I thought that William’s lineage traced back through Susan Mustain through to the Plantagenet Kings of Cowardly King John and King Edward III. I recently discovered that I may have traced our lineage through the wrong William H. Ellis. Ongelukkig, William Ellis is a quite common name in both Virginia and Kentucky. I don’t know if or when I will be able to verify this side of the family back past William P. Ellis and his father, William H. Ellis.
Sources: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Desember 5, 1917, p. 17 and Missouri Death Certificate Database
