Who Was W. P. Ellis?
William P. Ellis byl můj pradědeček. Bohužel, zemřel, když můj dědeček, Gilbert P. Ellis, was only two years old. Moje prababička nevěděl moc o Williama rodině. The actual information Grandpa had on him was sparse, so William was the real mystery man in the family history up until 2006 nebo 2007.
Grandpa had a picture of William sitting on a fake moon. William was a giant of a man. Řekl bych, že 6'4″ na 6'6″. My grandfather was 6’4″ sám. Díky digitálním věku, 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 od června 22, 1917, a červen 21, 1918. Můj dědeček byl nejpravdivější, 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 procent přesné.
The Missouri Secretary of State uploaded most Missouri death certificates from 1910 na 1955 to it’s website, když jsem začal toto vyhledávání. The first few times I searched, Nemohl jsem najít William P. Ellis. Konečně, I decided I would search for every death certificate from St. Louis City jak v roce 1917 a 1918 s příjmením Ellis.
Naštěstí, Trefil jsem platové nečistoty 1917. You see my great grandfather’s death certificate listed his first name as “W.P.” a příjmení “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 je ještě slavný pro. 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. Je to výzva, jak genealogie a historie. Pokud nechcete někdo říct nebo ne zaznamenat, Informace o ztrátě.
William moved to St. Charles, Missouri, někdy před 1900 because he mustered into one of the volunteer units going to fight the Spanish-American War on July 9, 1898, na St. Charles, Missouri. He served in the 6th Volunteer Missouri Regiment, Indikátor stavu baterie. He served for two years and mustered out on May 10, 1899.
Moje prababička, Caroline Ellis, lived in St. Charles also. Setkali se někdy před 1912, když se oženil. Května 15, 1912, William P. Ellis si vzal Caroline Leah “Závětří” Johan Peter v St. Charles. Uvítali by můj dědeček, Gilbert P. Ellis, into the world on Tuesday, Červen 22, 1915, do té doby, žili v 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.
Ať už to bylo z práce v hliněných dolech, faktory životního prostředí, or some other cause, William was stricken with lung problems for six months prior to his premature death on December 4, 1917. Byl jen 40 let.
His obituary was printed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on December 5, 1917: OBIT z Wm P Ellis, St. Louis Post Dispatch, 05 Prosince 1917 Ellis-Vstoupila v klidu v úterý, Prosince. 4, 1917, na 11:20 jsem v rezidenci, 5811 Magnolia Avenue, William P. Ellis, milovaný manžel Lena Ellis (rozená Johann Peter), drahý otec Gilbert, náš drahý syn, bratr, a syn-in-law ve věku 40 let, 4 měsíců a 3 dny. Pohřební pátek 2:30 pm od kaple Blederwieden-Dunkmann je, 1934 St. Louis Avenue, New Bethlehem hřbitov. Motor.
Po celá léta, 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. Bohužel, 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, Prosinec 5, 1917, p. 17 and Missouri Death Certificate Database
