Who Was W. P. Ellis?

William P. Ellis estis mia granda avo. #Beda?rinde, he passed away when my grandfather, Gilbert P. Ellis, was only two years old. Mia granda avino ne sciis multe da pri la familio de William. The actual information Grandpa had on him was sparse, so William was the real mystery man in the family history up until 2006 #A? 2007.

Grandpa had a picture of William sitting on a fake moon. William was a giant of a man. Mi dirus 6'4″ Al 6'6″. My grandfather was 6’4″ Li mem. Danke al la diĝita aĝo, 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.

I started out knowing William died in St. Louis, Misuro inter junio 22, 1917, Kaj junio 21, 1918. My grandfather was the most truthful, direct person I have ever known. Mi sciis lian informon estis kiel ĝusta kiel lia memoro permesita. I limited my search to this period even with memory not being 100 percent accurate.

The Missouri Secretary of State uploaded most Missouri death certificates from 1910 Al 1955 to it’s website, when I began this search. The first few times I searched, Mi ne povus trovi William P. Ellis. Fine, I decided I would search for every death certificate from St. Louis Urbo en ambaŭ la jaro 1917 Kaj 1918 Kun la lasta nomo Ellis.

#Bon?ance, Mi frapis salajran malpuraĵon en 1917. You see my great grandfather’s death certificate listed his first name as “W.P.” Kaj lasta nomo “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 naskiĝis aŭgusto 1, 1877, Al 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 still famous for. 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. Ĝi estas la defio de ambaŭ genealogio kaj historio. If you don’t tell someone or don’t record it, La informo estas perdita.

William movis al St. Charles, Misuro, Sometime antaŭe 1900 Ĉar li kolektiĝis en unu el la volontulaj unuoj iranta batali la hispanan-amerika Milito sur julio 9, 1898, Ĉe St. Charles, Misuro. He served in the 6th Volunteer Missouri Regiment, Luma Baterio. He served for two years and mustered out on May 10, 1899.

Mia granda avino, Caroline Ellis, lived in St. Charles also. They met sometime prior to 1912, when they married. Sur majo 15, 1912, William P. Ellis geedziĝis Caroline Leah “Lee” Johannpeter en St. Charles. Ili bonvenigus mian avon, Gilbert P. Ellis, into the world on Tuesday, Junio 22, 1915, by which time, Ili estis vivantaj en St. Louis Urbo. 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. Li estis nur 40 Jaroj malnova.

His obituary was printed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on December 5, 1917: Obit de Wm P Ellis, St. Louis Poŝta Sendo, 05 Dec 1917 Ellis-Enirita en ripozo marde, Dec. 4, 1917, #?E 11:20 Estas ĉe loĝejo, 5811 Magnolia Avenuo, William P. Ellis, Amata edzo de Lena Ellis (Nee Johannpeter), Kara patro de Gilbert, Nia kara filo, Frato, Kaj filo-je-leĝo ĉe la aĝo de 40 Jaroj, 4 Monatoj kaj 3 Tagoj. Enteriga vendredo ĉe 2:30 Pm de Blederwieden-la Kapelo de Dunkmann, 1934 St. Louis Avenuo, Al Nova Bethlehem Tombejo. Motoro.

Por jaroj, 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. #Beda?rinde, 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.

Fontoj: St. Louis Poŝto-Senda, Decembro 5, 1917, P. 17 and Missouri Death Certificate Database

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