Who Was W. P. Ellis?

William P. Ellis te granpapa gwo m '. Malerezman, li te pase lwen lè granpapa m ', Gilbert P. Ellis, was only two years old. Gwo grann mwen pa t 'konnen anpil sou fanmi William a. The actual information Grandpa had on him was sparse, so William was the real mystery man in the family history up until 2006 oswa 2007.

Grandpa had a picture of William sitting on a fake moon. William was a giant of a man. Mwen ta ka di 6'4″ 6'6″. My grandfather was 6’4″ tèt li. Mèsi a laj dijital la, 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, Missouri ant mwa jen 22, 1917, ak jen 21, 1918. Granpapa m 'te pi veridik la, 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 pousan egzat.

The Missouri Secretary of State uploaded most Missouri death certificates from 1910 to 1955 to it’s website, lè mwen te kòmanse sa a rechèch. The first few times I searched, Mwen pa t 'kapab jwenn William P. Ellis. Finalman, I decided I would search for every death certificate from St. Louis City nan tou de ane a 1917 ak 1918 ak non an pase a Ellis.

Erezman, Mwen frape peye pousyè tè nan 1917. You see my great grandfather’s death certificate listed his first name as “W.P.” ak siyati “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 se toujou pi popilè pou. 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. Li se defi a nan tou de liv rejis fanmi ak istwa. Si ou pa di yon moun oswa ou pa anrejistre li, se enfòmasyon an pèdi.

William moved to St. Charles, Missouri, nenpòt moman anvan 1900 because he mustered into one of the volunteer units going to fight the Spanish-American War on July 9, 1898, nan St. Charles, Missouri. He served in the 6th Volunteer Missouri Regiment, Limyè Battery Yon. He served for two years and mustered out on May 10, 1899.

Gwo grann mwen, Caroline Ellis, lived in St. Charles also. Yo te rankontre nenpòt moman anvan 1912, lè yo marye. Sou Me 15, 1912, William P. Ellis marye Caroline Leya “Lee” Johan Pyè nan St. Charles. Yo ta akeyi granpapa m ', Gilbert P. Ellis, into the world on Tuesday, Jen 22, 1915, by which time, yo t ap viv nan 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. Li te jis 40 ane fin vye granmoun.

His obituary was printed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on December 5, 1917: Obit nan Wm P Ellis, St. Louis Post Dispatch, 05 Dec 1917 Ellis-Antre nan rès nan Madi, Dec. 4, 1917, nan 11:20 menm nan rezidans, 5811 Magnolia Avenue, William P. Ellis, renmen anpil mari a Lena Ellis (ne Johann Pyè), mwen renmen anpil papa nan Gilbert, pitit gason mwen renmen anpil nou an, frè, ak pitit gason-an-lwa a laj de 40 ane, 4 mwa ak 3 jou. Ponp Finèb Vandredi nan 2:30 pm soti nan Chapel Blederwieden-Dunkmann a, 1934 St. Louis Avenue, nan New lavil Betleyèm Simityè. Motor.

Pou ane, 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. Malerezman, 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, Desanm 5, 1917, p. 17 and Missouri Death Certificate Database

Kloure Li