Who Was W. P. Ellis?
William P. Ellis bija mans vecvectēvs. Diemžēl, Viņš nomira, kad mans vectēvs, Gilbert P. Ellis, was only two years old. Mana vecvecmāmiņa neko daudz nezināja par William ģimeni. The actual information Grandpa had on him was sparse, so William was the real mystery man in the family history up until 2006 vai 2007.
Grandpa had a picture of William sitting on a fake moon. William was a giant of a man. Es teiktu 6'4″ līdz 6'6″. My grandfather was 6’4″ pats. Pateicoties digitālajā laikmetā, 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 no jūnija 22, 1917, un jūnijā 21, 1918. Mans vectēvs bija ļoti patiesa, 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 percent correct.
The Missouri Secretary of State uploaded most Missouri death certificates from 1910 līdz 1955 to its website, kad es sāku šo meklēšanu. The first few times I searched; Es nevarēju atrast William P. Ellis. Beidzot, I decided I would search for every death certificate from St. Louis City gan gadā 1917 and 1918 ar uzvārdu Ellis.
Laimīgi, I hit maksāt netīrumi 1917. You see my great grandfather’s death certificate listed his first name as “W.P.” un uzvārds “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, Viljama 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 joprojām ir slavena. 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. Tas ir izaicinājums gan ģenealoģiju un vēsturi. If you do not tell someone or do not record it, you lose the information.
William moved to St. Charles, Missouri, dažkārt pirms 1900 because he mustered into one of the volunteer units going to fight the Spanish-American War on July 9, 1898, at St. Charles, Missouri. He served in the 6th Volunteer Missouri Regiment, Gaismas Battery. He served for two years and mustered out on May 10, 1899.
Mana vecvecmāmiņa, Caroline Ellis, lived in St. Charles also. Viņi tikās dažkārt pirms 1912, kad viņi apprecējās. Gada maijā 15, 1912, William P. Ellis precējies Caroline Leah “Patvērums” Johan Peter in St. Charles. Viņi vēlētos apsveikt savu vectēvu, Gilbert P. Ellis, into the world on Tuesday, Jūnijs 22, 1915, līdz tam laikam, viņi dzīvo St. Louis City. They moved to the city to be closer to his work. Clay mines were within a couple of blocks of their flat on Magnolia Avenue.
Vai tas bija no darba ar māla raktuvēs, vides faktori, or some other cause, Lung problems afflicted William for six months until his premature death on December 4, 1917. Viņš bija tikko 40 Vīrietis.
His obituary was printed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on December 5, 1917: Obit no Wm P Ellis, St. Louis Post Nosūtīšana, 05 Decembris 1917 Ellis-Stājās atpūtas otrdien, Decembris. 4, 1917, pie 11:20 esmu dzīvesvietā, 5811 Magnolia Avenue, William P. Ellis, mīļotais vīrs Lena Ellis (nee Johann Peter), dārgais tēvs Gilbert, mūsu mīļais dēls, brālis, un dēls-in-likumu vecumā 40 gadiem, 4 mēnešiem un 3 dienas. Bēru piektdienu 2:30 pm no Blederwieden-Dunkmann kapela, 1934 St. Louis Avenue, New Betlēmes Cemetery. Motors.
Jau gadiem, 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. Diemžēl, William Ellis is a quite common name in both Virginia and Kentucky. I do not 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-nosūtīšana, Decembris 5, 1917, p. 17 and Missouri Death Certificate Database
