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Note: 1. Copied from the Columbia Missouri Statesman of 30 Apr 1886: "ELLIS--In Chicago, April 15th, 1886, of gas poisoning, John Ellis, of Audrain county. He had arrived in Chicago the evening before his death with a lot of cattle and was found in his room in the hotel next morning dead from escaping gas, the supposition being that he blew out instead of turning out the flame. He was one of the leading and most enterprising cattle dealers in Audrain--was born in Callaway, near Boydsville, September 5th, 1820; was an honorable and upright man, always giving liberally towards the support of the Gospel and to charity funds, and by industry and close attention to business gathered around him a comfortable competence. He leaves a wife and several children and a host of friends." 2. Copied from the Mexico Intelligencer of 22 Apr 1886: "JOHN ELLIS Biographical Sketch of this Pioneer Citizen. John Ellis was born in Callaway county, Mo., Sept. 5, 1820. Was married to Miss Rebecca Darby April 13th, 1848, by the Rev. W.W. Robertson. In 1849 they moved to Audrain county and settled twelve miles north of Mexico. The country was then new and it seemed a great undertaking to improve a farm on the prairie. But Mr. Ellis proved that through industry and good management a man could not only live but make money on the prairie. Ten children were born unto them, two of whom died in infancy, and one, Samuel D. Ellis, who was a young man of promise, died in early manhood. On the 11th day of April, 1871, Mr. Ellis was married to Mrs. Elizabeth A. McLean of Boone county, Mo., by the Rev. J.D. Vincil. To them four children were born, three of whom survive. April 13th, 1886, Mr. Ellis started to Chicago with stock, being in better health than usual. After getting the stock safely on the way he took the passenger train, leaving a hired man to cope with them. On arriving at Chicago he went to the stock yards and made an assignment of his stock and then went to the Transit Hotel, ate supper and retired in order to get a night's rest and be ready for the morrow. But alas! to awake no more in this life. When he turned off the gas he turned the stop too far and died from its effects. When the telegram brought back the sad news that John Ellis was dead, the shock to the family can be better imagined than told. His body was embalmed and brought home for interment. It arrived at Mexico on the 3 o'clock train Friday, the 16th, and was met by the sorrow stricken family and carried home. On Saturday the funeral was preached by the writer to a large concourse of friends who came to sympathize with the family, after which his remains were laid to rest beside his former wife in the cemetery at Berea church. Mr. Ellis will be much missed outside of his own family. As a business man he had few equals, and while making money he was liberal toward the needy. He had long been a member of the Methodist church but was liberal with other demoninations. But none will feel his loss so keenly as his wife and children. May an allwise God comfort and bring them all to the home of the good where there will be no parting. Wm. _. Younger" 3. Copied from the Mexico Weekly Ledger of 22 Apr 1886: "Sudden Death John Ellis, one of Audrain's best known and leading stock dealers, went to Chicago last week with stock and was brought back a corpse. The Chicago Drover's Journal gives this account of his death. John Ellis, a wealthy stockman of Mexico, Mo., who arrived in advance of four loads of cattle he had enroute for the stock yards, took up quarters at the Transit House and, on retiring to his room at a late hour, disregarded the warning hanging to the gas-brackets and blew out the gas. When, a few hours later, the man in charge of the stock knocked at Ellis' door he received no answer. The door was then forced in and the unfortunate man was found dead in his bed." 4. Copied from pages 737-739, History of Audrain County, Missouri (1884): "JOHN ELLIS farmer and stock raiser. In the lives of such men as the one whose name heads this sketch lies the true history of the development, growth and prosperity of Audrain county. It is such as he that have made this county what it is --- one of the fore- most in the great State of Missouri. Coming here in the early days of the county, poor, a young married man, and with nothing but his own brawn and brain to rely on for success in life, he went to work with that resolution and intelligence on the rich soil of Audrain county that, as the years circled round, could not fail to bring him abundant prosperity, and place him in the front rank of successful agriculturists and worthy, useful citizens of the State. Thus he with others of his kind have built up this county, and stand out to-day as the true monuments of its progress and prosperity. John Ellis was born in Callaway county September 5, 1820, about the time that Missouri was admitted into the Union. He came of an old pioneer settler of this State and a gallant old soldier of the War of 1812. His father, Abraham Ellis, was a native of Virginia. When he was a boy the family removed to East Tennessee, and afterwards to St. Louis county, Missouri, when the Indian and the bear were still in the country. A young man, he enlisted with Capt. McAllister in the Canadian War, as it was called, and served until the triumph of Jackson at New Orleans, and the restoration of peace. He married Miss Mary Truesdale and came to Callaway county in 1818. He died there in 1848 at the age of sixty-three. He was twice married, Mr. Ellis' mother being his second wife. His first wife, whose maiden name was Lee, was a near relative to Gen. Robert E. Lee. By each wife there were seven children. John Ellis grew up in Callaway county, and remained at home until the outbreak of the Mexican War, when he enlisted in the army, and did gallant service under the flag of his country. Coming back afterwards, he made the trip from the land of the cactus in the dead of winter, and brought back the U.S. mail by special charge. Mr. Ellis remained at home with his parents, giving them his labor on the farm until after his marriage, which was in the spring of 1848. Miss Rebecca Darby then became his wife. He now bought a sawmill near Fulton, partly on time, and paid for it by his own hard labor. He sawed the lumber for the State Lunatic Asylum under special contract, making some money, and continued to run the mill for sixteen months. Selling it at the expiration of that time, he came to Audrain county and bought 140 acres of land, and went to work to make himself a home. He worked steadily, untiringly, in season and out of season, and prospered abundantly. He soon engaged in stock raising and bought some slaves. His farm steadily expanded, and when the war broke out he owned over 500 acres of fine land, and was one of the wealthy men of the county. He lost over $10,000 by the war in slaves and other property; still, his estate was not seriously crippled. He was largely engaged in shipping mules to the South prior to the war. Since then he has confined himself mainly to raising and handling cattle and hogs, in which he is very successful. His homestead contains nearly 600 acres, and is one of the finest and best farms in the county. Besides this he has 640 acres of fine land in the vicinity. Mr. Ellis had the misfortune to lose his first wife. She left him a large family of children: John W., Samuel D. (now deceased), Rebecca R., now Mrs. William H. Wallace, of Mexico; Jennie, Anna B., Ira J., Amanda L., now Mrs. Lowery Smith; Jefferson Davis, now attending the State University, and Abraham P. S.D., who died in 1882, was a young man of the brightest promise, a graduate of the State Normal School at Kirksville, and school commissioner of Audrain county. To his present wife, whose maiden name was Miss Elizabeth Callahan, he was married in 1871. She had been once married to a Mr. McLean. Mr. and Mrs. E. have three children. Nolan, Arthur and Octave. Mr. Ellis has been a public-spirited citizen, and has done a great deal for the vicinity in the cause of education. He has held the office of magistrate, but never had any political ambition, and has been anxious to live only an upright life, devoted to his family and to the best interests of his county and country. His life has been such that no descendant of his will ever be ashamed to point to him as a worthy ancestor." 5. Copied from the 28 Jun 1941 issue of The Mexico Evening Ledger: "ELLIS FAMILY, ESTABLISHED IN COUNTY 91 YEARS AGO, ONE of MOST PROMINENT Mrs. W.H. Wallace, One of Three Surviving Children of Squire John Ellis I Who Fathered 14, Recalls Exciting Civil War Days on Audrain Farm (Editor's Note:--This article is based on an interview with Mrs. Wallace, arranged by Mrs. C.C. Hammond, curator of the Audrain Historical Society, who is anxious to preserve and call to current attention, early days of the county, rich in history and interest). Ninety-one years ago, Squire John Ellis came over from his native Callaway county, acquired hundreds of acres of virgin land north of Mexico not far from the Monroe county line, and established a family that remains one of the most prominent in north and central Missouri. Fourteen children were born to Squire Ellis and his two wives, four of them in the solid, handsome old red brick house that he built in 1868 on a 600 acre place that was only a part of the some 2,000 acres that he operated as a prosperous farmer and stockman. The house still stands on a tract bought from R.C. Gass, as sturdy as the day it was constructed of red clay dug right from the hills of the farm it dominates, and it is still occupied by the Squire's descendants. The present occupants of the Ellis homestead--fashioned after that of the southern planter--are the Squire's grandson, Clyde Ellis; his wife, Mrs. Lucy Baker Ellis, and their daughters. Across the pasture and west, on another part of the original Ellis acreage, lives another grandson, John Ellis III, (new state agriculture commissioner), with his wife, Mrs. Mary Moore Ellis and their daughter, Marjorie. Four John Ellis' Squire Ellis was the first to bear the name of John. But the name has lived along with the Ellis family home, and the Ellis tradition and prestige. John William Ellis II, father of Clyde and John III, was Squire Ellis' eldest son. His great grandson is John Ellis IV now of Paris. Mrs. Wallace Soon 88 Mrs. Rebecca Rosetta Wallace, widow of the late William H. Wallace, was Squire Ellis' fourth child and second daughter. She is one of the three who survive from among his two sets of 14 children, and next August 20 will observe her 88th birthday. In splendid health, she resides at 511 South Jefferson street with her only daughter, Miss Maude Orita Wallace, and recalls clearly the log cabin in which she was born, the excitement of Civil War days, and the building of the "big house," in which she was the first Ellis Bride. Squire John Ellis had been born in Callaway county in 1820, of parents who had come from Virginia. In 1850, he and his wife, who was Rebecca Darby of Maryland, brought their three children into north Audrain and established their family. For years they lived in a four-room log cabin and there were born their other seven children. The cabin stood not far from the site where early in the summer 73 years ago, they started con- struction of the big eight-room two-story brick home. Around six months later the house was finished, but Mrs. Ellis did not live to enjoy the comforts of one of Audrain county's finest residences, the show place of its day. She died before the family moved in, so 15 year old Rebecca Rosetta, the eldest living daughter, took her mother's place as feminine head of the household. In 1871 Squire Ellis remarried. His bride was Mrs. Elizabeth Callahan McLean and to them were born four children. The Squire died in 1886, and the big red brick house was home for many years to his widow and children, until it became the property of his grandson, Clyde, who with his daughters, became the third and four generations of Ellis' to occupy the "big house." 14 Children The children of Squire and Rebecca Darby Ellis were, in the order of their arrival: John William II, who married Molly Smith, then at her death, Elizabeth Trumbo, mother of John Ellis III and Clyde Ellis; Mary Jane who died in her youth, Samuel Darby, former school commissioner, Mrs. Wallace, Malinda Jane, Anna Belle who became Mrs. W.V. White of Muskogee, Okla., Ira James of Muskogee, Amanda Lee (Callie) who married Lowry Smith of Morewood, Okla., Jefferson Davis of Muskogee, and Abraham Pinckney, who died in Old Mexico. Only Mrs. Wallace and Jefferson Davis survive. The children of the Squire and Mrs. Elizabeth McLean Ellis, were: Octave, now residing at Laddonia, and the late Nolan of Muskogee, Arthur of Callaway and Mary Elizabeth. The Squire's descendants also include 35 grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren, and three great great grand- children. Such was the family established by this north Audrain pioneer, rooted in this county, but sending branches to other states. War Memories The Civil War years of 1861-65 are clear in Mrs. Wallace's memory. She summed it all up the other day with a wave of her hand, the flash of bright eyes that shall never forget, but without bitterness: "The Federals came in flocks." The Ellis', Mrs. Wallace said, were loyal Southerners. The Squire was aided in the operation of his vast acreage and household by five slaves, some of whom remained with him right through the war. Mrs. Wallace related how the soldiers hauled off her father's crop to feed Gen. Grant when he and his troops were stationed in Mexico, and how they ordered meals cooked in the Ellis house. "For as many as 40 a day," she said. What she termed the "Feds" --- going back to the abbreviation of many years ago---often searched the house, but she smiled as she related how they never found the gold money that her father entrusted to her as the eldest daughter, to hide in a pocket in her petticoat. Although the gold pieces were heavy, and often inconvenient, she proudly recalled that she never lost a single piece. Cared For Wounded Officer A particular exciting time for the Ellis household, was that during which they cared for young Capt. Bryson, a Confederate officer from Centralia, as he lay wounded but safely hidden in the bushes not far from the Ellis home. Capt. Bryson was wounded in skermishes on the Joe Botts farm, and was carried on a home-made stretcher one night, to the Ellis place. Because of the frequent appearance of "Feds" it was not safe to keep him in the house, so he lay in the bushes for three weeks, and with care and attention from the Ellis', recovered. Later he was married to Miss Josie Mundy, a sister of J.C. Mundy of this city. Mrs. Wallace even recalled that it was Logan Mundy and Joe Miller who walked so many miles one night to carry the wounded officer to safety. The "Big House" But the war and its ravaging failed to affect seriously the Ellis fortunes, so three years after its close, they began construction of their new home. A minature brick yard was set up not far from the site, and under the direction of Andrew Harrison, who started what is now the A.P. Green Fire Brick company plant, clay was dug from the Ellis hills (a pond now covers the pit) and molded by hand into bricks, that were laid by Carter Cauthorn, his son Carter, and Billy Hendrix into the strong double walls of the house. Mrs. Wallace recalled Mr. Harrison had 16 helpers in his work, slow and tedious compared to modern stream-lined methods. Evans and Gibbs were the carpenters who laid the broad white pine floors, erected the high ceilings and long windows. A Mr. Goodman, Mrs. Wallace, said, did the "graining" on the woodwork. The house faces the east. Squire Ellis took no chances in his direction and used a compass to get his home "square with the world." Under the dining room and kitchen, he dug a basement, and across the back he added a two-story porch with gallery. Mrs. Wallace's Wedding It was in this house that young Rebecca Rosetta, at 19, became the first Ellis bride. She had had an active girlhood--- managing a large household of younger children, knitting socks and stockings for them, and even fashioning a suit for her father. For those were the days when everything was made at home, and there were no ready-to-wear stores. She had been educated at a little log school house, two miles away across Young's Creek, and at the Audrain Female Seminary at Mexico, later Hardin College, and the Palmyra Methodist Seminary, headed by the Rev. Marshall McElhenny, whose brother Douglas married Louisa Houston of this city. Spelling bees were the chief school recreation, and Mrs. Wallace cherishes a Bible, presented by her teacher, Whitley Hendrix, she won in a match in 1864. So, one Sunday morning of May 25, 1873 at 9 o'clock, she was married to William Henry Wallace in the south room of the Ellis home. The Rev. Charles W. Collette, a Methodist "circuit rider" read the ceremony. The bride wore an ashes of roses silk poplin dress, a white wreath of flowers on her brown hair which hung in a long curl over one shoulder, and white kid gloves, and carried a fan. After the wedding, the newly-weds drove by horse and buggy to "preaching" at Long Branch church, then returned home for a family dinner. Mr. Wallace was from Kentucky. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Wallace had purchased in 1865 the farm that later was owned by Robert Kerr. And it was there that William Henry and his bride resided for a year, until they moved to Mexico in 1874. They were the parents of two children, Miss Maude Orita, and the late Chief of Police, Sam Wallace. Mr. Wallace died in 1924. Despite an ankle fracture in 1897, the result of a fall down cellar steps at the Kidwell home in Montgomery City, where as district secretary of the Methodist Women's Missionary Society she was attending a meeting, Mrs. Wallace was active for many years in the Methodist church, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She never recovered from that injury. But her health is good and her memory for facts, names, dates and incidents that have made up her interesting and colorful life, splendid. One name she clearly recalls, is that of Count Viers, who came over from France with Lafayette to fight with the colonists in the Revolution- ary War. For she is one of his descendants. Her maternal grandmother was the count's granddaughter, Jane Viers who married an Englishman, Darby, in Maryland. There the family remained until one of them, Rebec- ca, was wed to Squire John Ellis, "pioneered" in north Audrain county, and was the first person to be buried at Berea church cemetery. House Modernized The house she had helped to plan, but never lived to enjoy, is largely unchanged from its original state. However, it has been maintained with necessary repairs, modernized with electricity, plumbing and a furnace, and remains one of the handsomest and most outstanding landmarks in Audrain. Not far from it is the Ellis rural school for which Squire Ellis donated the land, and much of the money needed to construct the original school house." 6. 1850 Callaway county, MO census: 424 424 John Ellis (tenant) 30 M Sawyer 150 MO Rebecca 25 F MO John Wm. 1 M MO Hiram Miller 19 M Sawyer MO 1860 Audrain county, MO census, Salt River Twp., 6 Jul 1860: 657 654 John Ellis 39 M Farmer 9340 MO Rebecca 34 F Hkeeper Md J.W. 11 M MO Saml. D. 9 M MO Rosetta 7 F MO Malinda 4 F MO A.B. 2 F MO Ira 7/12 M MO 1870 Audrain county MO census: Eller, John 48 MW Farmer 10000 VA John 21 MW Farmer MO Samuel 18 MW Farming MO Soretta 16 FW at Home MO Malinda 15 FW at Home MO Anna 13 FW at Home MO Ira 10 MW At School MO Manda 9 FW MO Jefferson 7 MW MO Abram 2 MW MO Manda 50 FB KY Moses 5 MB MO 1880 Audrain county, MO census: 265 270 Ellis, John WM 57 Farmer MO TN TN Elizabeth A. WF 44 wife Keeping House MO VA VA Annie WF 23 daughter at home MO MO MO Callie WF 17 daughter at home MO MO MO Jefferson D. WM 17 son works on farm MO MO MO Pinkney A. WM 12 son works on farm MO MO MO Noland V. WM 7 son MO MO MO Arthur M. WM 5 son MO MO MO Octave F. WM 1 son MO MO MO 7. Copied from Marriage Records of Callaway county, MO, Book B:177 The undersigned certify that he Joined in Marriage -- Also on the 13th Ap. 1848 John Ellis and Rebecca Darby. W.W. Robertson Copied from Marriage Records of Boone county, MO, page 464: State of Missouri County of Boone Certifies that on the 11th day of April 1871, I assisted in Marriage, John Ellis and Elizabeth A. McLane, both of the County and State aforesaid. John D. Vincil Minister of the Gospel 8. Copied from the Cook county, IL Coroner's Inquest: State of Illinois County of Cook An inquisition was taken for the People of the State of Illinois at 748-43d St. in the Town of Lake in the County of Cook, on the 15th day of April A.D. 1886 before me, Henry L. Hertz, Coroner, in and for said County, upon view of the body of John Ellis then and there lying dead, upon the oaths of six good and lawful men of the said County, who being duly sworn to inquire on the part of the People of the State of Illinois, into all the circumstances attending the death of the said John Ellis and by whom the same was produced, and in what manner and when and where the said John Ellis came to his death, do say, upon their oaths, as afore- said, that the said John Ellis now lying dead at 748-43d St in said Town of Lake, County of Cook, State of Illinois, came to his death on the 15th day of April A.D. 1886 from asphyxia by escaping gas. In Testimony Whereof, the said Coroner and the Jury of this Inquest have hereunto set their hands the day and year aforesaid. Edw. W. Fisrnam, Foreman John Barrett A.J. Webber D.J. Doyle John Ryan J. O'Brien Henry L. Oberst, Coroner P. Knopf, Deputy At an inquest upon the body of John Ellis held April 15th 1886 at 748 43d St. County of Cook, State of Illinois, personally appeared T.E. Anderson who being sworn according to law, deposes and says: My name is T.E. Anderson, I reside at Audrain Co., Miss and am by occupation Laborer. I have known the deceased for the last four years. I have been working for him for the last three months, he was 60 years of age and was born in Missouri and was a farmer and Stock dealer by occupation, a married man. On last Tuesday the deceased and I left home to go to Chicago with some Stock. He left me on the road and took the passenger train for Chicago. I did not see him any more until I seen him dead at the Transit house. I don't know of my own personal knowledge how he came to his death. T.E. Anderson At an inquest upon the body of John Ellis held April 15th 1886 at 748 43d St. County of Cook, State of Illinois, personally appeared Thomas Roach who being sworn according to law, deposes and says: My name is Thomas Roach , I reside at 3542 Wallace St. and am by occupation Bell boy at Transit House. This morning at about half past six the clerk sent me to Room 86 to awake a gentleman. I went to his room and knocked at his door but received no answer. I then came down and told the clerk, he told me to go th his room again, in about an hour I went again at about eight o'clock and when I came to his room I smelled gas. I then went down stairs and told Mr. Howard, he came up with me and helped me climb over the transom to open the door. When Mr. Howard came in he turned the gas jet off. It is on the side of the wall and can be easily reached by anyone. Mr. Howard sent for a doctor right away. He came and said the man was dead. Thomas Roach At an inquest upon the body of John Ellis held April 15th 1886 at 748 43d St. County of Cook, State of Illinois, personally appeared L.E. Howard who being sworn according to law, deposes and says: My name is L.E. Howard, I reside at Transit House and am by occupation manager, Transit House. The deceased came to our Hotel at about 4 P.M. on April 14th 1886, he got a room, it was number 86. I did not take particular notice of him, he retired at about 8 P.M. This morning at about 8 A.M. the bell boy came to me and told me that he tried to wake the man in room 86 but could not and told me that he thought he smelled escaping gas. I went up to his room and got a ladder and got the boy to go through the transom and open the door. I found the deceased laying in bed dead. There was one of the gas jets turned on. I turned it off and sent for a doctor that was in my house. He came and pronounced him dead. All my gas fixtures are in good order and we have a card hanging beneath every gas jet warning guests not to blow the gas out but turn it off. How he came to leave the gas open is unknown to me. He had been at my house before. L.E. Howard 9. In 1890 Elizabeth Ellis submitted a widow's brief for a service pension based upon the Mexican War service of John Ellis. She stated that he served in a regiment of Missouri Volunteers commanded by Col. Donipahn and that he had enlisted at Platte City in Platte county, MO in the spring of 1846 and that he served for about one year and that he was discharged at ("I think") Fort Leavenworth, Kas. in 1847. At the time of his enlistment *** he was a farmer and his personal description was: age 24, fair complexion, blue eyes, black hair, about 5' 7" in height. (Along with this claim there were wittness statements submitted; one by John A. Leopard and Enoch Duley contained the information were both in the war with John Ellis and they saw him working as a teamster in Santa Fe in the winter of 1846 & 1847 and "we think" in January 1847. In another document, when John Ellis applied for bounty land, it was stated that he was a teamster on wagon master Miller's rolls and wagon master Murphy's rolls--dates shown 1 Dec 1846 to 28 Feb 1847. The bounty land declaration was numbered 295,476). The following three letters pertain to (1) bounty land and (2) the widow's pension. May 9, 1904 Sirs:- In response to your request for information as to title to pension of the widow of John Ellis, an alleged soldier in the Mexican War, you are advised that this Bureau cannot express an opinion on that subject until a claim has been presented and all the facts in the case duly considered. In any event, the name of the company and regiment will be required. From the data given in your letter, the bounty land claim alleged to have been issued in favor of a John Ellis, cannot be identified. It appears, however, that the John Ellis from Missouri received a land warrent for service as a teamster in the Mexican War, but the widow of that man would have no title to pension as the pension laws make no provision for services as a civilian employe. Very respectfully, Comissioner John W. Bowell, Esq., Mexico, Missouri. August 26, 1904--a letter from the Dept. of Interior, General Land Office, Washington, D.C. Sir: As per your request of August 17, 1904, you are advised that warrant 86589 (160 acres Act 1855,) in name of John Ellis was located November 10 1860 by Timothy Marnon assignee of the warrantee. Respectfully, Acting Commissioner [in a letter sent by Mrs. E.A. Ellis to the U.S. Commissioner of Pensions, the following identification numbers were used: 86,589 - 160 - 55 and Mex. W.O. 9537] Sept. 3, 1904. Rejected No. 9537 Elizabeth A., widow of John Ellis, Mexican War Sir: In reply to your letter of July 1, 1904, addressed to Mr. Henry D. Phillips and relating to the above-cited claim for pension, you are advised that it was rejected May 16, 1893, on the ground that claimant's husband was a civilian employee (teamster) in the Quartermaster Department and not an enlisted man in the Army or Navy. Bounty land was granted to claimant's husband, as service of the character rendered by him gives title thereto, but such service is not pensionable under the law. Very respectfully, Commissioner Mr. George W. Hamilton, Fulton, Mo. 10. Audrain county, MO probate records show the following land owned by John Ellis at the time of his death in 1886: NE 1/4----------------- Sec 3-52-9 NE 1/4 of the NW 1/4--- Sec 3-52-9 (this amounts to SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 | 360 acres of land) W 1/2 SE 1/4 |--Sec 34-53-9 SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 | In 1885 John Ellis had "sold" 880 acres of land to his children. The above adds up to 1,240 acres. 11. Land obtained by John Ellis in Audrain county, MO prior to his death: 1. Bounty Land Warrant #86589-160-55, 160 acres. A copy of this warrant has not yet been located so the exact location of this land is unknown; 2. 10 May 1852. Deed Book D:147-148. Purchased for $650.00 from James R.C. and Margaret Gass of Callaway county, MO the following 140 acres: SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Sec 34-53-9 NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Sec 3-52-9 NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Sec 35-53-9 N 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Sec 25-53-9 3. 20 Feb 1856. Deed Book F:332-333. Purchased for $750.00 from George and Mary Watson about 123 acres: 5 acres in the NW corner of E 1/2 of SW 14 in Sec 35-53-9 E 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of Sec 3-53-9 SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Sec 3-53-9 (except for 10 acres beginning at the NW corner of the SE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 running S 33 1/4 poles, E 48 1/3 poles, N 33 1/3 poles and W 48 1/3 poles; also 12 acres across the E side of NE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Sec 3-53-9). This last 18 acres may have been purchased for $355.00 from the sheriff's sale of John Hammond's land on 13 Jun 1873, the records are not clear (see Deed Book W:85). 4. 1863. Deed Book L:627. Land purchased from James Davis; did not find this transaction. Also, did not find the transaction of 15 Oct 1870 in Deed Book 40:457 concerning the purchase of 80 acres from Ellen Davis (W 1/2 of the SE 1/4 of Sec 34-53-9). 5. 14 Dec 1872. Deed Book 5:422. Purchased 160 acres for $1120.00 from John G. and Minerva Wilfley: SE 1/4 of Section 18-52-9. 6. 1 Sep 1877. Deed Book Y:332. Purchase of 40 acres for $113.00 from Aaron Richardson (by trustee): SW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Sec 7-52-10. 7. 14 May 1879. Deed Book Z:353. Purchase of 320 acres from the estate of Samuel M. Duley for $2,285.65: W 1/2 of Sec 14-52-9. 8. 6 Nov 1880. Deed Book 14:85. Purchased 40 acres from John H. and Elizabeth Charlton for $500.00: SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Sec 34-53-9. 9. 14 Nov 1881. Deed Book 16:440. Purchased 200 acres for $1,400.00 from the heirs of W.W. Wilson: SE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Sec 10-52-9 NW 1/4 of Sec 11-52-9. 10. 16 Nov 1881. Deed Book 16:226. Purchased 331 acres for $6,400.00 from Charles H. and Mary B. Harden: W 1/2 of Sec 13-52-9 11 acres off the S end of that part of the E 1/2 of the NE 1/4 that lies S of Youngs Creek in Sec 12-52-10. (The above purchases, including the BLW, total 1,494 acres.) 12. In the 1860 Audrain co., MO Slave Schedule, John Ellis of Salt River Twp. was listed as being the owner of four slaves. 13. John Ellis and Elizabeth A. Ellis were charter members of the Olivet United Methodist Church that was organized in the Spring of 1869. SOURCES INCLUDE: Marriage records of Callaway county, MO; Book B:177. Marriage records of Boone county, MO. Berea Cemetery, Audrain county, MO. Deed records of Audrain county, MO. History of Audrain county, MO. 1850 Callaway co., MO census. 1860, 1870 and 1880 Audrain county, MO census. Bible records (from Mrs. Robert E. Boen). Bible records of Elizabeth Callaghan McLean Ellis. Pension application for Elizabeth Callaghan McLean Ellis obtained from the National Archives (based on Mexican War "service" of John Ellis). Columbia Missouri Statesman 14 Apr 1871. Mexico Intelligencer 22 Aug 1886. Mexico Ledger 8 and 13 Mar 1924. History of Audrain County, Missouri (1884) pages 737-739. Mexico Intelligencer 8 and 13 Mar 1924. Correspondence with David W. Higgins of Eau Claire, WI. .
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