HISTORY OF JONATHAN
AND ANN DAVIES ELLIS AND THEIR FAMILY
Jonathan
Ellis was born about 17 January 1817 at Rhosllanerchrugog, Denbighshire, North Wales to John Ellis. (His mother’s name is unknown at this time.
Research is continuing.)
He
married Ann Davies, the daughter of Robert Davies, on 21 April 1838, in the
Baptist Chapel at Cefn Mawr in the parish of Ruabon, Denbighshire, North Wales. We have birth records of four children born
to them. In addition, family records
indicate there was a daughter named Ann, but we have been unable to find
documentary proof of her birth.
Mair (or Mary) was born 25 May, 1830. Lazarus was born 1 July 1843. Jonathan was born 28 Aug, 1847, but died on
24 January 1848. Another son was also
named Jonathan, and he was born exactly two years later than the first
Jonathan, on 28 August 1849. It appears
that all of the children were born in Ruabon Parish.
Census
records for 1841 have not been located, but in 1851, the family was enumerated
in the Hope district of Wrexham, Denbigh, North Wales.
Their record was found in Brymbo
Township (FHL MF 104268,
1851, page 18, #63, and their address was Lan y Capped). Jonathan’s occupation was collier.
It is
clear that in early life Jonathan and his wife, Ann, as many Welsh people were
religious non-conformists since they were married in the Baptist Church
rather than the Church of England.
(However, I have reason to believe that the Ellis family
were members of the Church of England.
My research indicates that Robert Davies married Mary Thomas in the
Anglican Church –Church of England—and the birth of their first child,
Elizabeth was recorded in parish records.
The births of Ann and three later children—Martha, Richard and
Robert—were recorded in the non-conformist Independent Church of
Rhosllanerchrugog). In the early 1850’s
John and Ann Ellis joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Emigration records from the Liverpool office
of the British Mission (LDS
Church) for 1854-55 show
that Jonathan, Ann and their children Mair, Lazarus, and Jonathan sailed on the
ship Cynosure on 29 July 1855 in the company of George Seager. Their ticket cost 17 pounds 15 shillings. Their address prior to sailing was given as
Brymbo N2 Wrexham, North Wales. They arrived at New York 5 Sep 1855.
Apparently
Jonathan sought employment in the coal mines of Pennsylvania
shortly after his arrival in America. His daughter, Mary, married Emanuel Thomas,
who emigrated from Ponkey, Ruabon, Denbighshire, North Wales, on the Ship
Caravan, which arrive din New York
on 14 Feb, 1856. Emanuel and Mary left Minersville, Pennsylvania,
where their first two children were born and died, and went to St. Clair
County, Illinois. It seems Emanuel was
following the mines to obtain what employment he could. Their third child William was born in
O’Fallon, St. Clair County, Illinois, in early 1860 (or possibly 1861). He was not listed in the 1860 Census, but may
have died before the date of that enumeration, 11 July 1860, when Emanuel and
Mary were living in Caseyville, Illinois, which is now a part of the city of Belleville, Illinois.
With aid from the Mormon Perpetual Emigration Fund, they crossed the plains to Utah in the summer of either 1860 or 1861, and their
fourth child Sarah Jane Thomas, my grandmother, was born 29Aug 1862, in Salt Lake City. Mary gave birth to six more children in Utah. My grandmother Sarah and Emanuel and Lazarus
were the only ones who survived to adulthood.
The three youngest children all died within a 3-week period in late 1880
from either diphtheria or scarlet fever.
Another son, Jonathan, died as an infant about 1865. Mary died 14 July 1883 in Goshen,
Utah County, Utah.
Jonathan
and Ann and their two sons Lazarus and Jonathan stayed in Pennsylvania. The 1860 Census found them o 30 July 1860
living in Minersville, Pennsylvania. Both Jonathan and his son
Lazarus were working in the coal mines.
On 1
June 1857 Jonathan D. Ellis petitioned for U. S. Citizenship, which was granted
to him by the Court of Common Pleas of the County of Schuylkill
on 5 March 1860. The History of
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, edited by Adolf W. Schalek and Hon. D. C.
Henning of the State Historical Association, and published in 1907, gives a
short history of “Shenandoah: Past and Present”. This account begins on page 235. It states in part: “Among the men who came
here in 1863 and who afterward became prominent in the affairs of the borough,
were Bartholmew Dillman, Richard Harrington, Jonathan Wasley, Daniel Ellis,
Jacob Dilmer, Jonathan Ellis, Peter Ward, Patrick Bradigan and Martin
Franey. About this time, the population
increased rapidly…”
In the
spring of 1864 T. W. Davis, Jonathan Ellis and
others organized a Welsh Sunday School, which was held at the residence of
Lancelot Evans, on Main Street. T. W. Davis was the superintendent. In this Sunday School,
the first sermon in the Welsh language was preached by Rev. Mr. Hughes, a Welsh
minister of St. Clair. Further research
shows that this Sunday School grew into the First
Welsh Congregational Church.
Film
US/CAN #1405960, Index to deeds, page 305, shows Jonathan Ellis purchased on 1
Aug 1864 for $150 property on the east side of West Street for 150 feet to
Jardin Street, being Lot No. 4 of Block 5 in the map of Shenandoah. The sellers of the property, William and
Agnes Bowers, Josiah P. and Margaret White, Samuel H. and Amanda Jardin, and
Samuel Lloyd, all of Philadelphia,
PA, reserved all fossil or
mineral coal, iron, and other ores and minerals, mining rights, timber rights,
water rights, and railroad rights. It is
not clear whether there were buildings on the site which Jonathan purchased, as
the handwriting of the deed is difficult to read.
In
August 1870, Jonathan, his wife Ann, and sons Lazarus and Jonathan were enumerated
in the census of Shenandoah
City. Jonathan’s occupation was Postmaster, and
Lazarus and Jonathan were clerks at the colliery. The value of his real estate
and person property was shown as $2200.
This indicates that he was an industrious and capable manager of his
resources.
The
“Miners’ Daily Journal”, published in Pottsville, PA, on Wednesday Mar 26,
1873, reports the death of Mr. Ellis as follows: “Mr. J. D. Ellis of Shenandoah late
postmaster who had been living at the point of death for sometime, died
yesterday morning. Mr. Ellis was a
prominent Welshman and enjoyed the esteem of his countrymen to a marked
degree.”
The
issue of the “Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star” of Tuesday, 29 Apr 1873,
published in England,
contains the following notation:
Died
Ellis.—at
Shenandoah, PA, U>S>A>, March 25th
Mr. Jonathan D. Ellis, in the fifty-seventh year of his age.”
His headstone in the Oddfellows
Cemetery in Shenandoah Heights, PA,
carries the following epitaph:
“Beneath
Are the Remains of the Late Jonathan D. Ellis,
The Old Respected Postmaster of this Borough. Native
of Rhosllanerchrugog, North Wales. Died March 25, 1873, age 56
years.”
There are 3 additional lines on the stone which may be in
the Welsh language. These are not
legible now.
Jonathan’s
Last Will and Testament dated 14 Feb 1873 bequeathed his property to his
beloved wife, Ann Ellis, for her natural life, and after her death the
remaining property was to be divided between his two sons, Lazarus J. Ellis and
Jonathan E. Ellis, and they were to pay his daughter, Mary Thomas, $400.
However,
on 10 Sep 1874, Anna Ellis made her will bequeathing $25 to her daughter, Mary
Thomas, and all the remainder of her property to her son, Lazarus. From this we assume that Jonathan died
sometime between 14 Feb 1873 and 10 Feb 1874.
There was a disastrous fire in the City of Shenandoah in 1883, which reportedly
destroyed over one-fourth of the city, including the newspaper office. We could find no records to determine with
certainty the fate of Jonathan E. Ellis.
Anna
Ellis’ will was probated on or about 4 Apr 1877, indicating that she died
shortly before that date. Further
research of the newspaper, Evening Herald—Shenandoah, gives her date of death
as 13 Mar 1877 at half-past 9 o’clock in the morning. She died at her residence on Jardin St. The obituary reads as follows:
“The
deceased was the widow of Jonathan Ellis, the first postmaster in this borough,
and who died some few years ago. She was
66 years old, and will be buried on Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock in Odd
Fellows’ cemetery. All relatives and
friends are invited to the funeral.”
The
1880 Census of Shenandoah, enumerated on 5 June 1880, shows Lazarus J. Ellis
living at 14 Jardin Street with his wife, Annie, age 25, and 2 daughters, Mary
Jane, age 3 and Ruth, age 1. The
occupation of Lazarus was shown as “laborer”.
Lazarus
is listed as a charter member of the first fire company organized in
Shenandoah, the Columbia Hose and Steam Fire Engine Co., No. 1, which was organized
July 11, 1870 and granted a charter July 29, 1875. This record appears in the Joseph H. Zerbey
History of Pottsville and Schuylkill County, PA,
page 1172.
In 1876
Lazarus was the Administrator of the Estate of Robert Bostock. Nothing is given of his relationship to Mr. Bostock.
Deed
Book #209 for Schuylkill
County, page 427, records
the sale on 1 July 1889 by Hannah Williams and Edward V. Williams, her husband
(she having been prior to her marriage to Edward V. Williams the widow of
William E. Thomas. Joining with Hannah
as sellers were her daughters, Ann Ellis (who was a daughter of William E.
Thomas, and who married L. J. Ellis, deceased), Ruth Thomas, and Rosanne Davis
and her husband, John H. Davis.
Roseanne is also shown to be the daughter of William E. Thomas. With the family of Edward V. Williams and
Hannah, his wife, the 1880 census lists William Thomas, age 13, his stepson. So William E. Thomas and Hannah had at least
four children, all of whom were born in Wales.
June
29, 1889, Mrs. Ann Ellis renounced her right to Act as Administratrix of her
deceased husband’s estate, and requested the appointment of Thomas T.
Williams. Mr. Williams may have been her
stepbrother. The administration papers
give the date of Lazarus J. Ellis’ death as “on or about the 18th
day of June, 1889.”
The Census of 1900 shows daughters Mary Jane and Ruth, and son
William J., age 19, living with Annie Ellis, head of the household at 14 South Jardin Street,
Shenandoah Ward 3. Whether any
additional children were born to Lazarus and Annie, we do not know. Mary Jane married William Shortridge, and
some of her descendants still live in PA.
We believe Ruth married William Schriver, although we have not been able
to verify this information. She gave
birth to twins, both of whom are now deceased.
The City Directory for Schuylkill
County for 1905-6 on file
at the Historical Society of Schuylkill County, 14 North Third Street, Pottsville,
PA 17901,
lists among the residents of Shenandoah Wm. Ellis, lab.,
14 So. Jardin, and Wm. Shortridge, lab., 219 E.
Coal. Further trace of William Ellis has
not been found. He was no longer living
at 14 Jardin Street
when the 1910 census was taken, and we found no listing for him in Shenandoah
in that record.
When I
made contact with the Pennsylvania descendants of Lazarus Ellis this year in my
quest for more information about the family of Jonathan D. Ellis, I was
saddened to learn that his family Bible, a rare heirloom that was a music box
when opened, contained many entries of births, marriages, and deaths, but was
destroyed when the house in which his granddaughter, Mary Jane Ellis
Shortridge, was living burned in 1956.
Unless someone made a copy of the entries in this Bible before the fire,
much valuable information about our progenitors has been lost.
Jonathan
D. Ellis and Ann Davies Ellis have left a rich heritage and a
numerous posterity in Pennsylvania, Utah, Wyoming, Oregon and other places in the United States. As one of his
descendants, I think we can all be proud of the legacy of freedom I these
United States and qualities of honesty, respect, resourcefulness and industry
that Jonathan and Ann left us.
Prepared by Ruth Estelle Hubbard Bodily, 520 Mar Loop, Eugene, Oregon,
97401, in October 1989
(revised 28 Oct 1992).
DOCUMENTATION:
1.
Certified copy of entry of birth, 25 May 1840 at Rhos;
Mair daughter of Jonathan Ellis and Ann Ellis, formerly Davies.
2.
Certified copy of entry of marriage, Jonathan Ellis and
Ann Davies, married 1 Apr 1838.
3.
Certified copies of entries of birth for Lazarus and
the two Jonathans, and certified copy of entry of death for the first Jonathan.
4.
1851 Census Record for Wexham District, Ruabon Parish,
Denbigh, Wales.
Film #104,270.
5.
Photocopies of Emigration Records of Liverpool Office
of British Mission of LDS Church
for 1854-55. LDS Film #015,690 and
US/CAN Film 175,512.
6.
1860 U. S.
Census Record for Schuylkill County,
PA., P>O> Minersville. ED 30 Jul 1860, U.S. Census Film 805,178.
7.
1870 U. S. Census record for Schuylkill Co., PA, P. O.
Shenandoah City. U. S. Census Film 552,949.
8.
US/CAN Book Area 974.817 H2s, V.1: History of Schuylkill County, PAS. Edited by Adolf W. Schalek and Hon. D. C.
Henning, State historical Association, 1907.
9.
US/CAN Film #1,405,960.
Schuylkill Co., PA, Book 81, p. 212.
Deed dated 1 Aug 1864 to Ellis, Jonathan, Grantee
from William Bowers, et al., Grantors.
Lot 4, Blk 5, Shenandoah,
PA.
10.
Photocopy of Prothonotary Records, Schuylkill Co.,
PA. Petition of Jonathan D. Ellis for U. S.
Citizenship, 5 Mar 1860.
11.
Photograph of Headstone of Jonathan D. Ellis located in
Odd Fellows
Cemetery, Shenandoah Heights, PA. “Beneath Are the Remains of the Late JONATHAN
D. ELLIS, The Old Respected Postmaster of this Borough, Native of
Rhosllanerchrugog, North Wales. Died Mar 25, 1873, Age 56 years.
12.
Copy of an entry in Miners Journal of Pottsville, PA.,
reporting the death of Jonathan D. Ellis, stating “Mr. Ellis was a prominent
Welshman and enjoyed the esteem of his countrymen to a marked degree.”
13.
LDS Film 1,402,735 Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star,
#17, Vol. XXXV, p. 272, Tuesday, Apr 29, 1873.
Obituary Notice of Death of Mr. Jonathan D. Ellis at Shenandoah, Pen., USA,
March 25th.
14.
Photocopy of Last Will & Testament of Jonathan D.
Ellis.
15.
Photocopy of Obituary Notice printed in Evening Herald,
Shenandoah, March 13, 1877, for Mrs. Jonathan D. Ellis, “who died this morning
at her residence on Jardin Street. She
was widow of Jonathan Ellis, the first postmaster of this borough. She was 66 years old and will be buried on
Thursday afternoon in Odd Fellows’ Cemetery.”
16.
Photocopy of Last Will of Anna Ellis, widow of Jonathan
D. Ellis.
17.
LDS Film 025,691.
Crossing of Ship Caravan - Emanuel Thomas, age 24.
18.
U.S.
Census Record 1860. ED 11 Jul 1860, St. Clair County, IL.
19.
F 025,542 U.S. Census Record
1870. ED 18 Aug 1870, Utah County,
Provo, UT. Provo
3rd Ward.
20.
U.S.
Census Record 1880. ED 2 Jun 1880, Utah County,
Goshen, UT.
21.
Copy of Arrival Record of Ocean Vessel Samuel Curling
at Boston on 23
May 1856. Family of Choice or Joyce
Jones, who married David Thomas, brother of Emanuel Pritchard Thomas.
22.
LDS Film 170,498 -Special Collections. Manti Sealing Records, Children to Parents,
Book B, Manti Temple, P. 109, 25 Jun 1890.
Record of first 4 children of Emanuel Pritchard Thomas and Mary
Ellis: (1) Elias, born 27 May 1858 at Minersville, Schuylkill, Penn. Died 14 Jul 1858. (2) Elizabeth Thomas, born 1 Jun 1859 at
Minersville, Schuylkill, Penn.
Died 20 July 1860. (3) William
Thomas, born Mar 1861, Opholand (this should be O’Fallon), St. Clair, Ill. Died 21 Jul 1861. (4)
Sarah Thomas, born 22 Aug 1862, Salt
Lake City, Utah. Sealed to Parents: Emanuel Pritchett Thomas, born 12 Feb 1830,
Ponkey, Denbigh, Wales and
Mary Ellis Thomas, born 25 May 1840, Roselachriogog (should be
Rhosllanerchrugog) Denbigh, Wales,
died 14 Jul 1883.
23.
MF 183,395, Endowment House, Sealings of Couples, Book
D, p. 239-240, No. 6156: Thomas, Emanuel Pritchet, born 12 Jan 1831, Ponkey,
Denbigh, N. Wales, and Ellis, Mary, born 1 May 1840,
Rosllaneth, Denbigh, North Wales. Sealed 15 Aug 1863 by D. H. Wells. Witnesses:
W. Woodruff and S. L. Sprague.
24.
U.S.
Naturalization Records for St. Clair County, Illinois, and Provo,
Utah.
25.
A note in the handwriting of Sarah Jane Thomas Powelson
made in her later years showing that the three youngest children of her
parents, Emanuel and Mary Ellis Thomas, died from scarlet fever, and that her
mother died with a broken heart because of the tragic deaths of her children.
NOTES IN REGARD TO RESEARCH ON JONATHAN AND ANN DAVIES ELLIS
FAMILY,
BY Ruth
Hubbard Bodily,
October 11, 1992
Refer
to correspondence between The Genealogical Society and Emanuel Thomas from 1941
to 1947. On the basis of this research,
the ancestors of Jonathan Ellis and Ann Davies has
continued, with very uncertain results.
If the descendants of Emanuel have turned up any other data, I have not
been able to find any records in the Family History Library in Salt Lake. From my trip to Wales, I did learn that one of his
grandsons, probably Thomas Gwynn, was trying to research the line in the 1960’s
(?). He left copies of the family group
sheets and pedigree charts with the Genealogical Society in Rythin, North
Wales, and those seemed to be the same as the copies which his mother, Gwendolyn,
sent to me while I was living in San
Diego. He had
contacted Mr. Wynne-Woodhouse of Wales, who was the man with whom I
became acquainted when I was there in November, 1990.
I also
researched the 1851 census and found the family of John Ellis, his wife
Elizabeth and his father-in-law William Griffith. I also researched FHL Film 104,820 (Bishop’s
Transcripts of Ruabon Parish). I was
able to trace a number of births of children who undoubtedly were children of John
and Elizabeth, but I found no Jonathan born to them. Since there was at least one earlier child
and a number later than 1817 (the year Jonathan was supposed to have been
born), there is serious question that our Jonathan was their child.
The
research I have done on Jonathan both in the FHL and in Pennsylvania states definitely that he was a
native of Rhosllanerchrugog. The birth records of John and Elizabeth’s children shows their
birthplaces as Ponkey. Ponkey, as near
as I have determined, is a section of Rhosllanerchrugog. However, I found the following entries of
children baptized in Rhosllanerchrugog to John Ellis and his wife, Margaret:
16 May
1811 - Elias
10 Mar
1816 - Jonathan
I have checked non-conformist records and also the Parish
records of Ruabon Parish. I have located
no other Jonathan Ellis born in Rhosllanerchrugog any time between 1815 and
1820. I lean heavily in favor of the
baptism shown above as that of our ancestor.
Since I
could not locate the marriage of John Ellis and Margaret in Ruabon Parish, Edna
and I examined the Wrexham Parish records.
Wrexham is about 15 miles northeast of Rhos. We found John Ellis and his wife Margaret had
a child named John baptized in Bersham, Wrexham Parish, on 12 Aug 1810. The marriage of John Ellis and Margaret Jones
on 8 Jul 1809 was located in the marriage entries of Wrexham Parish. This marriage is on the FHL IGI, and the
source was MF 538437, Batch 7012725, sheet 92.
This source was Emma Bingham, c/o Derek F. Metcalfe, 919 E. 3rd
So., Salt
Lake City, Utah 84102.
A check of the telephone book did not show a listing for Derek F.
Metcalfe nor of Emma Bingham (21 Oct 1992).
I have
tried to trace John Ellis and Margaret Jones to their birth records but I
cannot be sure that I have found them.
There are a number of possibilities, but I am well aware that a good deal
of supposition or guess-work is involved in my work. I would like very much to make further effort
to corroborate the identities of these people.
I have previously made some effort, without success, to locate a will or
other legal document. I propose now to
continue this effort.
How
unfortunate that we did not know of Jonathan’s family Bible until it was
destroyed. I keep wondering what other
efforts we could make to learn whether someone else knew of that record and if
copies of the entries could possibly exist somewhere.
Among
the microfilmed records of the file of the research done for Uncle Manny
(Emanuel Thomas) was a list prepared by Sarah Jane Thomas Powelson of LDS Temple
ordinance work done by her father Emanuel and his second wife Ellen Turner
Thomas. I have looked up the temple
records and have found the entries for many of these people. The difficulty is that in most cases her
father gave the relationship only as “relative”. Searches of parish and other records for the
Ellis names Grandmother listed have yielded no information that connects them
to the family or to their relationship to Jonathan.
To date
the only record of which I am positive is the birth to Jonathan and Ann of the
child Jonathan, born in 1849, who is the Jonathan who grew to adulthood. No temple work has yet been done for him. We must get this accomplished.
On
Friday 23 Oct 1992 Vera Hubbard Hoskins and her son Joseph E. Hoskins and her
daughter Jean Hoskins Bleazard, Keith and I went to the Salt Lake Temple. Joe acted as proxy for Jonathan Ellis, born 28
Aug 1849, and performed baptism, confirmation, initiatory, and endowment
ordinances for him. Joe also acted as
proxy in the sealing of Jonathan to his parents, Jonathan D. Ellis and Ann
Davies. Keith and I acted as proxies for
the parents.
By Ruth Hubbard Bodily
