Although David Ellis’ wife Lucy Ann (Storms) Ellis and many of their children moved to Illinois and then Kansas, nothing appears to have ever been said about what happened to David. Why?
Who Was David Ellis?
David Ellis is my 3rd great grandfather. He was born approximately 1808 in or near Shelbyville, Shelby, KY to Roger and Susannah (Lewis) Ellis. His surname was sometimes written Elless or Elles.
Roger and Susannah moved their family from Kentucky to Brown Township, Ripley, Indiana in 1818. Read more about the family in Roger Ellis’ Mystery Parents.
April 3, 1834, David married Lucy Ann Storm(s)(es). They had 8 known children with the first child born in 1836 and the last in 1851. Their children included: Joseph Lewis, Ellen, James W., Stephen E., Wesley W., Henry D., Amanda (Elizabeth), and Susannah “Susan” Ellis.
David is in the 1850 census and the 1860 census. Those records tell us that David is a farmer near Cross Plains, Brown Township, Ripley County, Indiana. In 1860, he has $300 in his personal estate, but does not own any real estate. Additionally, both David and his wife Lucy Ann could read and write.
Family Moves
In 1870, David’s wife Lucy is living in Rutland, La Salle, Illinois along with their children Henry, Susan, and Stepen. Henry was listed as the head of the household. Stephen was older than Henry. However, he was disabled. Read more about Stephen.
Their son James was already in Erie, Neosho, Kansas near where his mother and the siblings later settled.
Meanwhile, Joseph, Ellen and their families remained in Ripley County, Indiana. Joseph owned $250 of real estate and had a personal estate of $500. Amanda (Elizabeth) also wasn’t with the family in Indiana or Illinois. However, she would rejoin them by 1880.
Wesley has not been found in the 1870 census. Some people claim that he died in 1864. The specific date varies and no proof of the death has been found.
By 1880, Lucy and children minus Henry and Wesley were in Kansas. Henry spent some time in Indiana before finally settling in South Dakota.
This leaves us with the question of “Where was David?”
The Civil War
Saying that David was killed during the Civil War is a convenient answer, but it is the right answer?
Records do show a David Ellis who died in the Civil War in Tennessee on May 10 or May 11 of 1863. That man was a private in Company H of the 23 Kentucky Infantry. He died of chronic diarrhea and was buried at Stones River National Cemetery in Tennessee.
Many people have associated this record with our David. However, I have not found evidence that he actually fought in the war. If this is him, he would have been approximately 55 at the time of his death. Back then it was more common for middle-aged men to fight in wars. So, it was possible that this is our David. However, there were multiple men named David Ellis. Thus, it is also possible that this was not him.
Killed When Troops Marched Through
Another possibility was that he died during John Morgan’s Raid in 1863 that went through the area near where the Ellis family lived. During this raid in 1863, over 2,000 men marched through the area, looting homes and businesses, and clashing with locals.
The main path of the march seems to have been a few miles to the west of the Ellis homes. However, soldiers still could have come through the country side looking for horses and other goods that they could use in the war. It is also possible that David was killed in one of the clashes between local militia men and the Confederate soldiers.
If he did die there, it is unknown where he was buried. However, there are said to be some Ellis graves across the road from Benham Cemetery. Could he be buried there? Read about the graves across from Benham Cemetery.
Other Possibilities
Of course, there are other possibilities including: natural causes, a farm accident, an accident or illness when moving to Illinois, or an incident of some other nature.
It is also possible that David and his son Wesley were killed at the same time.
Why?
No matter what happened, to David, why didn’t it ever get documented or verbally passed down in the family? It just seems like there has to be a story behind David being MIA in family stories and notes.
No record, even if it states what happened to David, is likely to answer the question of why David was never mentioned in family records.
A farmer’s work is never done and that was especially true in the years before the era of modern conveniences.
Farmers in My Family
Almost all of my direct male ancestors going back to the early days of the country were, at a minimum, part-time farmers. For many, farming and farm-related activities was their primary source of food on the table, income, heat, friendships, and more.
Farming, however, was not limited to adult males. Farm-related activities existed for all but the youngest of children and the most-feeble elders. Although the women and girls were more likely to be found in the garden, kitchen, or fetching wood or water, that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t be out in the field working with the men. Even in my day, I did worked in the fields with my dad and my Uncle Dewey Stanton McCracken. For me it was mostly helping with haying, but women often helped with planting and harvesting other crops.
In addition, farm work was not limited to the barnyard and fields. Besides working in the field, caring for livestock, and milking cows, butter needed churned, sorghum needed to be processed, and food needed to be canned or dried.
For many generations, farmers didn’t just farm. They took care of everything from erecting buildings on their property to being their own painter, plasterer, plumber, and electrician after they finally got power. My dad, for example, wired the house that I grew up in for electricity when his parents moved there in 1947. When we needed, additional outlets upstairs, he simply added the wiring and the outlets with me as his assistant.
A Typical Day
The typical day on a farm depended a lot on the “farm seasons.” The seasons loosely related to spring, summer, fall, and winter, but were adjusted to Mother Nature’s ever-changing calendar. Some attributes of each day were the same seven days a week, 365 days a year (366 in leap year).
Rain, storms, heat, ice, or snow rarely stopped farm families from caring for their livestock, gathering eggs, bringing wood in for cooking (and heat in the winter), getting water for the family, etc. They were far more reliable than the post office who claimed rain, sleet, or snow wouldn’t stop them from their appointed rounds.
Old Farming Equipment
Planting Season
Planting season began in March with many families moving to new properties or renting farmland starting around that date. In addition to planting crops, gardens had to also be planted. For my Peelle ancestors in North Carolina, the actual planting may have been a bit earlier there than it was when they lived in Kansas or Indiana, but it was in this general time frame.
Until the 1900s, all the work was done mostly by hand with the help of horses and oxen. Machines did exist to help in the process, but they were very rudimentary.
Any time available during planting season was filled with hunting, fishing, improving the farm, and other chores that might arise.
Growing Season
During the growing season and the dog days of summer, farm families did lots of praying that nothing ruined their crops for the year.
They also tended the gardens and picked wild berries, such as blackberries, strawberries, and gooseberries. Dad said that even if you found the sweetest gooseberry in existence, there wasn’t enough sugar in the world to actually sweeten it. You could put sugar around it, but it was still going to be sour.
My Grandmother Nellie (Peelle) McCracken and her daughters canned lots of food from the garden, which was necessary to get the family through the winter and planting season s. And, when you have 10 children, two adults, and visitors to feed, it takes a lot of food.
Often alfalfa and other grasses that were grown to feed the cattle had to be cut multiple times. Thus, it grew, was harvested, and then the process repeated. Early hay balers were a lot of work. So, although you had a device, it did not make the baling process simple. Then there was the process of getting it into the barn. Today, elevators exist to move the hay into the hay loft. Back in the day, however, it had to be done by man power. One time, I witnessed men three or four high lifting bales of hay above their head. The next person would bend down, while standing on hay or a ladder, grab the bale and lift it above their head to the next person. It was quite impressive to watch.
Great-Grandpa William Johnson Peelle’s apple butter jars
Harvest
Harvesting of garden items started in late spring and lasted through the fall. However, the harvest season of crops was most closely associated with the fall months. Generally, it was a season of neighbors helping neighbors. When Lemuel Lawrence McCracken, my great-great grandfather, was first in Crawford County, he did a lot of threshing for people in the neighborhood.
Often young men traveled several states away to work the harvest in that location. My Grandpa Joseph Andrew McCracken, my Uncle Dewey Stanton McCracken and my Uncle William (Howard) McCracken all traveled to work the harvest.
Depending on what was to be harvested, the season could last into December. On occasion, the harvest sometimes wasn’t complete until January.
During threshing season, the women’s role typically was to cook for the crews. Of course, fall fruits and vegetables also had to be processed. My great-grandfather William Johnson Peele would turn apples that weren’t canned into apple butter.
Winter
Winter was a bit slower, but the work was sometimes much harder and there were no days off for inclement weather. During the Blizzard of 1887, farmers still had to feed and water their cattle, swine, and any other animals. In Bourbon County, it was as my great-grandfather William Johnson Peelle wrote, “Very cold today.”
For others in Nebraska and the Dakotas, that blizzard was even more challenging. Some of them simply couldn’t get to their animals or get shelter for them. Thus, many animals were lost, which in turn meant that many farmers’ livelihood was greatly threatened/diminished.
Even on an average winter day, basic care for the animals was tiring. For instance, simply making sure the cattle had water might entail chopping through the ice as my Dad did when he was operating my Grandpa Joseph Andrew McCracken’s farm during World War II.
One of the few activities that was unique to the winter season was butchering. Generally, cattle, hogs, or lambs were butchered only during cold weather since refrigeration was scarce.
Connection to the animals and the land
The farmers became very connected to their animals and the land where they lived. Grandpa Joseph Andrew McCracken believed that you should show animals respect. For instance, he felt that when horses were too old to be used in the fields, that they should still be taken care of for the remainder of their natural life. His belief was that they had helped you plow and harvest your fields that the least you could do is show them respect and take care of them in their golden years.
Likewise, Grandpa McCracken really didn’t want to sell his horses after he bought a tractor. However, he finally did, as he couldn’t justify keeping them.
The Dangers
Mother Nature
Most people don’t think of farmers as gamblers. However, they continually gambled their entire livelihood – and Mother Nature always had the upper hand. They dealt with grasshoppers, which forced great-great Grandpa John Charles Jury to abandon his home in Bourbon County, Kansas when the grasshoppers stripped the fields.
Farmers also dealt with droughts, floods, and bad weather. For them, severe weather could mean the loss of an entire year’s crops. The Dustbowl years were very hard on many farmers.
Injuries and Death
Many farmers, including men, women, and children were injured or died doing farm work. Ivan Pellett, the son of my great-grandfather Henry Pellett’s brother Ezra, was badly injured at age 12 when he got caught in a corn stalk cutter. His right leg was badly injured between his ankle and his knee and his left leg was broken. Ivan survived his injuries.
William Ellis, a nephew of my great-grandmother Rosa Isabella (Ellis) McCracken Apt, wasn’t so lucky. He died at age 14 after being kicked in the abdomen by a horse.
Dad was very lucky with regard to injuries. Among other things, he was run over by a tractor, had a wagon run over his ankle, and got his jacket caught in a corn picker. Yet, he received no major injuries.
The Rewards
Life was difficult, but often very rewarding. There is something to be said for working with your own hands. Feeding, clothing, and keeping the family safe gives a person a sense of accomplishment that many people have never felt, no matter how successful they are.
There was lot of friendly competition over who could grow the tallest corn, the biggest pumpkin, and more. Multiple members of my family were very proud of something they had grown. The typical routine was to take it to the newspaper office, who loved to published stories about the items. My great-great grandfather Seth Pellett was one of those men. He took some samples of his wheat stalks to the newspaper office one day.
It also meant working with your neighbors out of necessity. What grew from that was wonderful close friendships – even with people who had different points of view and different backgrounds.
Such a life would greatly benefit people today. Far too many people have too much time on their hands and not enough work ethic. Saying that people need to work hard to stay alive may sound cruel or mean. However, it strengthens a person and gives them true pride in the things that they accomplish.
It wasn’t a planned meeting, but was of great genealogical value even though cousin Raymond Ellis couldn’t hear a word I said.
The Situation
October 14, 2011, my husband and I were driving from Denver, Colorado to Wichita, Kansas so that I could attend a meeting about the search for members of the military who were still missing in action or who had been prisoners of war. I was to attend to see if I could learn anything further about my dad’s brother William (Howard) McCracken.
We decided to do some genealogy along the way stopping at a cemetery south of Holly, CO where my gg-grandfather Grant Ashby was buried. Then we meandered around before arriving at Valley View Cemetery in Garden City, KS.
Ellis relatives & my gg-grandfather James William “Will” Thomas’ second wife, Belle (Tremain ?) Woodard, was also buried in the cemetery. We were talking about the fact that the latest address I had found for any of the older generation of Ellis family in that area was for Raymond Ellis, who literally lived next to the cemetery.
Rod asked if I wanted to stop in and see if they were home. We debated it and finally decided to go for it. Our timing was perfect. His wife had just arrived home, which was good as Raymond would never have heard us knock on the door.
Loss of Hearing
A few years earlier, Raymond, who is my second cousin once removed [his grandfather Joseph Andrew Ellis was a brother to my great-grandmother Rosa Isabella (Ellis) McCracken Apt], had suddenly completely lost his hearing. As he told it, he could hear one day and the next, he couldn’t. Thus, conversation was challenging. However, Raymond was excited to have company. Moreover, we were interested in discussing one of his favorite subjects – family history.
Raymond Ellis and his family
Genealogy Talk
You see, Raymond had collected family history for years, but never with a computer and never with intense research. He simply collected information from people, newspapers, etc. He had a long shelf of notebooks all full of genealogy.
We stayed and talked with him for at least two hours using small white boards or slates (that detail seems to have escaped me) to convey our questions. He would respond with great enthusiasm and energy. He really wanted us to stay longer or come back the next day. However, we had the commitment to be in Wichita early the next morning. So, that wasn’t possible.
So, Raymond reluctantly let us go, promising to copy and send me all of his information on the Ellis family. His wife Twila did not seem keen on the idea. However, he made good on his promise. I received two inches of paper that included a lot of family group sheets, newspaper articles, copies of records, and a few photographs.
It was not long after I received them that Raymond was moved to a nursing facility in Wichita. He passed on Valentines’ Day 2015. He was 85.
In the 1800s, when a women died due to complications of childbirth, it wasn’t uncommon for the baby to die as well. That is what we thought happened to Baby Alice. Until, we found out she had actually survived.
William Thomas “Bill” McCracken and his first wife Louretta Johnston, who died in childbirth
Marriage and Pregnancy
William Thomas McCracken was a brother to my great-grandfather Andrew Johnson McCracken. Family called him “Uncle Bill.” He was born in 1862 in Lee County, Iowa. He was still a boy when the family moved to Crawford County, Kansas. And, he moved with them again to Bates County, Missouri when his mother was ill.
Sometime after his mother died, William T., who everyone in our family called “Uncle Bill,” moved back to Crawford County. On July 15, 1886, he married a lovely young lady named Louretta F. “Ettie” Johnston. On May 9th of the following year, Louretta gave birth.
Photo Credit: Mitzi HutchersonLouretta (Johnston) McCracken Obituary. Source: The Girard Press via Newspapers.com
Wondering
A week later (May 16), Louretta died. She was a well-liked young lady of the community. A church at Garfield (Does anyone know where this neighborhood was?) cancelled Sunday School that week because so many people from the area were going to her funeral in Farlington.
Her obituary said that she left a daughter who was seven days old. But, what happened to the baby?
Family didn’t mention the little baby girl. The newspaper articles about the family didn’t mention the baby. Additionally, she didn’t show up with her father in census or other records. Cousin Mitzi, who is a direct descendant of Uncle Bill and his second wife Mary “Mollie” Belle Jaynes, and I speculated about what had happened to that little baby.
We wondered if she had also died. But, thought it was odd that there was no gravestone for her. We thought maybe she died soon after her mother and she was buried in the same grave. However, it seemed odd that her mother’s grave stone didn’t at least say “& Baby.”
Another option was that she had been adopted or simply taken by another family to raise. However, we didn’t even have a name to search. If she was with another family, we had no idea if she would use the name McCracken or the other family’s name. All we knew was that the baby was a girl born on May 9, 1887.
So, we kept digging around. I am not sure exactly how we figured out the mystery. However, we found out that the baby girl had lived!
Alive & Well
Apparently, Louretta’s parents, James Madison and Elizabeth Ann (Sutton) Johnston, had taken the baby, who we found out was named Alice May, to raise. It was possible that Alice was named after Louretta’s brother Solomon’s wife or more likely after the daughter Solomon and his wife lost a few years earlier.
In 1900 (don’t you hate that the 1890 census was lost), she was living with her maternal grandparents in northeast Missouri – Marion County near Quincy, Illinois. It is unknown what had taken them to that location as they had been living in Kansas around that time that Alice was born. Prior to that they had lived in Indiana, where Louretta had been born.
Louretta and her parents had come to Crawford County, Kansas between 1882 and 1887. The reason was likely because James’ parents Herndon and Mary Ann (Jones) Johnston had lived there since 1870.
Unlike his parents, who apparently stayed in Crawford County until their deaths in 1904 and 1917, James moved on again.
Alice’s Marriage & Child
June 11, 1904, Alice married R. L. “Bob” Ator in Pawnee, Oklahoma. At the time, Bob, at least, was living in Yale, Oklahoma. He had been there at least since the founding of the current townsite and is believed to have been involved in building the first house in Yale.
However, when Alice and Bob’s daughter, Mary Francis, was born on Halloween in 1907, they were living near Coffeyville, Kansas likely in the Round Prairie neighborhood.
By 1910, Alice, Bob, and Mary were all living in Payne County, Oklahoma, which contains the town of Yale. Her Grandfather Johnston and one of her uncle’s families were living nearby. It is unclear why they had moved to Kansas for a period of time.
Life in Oklahoma
In 1910, Yale had grown to 685 people, which was quite substantial given that the town, although started in 1895, hadn’t moved to the current townsite until 1902. At that time, Alice’s husband appeared to be the primary contact at Grimes Market, which regularly advertised that they had ice available.
He seemed to move easily from job to job and knew a vast majority of the people in town. In 1912, he was painting and hanging wallpaper, which was likely in high demand due to the growth of the town. However, the next year oil was discovered in the area and he secured a job working there for $75 per month. The next year, he was working in plumbing and gas fitting. It seems he may have also still been working in the oil fields or with the search for more oil.
During this time, Alice had multiple instances where she was ill. Her illness has not been discovered. However, in May 1915, she returned from the hospital in Oklahoma City and was reportedly in much better health.
Source: The Yale Record via Newspapers.com
Alice’s Death
In early September 1915, Alice was in seemingly good health when she left for Dewey, Washington, Oklahoma for a visit. She had made the trip before as her aunt and uncle lived in Dewey, about 80-90 miles from Yale.
The trip went fine until September 7 when Alice developed a terrible pain in her side. A doctor was called and he did everything he could. However, she died the following day. The doctor concluded she had a “broken artery.”
The newspaper headline stated, “Old Citizen Succumbs.” She was 28.
Did She Ever See Her Father?
The question that remained open was “Did she ever know her real father?” A newspaper article from four years after her death answers that in part. Bob and daughter Mary stopped in Farlington to see Alice’s father. They were returning from Sheridan, Montana where they had moved after Alice’s death. It is also documented that when Alice was living near Coffeyville that she went to Farlington. The assumption would be that she went to see her father.
Afterward
Bob and Mary then moved to Richmond, Virginia. In 1926, at age 44, Bob committed suicide.
Mary lived to be 90 years of age, marrying twice. She divorced her first husband on the basis of adultery. She had no children.
Sometimes it only takes one record or DNA to break down a genealogy wall. That is the case for the parents of Mathias Matteer.
The Challenge
It took quite a bit of research before figuring out that Louisiana, wife of Lemuel McCracken who family said was a Johnson, was actually a Matteer. I learned her father was Mathias (sometimes spelled Matthias) Matteer and her mother was Mary Rodgers. And, there I was stuck with both family lines.
Rodgers is a common name and research of the name is challenging in general. Different spellings are Rodgers and Rogers. It is also possible that the “s” is left off the name.
Researching the Matteer family also had huge challenges, as related names are spelled Matteer, Mateer, Mutter, Mitter, Mater, Matter, Motter, Mutter, etc. Basically, if a name is spelled
M
<any vowel>
<one or two t’s>
<one or two e’s, although another vowel may substituted>
followed by an “r”
the person might be related. Of course, they also might not. And, people with the various spellings can sometimes be found living in the same area or be in the same family.
DNA
When records get challenging, sometimes DNA can provide the breakthrough that you need. But, sometimes it doesn’t. With the Matteer family, quite a few DNA matches showed up leading me to believe that George Matter and Christina Karmindy were Mathias’ parents. Hence, they would be Louisiana’s paternal grandparents.
Yes, it was a different spelling that Mathias used. However, Mathias’ children used the spelling Mateer, which was also different than the spelling used by their father.
George ad Christina were in the right area in Pennsylvania and had ties to the French-German border area, which Mathias claimed. There was just one problem. I could not find any records that showed George and Christina to be Mathias’ parents.
The Breakthrough?
I went back to re-look at the Matteer family this week. I searched high and low with no luck. Then, I decided to look at the family tree on Family Search. I usually ignore it preferring to focus only on records because anyone and everyone can update Family Search’s family tree. In my experience, far too many entries are full of errors.
Anyway, I looked at Mathias Matteer and in the sources was a record that had not come up in other searches on the site or any other site.
The record information states:
Matheus Matter
Birthdate: 22 May 1806
Event: Baptism
Event Date: 6 Oct 1807
Event Place: Berrysburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, United States
There was some additional source information and down below was the following information:
Georg Matter Sr: Father: M
Christina Matter: Mother: F
The only question I had was whether the names listed actually came from the record or from the family tree on family search. The logical option is to review the actual record. Well, I couldn’t look directly at the record as it isn’t available online or through loan to a family search library.
To see the actual record, I would be required to go to Saint John’s Lutheran Church near Berrysburg, Mifflin Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania where the original record is held. Alternately, I could go to the Family Search’s library in Salt Lake City
Well, since I am located almost precisely in the middle between the two, but nowhere close to either location, seeing the actual record was not possible in the short-term. Thus, I turned to researching if the parent information came from the actual record. The answer was that it did indeed come from the record. My experiments with other records where the image was available confirmed the answer. Thus, I feel confident that this record confirms that Georg Matter and Christina Karmindy were Mathias Matteer’s parents.
The Next Generation
Now that my third-great grandparents in this family line were known, the obvious question was, “Can I find my fourth-great grandparents for this family line?” The answer was “Yes, to some degree.”
Georg’s father was Jacob Matter. His full name was possibly Johannes/Hans Jacob Matter. However, he used “Jacob” as his name. I can confirm that Jacob was married to Anna Maria Wendling. However, Georg’s christening record lists his mother as Margaretha Wandlin. Now, Wandlin could easily be a different spelling of Wandling. However, Anna Maria and Margretha sound like two different women. Was it simply mis-heard or an error? Or, did Jacob have an earlier wife? This will require additional research.
Christina’s parents were Johannes “John” and Juliana Karminie. At this point, I only have Juliana’s given name.
Visual
The following image shows the ancestors of Louisiana (Matteer) McCracken. In the image, the people in
Blue boxes were previously known.
Green boxes are new and are considered verified as an ancestor.
Yellow boxes have some information that lead me to believe they are likely the parent of the later generation. However additional work is required to move them to verified status.
Louisiana Matter’s Family Tree. Relationships shown are to me.
Details on the Newly Found Ancestors
Georg Matter & Christina Karmindy
Georg Matter
Birth Oct 30, 1753, New Holland, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Death Jun 7, 1823, Annville, Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Christina Karmindy
Birth 1769, Pennsylvania
Death Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
George & Christina’s Marriage 29 Apr 1793, Annville, Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Jacob Matter & Anna Maria Wendling
Jacob Matter
Birth Nov. 17, 1722, Alsace, France (An area along the border with Germany,
at times it was France and at times Germany).
Immigration 1751
Death May 20, 1790, Quitapohila, Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Anna Maria Wendling
Birth March 25, 1726
Death August 31, 1809, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
Jacob & Anna Maria’s Marriage 1751, Altdorf, Alsace Lorraine, France
It appears that Jacob Matter may have fought in the Revolutionary War. I have seen records and read stories. However, more research is needed to confirm that the records match our actual ancestor.
Johannes “John” Karminie & Juliana
Johannes “John” Karminie
Birth March 4, 1737, Germany (specific location needs to be verified)
Death Sept 1781, Annville, Lebanon, Pennsylvania
John & Juliana’s Marriage Sept. 5, 1758, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
It appears that John Karminie may have fought in the Revolutionary War. I have seen records and read stories. However, more research is needed to confirm that the records match our actual ancestor.
Even More Research
There is a lot to research to prove in the children of these people and learn more about their lives.
People have listed more generations for these families. In the case of the Matter family, I have found information claiming to go back to the early 1600s to Jacob’s great-grandparents. I’m going to have to sharpen my German research skills as naming conventions and map changes over the years can be quite challenging.
The Rewards
