{"id":2049,"date":"2021-01-26T21:13:25","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T21:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itsallinthesynapse.net\/Family_History\/?page_id=2049"},"modified":"2021-01-27T20:54:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T20:54:34","slug":"ellis-mystery","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/itsallinthesynapse.net\/Family_History\/ellis-mystery\/","title":{"rendered":"Ellis Mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Begin reading with the main page or click any topic to read about that specific research.<\/strong><\/span><\/h6>\n

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Research<\/h4>\n

Mystery<\/h4>\n

Spelling of Ellis<\/h5>\n

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Bible Records<\/h5>\n

  Record<\/p>\n

  Analysis<\/p>\n

  Next Steps<\/p>\n

Thomas M. Elless Biography<\/h5>\n

  Biography<\/p>\n

  Analysis<\/p>\n

Roger’s Children<\/p>\n

  Questions<\/p>\n

  Census Data<\/p>\n

  James<\/p>\n

  John<\/p>\n

  Nancy Ann<\/p>\n

  David<\/p>\n

  William<\/p>\n

  Mary Elizabeth<\/p>\n

  Martha Jane<\/p>\n

  Rebecca<\/p>\n

  Wesley W.<\/p>\n

  Susannah H.<\/p>\n

Ellis in Kentucky<\/p>\n

  Kentucky 1800<\/p>\n

  Kentucky, Shelby County<\/p>\n

    Overview<\/p>\n

    Chart of Families<\/p>\n

    Marriages<\/p>\n

    Next Steps<\/p>\n

  Kentucky, Franklin County<\/p>\n

Ellis in Southeastern Indiana<\/p>\n

Ellis in Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

Ellis in Virginia<\/p>\n

Ellis in VA\/PA<\/p>\n

Ellis in Massachusetts<\/p>\n

DNA<\/p>\n

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Mystery of Roger Ellis<\/h1>\n
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Who were Roger Ellis’ Parents and where did they come from?<\/h5>\n

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is relatively straight-forward to trace my Ellis ancestry to a man named Roger Ellis.  From there, however, the ancestral road becomes much more difficult to follow. This page examines what is known about Roger Ellis and key Ellis families in America at the time.<\/p>\n

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Roger \u201cToddy\u201d Ellis was born in Pennsylvania in 1782.  The first record found that can be confirmed to be our Roger Ellis was in 1804, when he married Susannah Lewis in Shelby County, KY.  Prior to that a tax record shows a Roger Ellis living in Franklin County, KY in 1801.  Given the proximity of Franklin County to Shelby County and the fact that the name Roger was not common in the Ellis family, it is likely  that Roger Ellis of Franklin County, KY is the same man who lived in Shelby County, KY. However, it remains possible that these were two different men.<\/p>\n

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Once Roger is married, enough records exist to trace him and Susannah as they  moved to Ripley County, IN and lived out their lives.  The 1850 Census, which was the first to name all family members living in a household, is essential in tying Roger to our family.<\/p>\n

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The Census form from Ripley Co. Indiana shows a 67 year old Roger “Elless” who was born in Pennsylvania. with a 65 year old Susan (his wife) from Virginia, a 32 year old Rebecca, a 25 year old Susan (his daughters) and a 45 year old Jeremiah.  Roger’s property was valued at $2000.  Just prior to Roger’s family in the census record is a 47 year old David “Elless” (b Ky) and his family.  It is from David that our family descends.  From this and other census and property records, most of Roger’s  immediate descendants can be identified.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Spelling of Ellis<\/h1>\n
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Does Spelling Matter?<\/h5>\n

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In many old records spelling is meaningless.  Often individuals didn’t even know how to spell their own name so those who recorded information in the census, wills, marriages, and other records did their best to write a name based on experience and how the name sounded.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The same seems to be true for the Ellis family with a major caveat. The family Bible said it was owned by David Alles and the other names recorded are Elless.  Also, it seems that although the Ellis spelling is used, this family used the Elless or Elles spelling except that our branch in Kansas used the Ellis spelling.  So, when searching records with Elles and Elless get a little extra attention.  It seems there were many spellings of Ellis or similar names and over time many of them moved toward the Ellis spelling. Some of the spellings:<\/span><\/p>\n

        Ellis, Elless, Elliss, Elles,  Elice, Ellys, Elias, Eilis, Eiliss, Elic, Elis, Eliason<\/p>\n

        Alles, Alless, Alice, Ayles, Allis, Allys, Alic<\/p>\n

        Ellifs (This is really a misunderstanding of the handwritten Elliss)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Bible Records<\/h1>\n
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Description of “Ellis” Family Bible Records<\/p>\n

Source: Ellis Cousins Newsletter, Fall 1991<\/p>\n

Names mentioned: Allis, Elless, Ellis<\/p>\n

Note: Unclear if the “Ellis” references are from the Bible or are added by the author.<\/p>\n

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Analysis<\/h2>\n
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The Bible of David “Allis” Ellis or Elless is interesting and seems to be the earliest source for Roger. Shown above is a snippet of the Ellis Cousins Newsletter from Fall 1991 (copy obtained from the Dallas Public Library), which contains information about Roger Ellis.  The information includes our family line and at the time of the newsletter was in the possession of a direct descendant of Roger\u2019s oldest son James.  The name of the owner of the Bible was David Allis and was purchased in Georgetown.  Unfortunately, the Bible does not indicate the state where the purchase was made.  There are three probable choices:  Georgetown, Kentucky, which was only two counties away to the East of Shelby County, Kentucky; the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C.,; or Georgetown, Pennsylvania of which there are three with one in each of Beaver County, Lancaster County, and Luzerne County.  Of note, is that in 1873 there was a Roger Ellis that owned land in Carbondale Twp, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. At that time, there was also a Samuel Ellis living adjacent to Roger.  Our Roger was not born at this time, but since the name Roger Ellis isn\u2019t common, it is reasonable to investigate any Roger Ellis found as a possible relative.<\/p>\n

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We do not know how David Allis, owner of the  Bible was related to Roger Ellis.  The Bible lists the birthdate for a David Elless that was two years prior to Roger\u2019s birthdate.  He would have been 17 in 1797 and it is possible that the Bible belonged to him.  It is also possible that the Bible belonged to Roger\u2019s father or uncle.<\/p>\n

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If we analyze the birth records in the Bible, we find that it is not possible for all of the people listed to be siblings as Jeremiah and John are born a month apart.  Furthermore, the last birth listed is James whose birth date matches that of James\u2019 son.  It is, however, likely that at least the earliest listed births were of siblings.  It is also likely that the Jeremiah that is listed is the same as the one that was living with Roger in 1850; however, the census does not provide a relationship between the two men. Therefore, this Bible gives us clues and a set of names to research, but no specific answers.<\/p>\n

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Names listed in Bible:<\/span>  The following is an analysis of the names in the Bible and possible matches to these people.<\/p>\n

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Note: The 1999 article says that all the names are listed as Elles, Elless, or Ellefs (which is really a way of writing Elless); however, each name is not reflected uniquely in the 1991 article.  (Oh, what I would do for a picture of the Bible pages)<\/p>\n

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Richard 1779:<\/p>\n