Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

John Ellis

Male 1814 - 1871  (57 years)


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  • Name John Ellis 
    Born 4 Jan 1814  Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 3 Apr 1871  Woods Cross, Davis, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried 6 Apr 1871  Bountiful Memorial Park, Bountiful, Davis, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I1338  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Family Harriet Hales,   b. 10 Jun 1824, Rainham, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 25 May 1910, Woods Cross, Davis, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 85 years) 
    Married 31 Oct 1839  Quincy, Adams, Illinois, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F904  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. Reviewed Rootsweb.com Worldconnect 12 Dec 2002. Some suggest without documentation that he also married an Axeline Katherine Peterson 30 May 1901 in Salt Lake City, UT but this would have been 30 years after he died. One site notes he was a cooper and miller.

      2. Parents per Ordinance Index are John Ellis and Hannah Stoner both born in England.

      3. Censuses:
      1840 US: Quincy First Ward, Adams, Illinois, related families:
      P. 6a: Stephen Hales, males 10-15:1; 15-20:1; 30-40:1; 40-50:1//females 15-20:1; 40-50:1. [Stephen, his wife Mary Ann, Henry W.(12), George (18), {not sure who the 30-40 male and the 15-20 female would be unless it was Charles, age 23 and not over 30, and his new bride Julia Ann, under age 20 - either way it would live Stephen, age 20, unaccounted for}. I do not find Charles or Stephen separately in same census.]
      P. 7a: John Ellis, males 20-30:1//females 15-20:2. [Not sure who the second female would be.]
      P. 15a [2nd Ward]: Joseph Horne, males 0-5:1; 20-30:1//females 20-30:1.

      1850 US: Hancock County, Illinois, p. 124 of 309, 22 Oct 1850, house 871, family 872:
      John Ellis, 36, cooper, Can.
      Harriett, 26, Eng.
      Mary A., 10, IL
      Hannah I., 7, IL.
      Stephen H., 4, IL.
      John, 1, IL.
      Eliza Hales, 20, PA.
      Henry W. Hales, 21, boatman, Eng.

      1856 Utah: Per Ancestry.com, John Ellis is indexed on page 223 in the Utah Statehood Census of 1856 as living in 3rd Ward, Great Salt Lake City.

      1860 US: Bountiful, Davis, Utah, p. 3 of 23, 13 Jun 1860, house/family 16:
      Jno. Ellis, 46, farmer, $800, $630, C.N.
      Harriet, 36, Eng.
      Isabella, 13, IL.
      Stephen H., IA.
      Jno. H., 11, IA.
      Harriet L., 9, UT.
      Joseph, 6, UT.
      Sarah A., 4, UT.
      Elizabeth I., 1, UT.

      1870 US: Bountiful, Davis, Utah, p. 2 of 34, 12 Aug 1870, house/family 13:
      John Ellis, 56, cooper, $1200, $1200, Can.
      Harriet, 46, Engl.
      Stephen, 23, farmhand, IA.
      Joseph, 16, farm hand, UT.
      Sarah A., 14, farm hand, UT.
      Elizabeth J. 11, UT.
      Laura V., 8, UT.
      Chas. W., 6, UT.

      4.Website 9 Jun 2007 http://earlylds.com/getperson.php?personID=I10664&tree=Earlylds:
      A. Property:
      a. Kimball, Block 6, Lot 39, S/2, 1/2 Acre
      b. Joseph Smith, Block 10 (tenant)
      c. T6 R7, Sec 32, NW, 160 Acres
      B. Nauvoo Records:
      a. Members, LDS, 1830-1848, by Susan Easton Black, Vol 15, pp 382-385
      b. Nauvoo Legion
      C. History/Histories:
      a. Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, p 284, 858
      b. History of John Ellis and Harriet Hales Ellis John Ellis, by Mildred Lee Thurgood Family
      c. Group sheets
      d. Picture
      D. Sources
      a. Family Records (submitted by patrons to Land and Records Office)
      b. Book - History of the Nauvoo Legion in Illinois, Sweeney, John, Jr., (MA Thesis, Brigham Young University)
      c. LDS - Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:1830-1848, 50 vols., Black, Susan Easton, Compiler, (LDS Church, Salt Lake City, 1990), 1830-1848, by Susan Easton Black, Vol 15, pp 382-385
      d. Book - Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 2 vols., Esshom, Frank, (Salt Lake City: 1913),, p 284, 858.
      e. Downloaded from http://earlylds.com, version 2007-02-08, snowdr@gmail.com

      5. The book "Mormon Redress Petitions, Documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri Conflict," edited by Clark V. Johnson, contains a copy of the "Scroll Petition" dated 28 Nov 1843 at Nauvoo, IL addressed to the U.S. Congress by members of the LDS Church who had property destroyed by Missouri mobs in the 1830's. Included with over a couple thousand signatures are John and Harriett Ellis.

      6. Website 9 Jun 2007: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~socrateselder/pafn09.htm:
      "Pioneers September 25, 1851 in Horton D. Haight Company.
      International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude; Printed by Publishers Press; Page 1289-1290; Biography: John Ellis was born near Toronto, Upper Canada and embraced Mormonism in 1836. He, with his wife Harriet Hales and their family, arrived in Salt Lake Valley in 1851, with the Horton D. Haight Company. He moved to South Bountiful and lived there until his death in 1871. He was a cooper by trade, but also made some household furniture. He built and operated one of the first molasses mills of the community. A rocking chair made by him is still used by members of his family. It has a high back, consisting of curved spindles, topped by a scroll type design, two arm rests and a seat cut to be comfortable. During his last illness he was carried from the train, which had been stopped at a point near his home, by members of his family in this same rocker. Available at: http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=charliegibson&id=I1647
      John Ellis, the first child of John Ellis and Hannah Stone, was born in Scarborough, York, Ontario, Canada on Jan 4, 1814. Very little is known about his parents or his boyhood days, but we know that this area of Canada had only recently opened to settlers. Many of these settlers came directly from England, but many others were United Empire Loyalists who fled into Canada from the United States rather than fight against England at the time of the Revolutionary War. This new country was covered with a great forest of maple, beech, elm, ash, oak, birch, spruce and cedar trees. There were also many lakes and streams which supplied these pioneers with fish, some of which they salted for winter use. They may have caught fresh fish through the ice during the cold winter months when the streams were frozen. It is likely that these frozen streams and lakes also provided the settlers with winter sport in the form of skating. As was the case in all pioneer communities, the young boys assumed the responsibilities of men. They became carpenters, masons, harness makers, shoe makers, blacksmiths, and millers, as the occasion demanded. John Ellis undoubtedly had experience in all these trades during his boyhood. A history of Scarborough states that early meetings were held whenever a congregation could be gathered in a barn, a wagon, shop or school house. The circumstances under which John Ellis first heard the Gospel are unknown, but he did hear it and became a member of the church in 1836, when he was about 22 years old. After he joined the church, he was not welcome in his father's home. Our records show his baptism in 1838. The story passed down through the family is that he left Canada during the winter, taking with him only his skates. He probably skated on the frozen streams, skirting the edges of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and finally arriving at Kirtland, Ohio where he joined the body of Saints. Our family stories say he worked in a large burner as a cooper or barrel maker. Barrel making may not seem too important to us in this day, but in the pioneer days there were no cardboard boxes or plastic bags, and most everything had to be packed or stored in barrels. John Ellis was with the Saints at the time of their expulsion from Kirkland and moved to Far West in 1838. From there he went to Quincy, where the Saints were given refuge. It was in Quincy, Adams County, Illinois that he met and subsequently married Harriet Hales on Oct 31, 1839. Harriet was the daughter of Stephen and Mary Ann Hales. (They were first cousins.) This young couple consisted of blue-eyed Harriet, who was of medium height and had dark brown hair, and John, who was a large man at six feet with very dark hair and blue eyes. They lived in Quincy, Illinois for a time. In the minutes of the Quincy Branch the members of the church were recorded June 21, 1840. Among the names listed were John Ellis and Harriet Ellis, also listed were Stephen and Mary Ann Hales (Harriet's parents) and three of her brothers: Charles Henry and wife Julie Ann, Stephens Hales Jr. and George Hales. On Dec 30, 1840, while in Quincy, the first Ellis child was born - a little girl named Mary Ann. Sometime after this, possibly in the Spring of 1841, the John Ellis and Stephen Hales Sr. families moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. John and Harriet's second daughter, Hannah Isabella, is recorded as being born there December of 1843. The first son born to John and Harriet was born at Fort Madison, Iowa about three miles from Nauvoo, Illinois. It was a mystery to the family why John and Harriet were in Fort Madison until further research and information gathered from Brother Pettit's journals were obtained. The land near Fort Madison had dips and swells in the topography. In the low place, a sort of scrub oak grew in abundance. While Brother Pettit was serving on a mission, he visited Nauvoo and the surrounding area. While he was there he saw slats which he was told had been cut from this scrub oak. These were wet and curved to form the rounded boards for making barrels, buckets, and wash tubs. It is possible that while John was pursuing his trade as a carpenter and cooper, moved there where he could obtain materials for his trade. John Henry Ellis, a second son of John and Harriet, was born at Appanoose, Illinois on March 18, 1849. Now John and his wife had four children to provide and protect against those perilous times. A check of LDS records reveals there is not a card file for John and Harriet having made the trek across the plains into the Salt Lake Valley. However, Harriet's mother remarried after the death of her father Stephen Hales to William Thompson. William and Mrs. Thompson are listed in the Garden Grove Company arriving in Salt Lake Sept 24, 1851. The roster of persons in this Garden Grove Company included the following: Brother William Thompson and Sister Thompson. His children Marie and Orville and her children who were Hales. Charles and Julia Hales are listed with small children, Stephen Hales and wife Eveline with small children, and Henry Hales and wife Eliza Ewings Hales. No mention of John and Harriet Hales Ellis. In the biography of Harriet Hales, it states that her younger brother Henry, and his family traveled in the same company with John and Harriet Ellis. The family also related that Harriet said her mother (Mary Ann Hales Thompson) died on the plains. Further statements were made that the family took a wagon box to make a coffin for her and Harriet expressed extreme sorrow in leaving her mother buried on the plains. Harriet was disturbed by the evidence of wild animals desecrating the graves of the fallen Saints who had traveled in the previous companies. From these evidences, along with the fact that a child was born to John and Harriet on Dec 21, 1851 in Bountiful, Utah is that John and Harriet Ellis along with the Thompson and Hales families traveled together in the Garden Grove Company, reaching Salt Lake on Sept 24, 1851. When the Ellis family reached Utah the covered wagon was used for sleeping quarters for some of the family members until a one room log cabin could be built. The log cabin served as the main residence of the family until 1869 when a four room adobe house was constructed. While living in the log cabin seven more children were born to John and Harriet. These children were: Jose Ezra, Sarah Ann, Elizabeth Jane, Laura Victoria, Charles William, George Franklin and James. George Franklin died of scarlet fever when he was fourteen months old and James died from measles when he was nine months old. The first four years in Utah were not easy, but they experienced the joy of building for the future. In 1857 this future was threatened by the advent of Johnston's Army. While the family moved south to Cove Fort, John was stationed in Echo Canyon. The muster roll of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment Infantry, Nauvoo Legion shows John Ellis was the captain from November 9 through November 28, 1857. Upon returning to their home, the Ellis family did some farming and stock raising. A small flock of sheep furnished wool, which Harriet prepared for clothing. John Ellis was a miller for John Taylor in Farmington. The following is copied from the book "East of Antelope Island," page 153: "John Ellis, a millwright and cooper who had brought his tools to the valley with him, made furniture for his home. One rocking chair is still is use in the home of his daughter-in-law, Robenia M. Ellis." John also made wooden tubs, barrels, buckets, churns and washboards, all very important items in those days. The first molasses mill in the community was owned by John Ellis. It was located near the site of the present Bountiful City Cemetery. The family referred to this piece of land as the mill ground. Stephen Ellis had charge of the mill ground while Charles Ellis was responsible for the meadow ground. John Ellis was a happy, fun-loving person. He enjoyed having young people come to his home and they came often. Harriet was a refined and very capable person. The couple enjoyed singing and often held "singing school" in their home. This love of singing has been handed down through the generations to their descendants. John was not well during the last years of his life. He had what was probably cancer of the face and suffered very much from it. It became necessary to feed him with a cup having a spout. One time when he was returning home after having treatments in Salt Lake City, the freight train stopped at the land where his boys met him and carried him home in a rocking chair. John died on April 3, 1871. He was 57 years and nearly three months old at the time of his death. He was patient in his suffering and was always a true and faithful Latter-day Saint. He was survived by Harriet, ten of his twelve children and nine grandchildren. Harriet lived 39 years as a widow, and she too was a faithful Latter-day Saint. She raised her family under trying conditions, teaching school to support them. She taught Sunday School in South Bountiful for 25 years and must have been a living example of an ideal Latter-day Saint woman. The last thirteen years of her life were spent in the home of her youngest daughter, Laura Victoria Ellis Hatch, who made her comfortable and happy. At her death on May 24, 1910, she had 101 grandchildren, 205 great-grandchildren and 38 great-great-grandchildren. Sources: June Jansson Ellis, History of John Ellis, edited by Veoma M. Stahle. International Society: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers East of Antelope Island P. 153
      Obituary of John Ellis: At Bountiful, April 3, 1871, of cancer, John Ellis, aged 57 years and three months. Deceased was born near the city of Toronto, Upper Canada, where he embraced the gospel in the year 1836. In 1837 he moved to Kirkland, Ohio and in 1838, he moved with the saints from there to Far West, Missouri. He then went to Quincy, Illinois, where he married the daughter of Stephen and Mary Ann Hales. He went to Nauvoo, where he resided until the expulsion of the Saints from the state. He then, with his family, started for the Rocky Mountains, stopping by the way to recruit, at Garden Grove. He reached the Salt Lake Valley in the year 1851, since which time he has been a resident of Bountiful until his decease. He has ever been true and faithful in the church and was patient during his afflictions. He leaves a wife, twelve children, twelve grand Children, and many relatives and friends to mourn his loss. John Ellis was laid to rest in Bountiful City Cemetery."

      7. From the daughters of the Utah Pioneers: "History of Harriet Hales Ellis, written by an unknown member of the daughters of the Utah Pioneers.
      Harriett Hales Ellis was born in Rainham, Kent County, England, June 10th, 1824. She left England at the age of eight with her parents, who located in Upper Canada, near Toronto, York township. She was baptized in 1837 by Smith Humphry.
      She, with her family, gathered with the Saints in Missouri in 1838. They were driven from there in the Spring of 1839. Leaving Missouri, they located in Quincy, Illinois.
      On October 31st, 1839, she married John Ellis Jr., they were married by Elder Caleb Baldwin. In the Spring of 1841 she and her husband moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. Her parents also went there.
      At Nauvoo, they lived through all the persecutions the Saints were called to pass through, until the Prophet Joseph Smith and [his] brother, Hyrum were martyred.
      Sometime after this, they moved to Fort Madison, Iowa, where her father, Stephen Hales, died on April 3rd, 1846. They then moved to Garden Grove in 1847. They started to Salt Lake Valley in 1851 arriving there on the 25th of Sep. locating at Bountiful, Utah. They raised a large family, six boys and six girls. [Kerry's note: John and Harriet stayed in Hancock Co., IL, up through 1850 - so this part of the history is incorrect.]
      As of August 1893, they had ten children living and 85 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren. She died the 24th of May, 1910, at the age of 86 years. She was honored and respected by all that knew her as a faithful Latter-day Saint.
      She visited her native land with her sister, M. Isabelle Horn, and gathered considerable genealogy. She also went to Canada and got what information she could as regards her husband's ancestors.
      Her husband, John Ellis Jr., was also a native of Canada. Born Jan. 4th, 1814 in Scarborough Township, twelve miles from Toronto, he was baptized in 1837, blessed and ordained an Elder by Patriarch Smith. He acted as commissary for one of the companies at the time of the trouble in Nauvoo. Coming to Utah, he was a Captain of ten. He was one of the brethren sent out to check Johnston's army in 1856-57. He worked for John Tayler as a miller In Farmington. He was well-acquainted with all the leading authorities of the church.
      He was at the meeting where the Prophet Joseph Smith preached his last sermon, before going to Carthage Jail, he was ordained a Seventy, and held that office at the time of death. He died April 3rd, 1871."

      MARRIAGE:
      1. Per DUP biography of wife cited with her notes.

      2. per wife's obituary.

      DEATH:
      1. Per DUP biography of wife cited with her notes.

      2. Wife's obituary states he died 39 years previous to her death in 1910.

      SOURCES_MISC:
      1. 18 Dec 2002 website .