Ellis

Happy birthday, Aunt Margaret!

Hattie H. Ellis, age about 6, on Queen Street.

So smart that she skipped a grade at Vick Elementary, Hattie Margaret Henderson Ellis graduated from C.H. Darden High School in 1953 and Hampton Institute in 1957 (where she pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and established a family legacy). She received a graduate degree from Boston University and spent decades as a guidance counselor in Wilson County high schools.

Aunt Margaret is the youngest and the last surviving of my grandmother’s children, and we wish her a happy and love-filled 90th birthday!

Corporal James Walter Ellis, stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

——

In the 1930 census of Stantonsburg, Wilson County: Oscar Ellis, 39; wife Mamie, 39; and children Oscar Jr., 16, William, 14, Estelle, 12, Ejay, 11, Colen, 10, James, 9, Bessie M., 8, Hubert L., 6, Leroy, 2, and Dorothy, 1 month.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 1113 [East Nash], Oscar Ellis, 50, W.P.A. project laborer; wife Mamie, 49; children Henry, 23, public service laborer, Estell, 22, private housekeeper, A.J.A., 21, cafe waiter, Charles, 20, Moore’s Drug deliveryman, James, 18, Bessie, 17, Hubert, 15, Leroy, 13, Fred, 8, Mamie, 10, and Clarence, 5; and adopted children Annie, 15, and Rosco Jones, 13.

In the 1950 census of Washington, D.C.: James W. Ellis, 28, federal government messenger, and wife Vera L., 23.

Image courtesy of Veterans of World War II Wilson County, spiral-bound volume, Wilson County Public Library.

Nurse Ellis outlines the essentials of happiness.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 11 June 1949.

See “Nurse Ellis speaks at graded school graduation.”

Also:

  • Mary Elizabeth Anderson

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 213 Manchester, Edward Anderson, 31; wife Alberta, 29; and children Austin, 9, Hellen, 6, John E., 5, Elizabeth, 4, Guynell, 2, and Robert L., 4 months.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 213 Manchester Street, Ed Anderson, 40; wife Alberta, 39; and children Octavia, 19, Helen, 16, John, 15, Mary, 14, Gaynell, 13, Robert, 10, Deloris, 6, and Ruth, newborn.

In the 1950 census of Wilson, Wilson County: Ed Anderson, 45, “pulls ice” at ice plant; wife Alberta, 43, “cleans house”; children Mary E., 23, history teacher at county school; Robert L., 20, nightclub waiter; Delores, 17; Ruth J., 13; and Samuel G., 7; and grandson James E., 3.

On 4 June 1950, Jessie Bynum, 25, of Wilson, son of Julius and Gertrude Bynum, married Mary Elizabeth Anderson, 24, of Wilson, daughter of Ed and Alberta Anderson, at Holy Hope Church, Rocky Mount, N.C. Episcopal priest Robert J. Johnson performed the ceremony.

Nurse Ellis throws a surprise party.

With the help of C.E. Artis, nurse Mable Ellis threw her husband George Ellis a surprise birthday party in February 1928.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 17 March 1928.

Contrast the tone of this piece, published in a Black newspaper, with the snark of white newspapers of the era, which often sneered at even the most joyous occasion. The Ellises were newlyweds, having married the previous September. George Ellis was 52, and Mable Weaver Ellis, 26, when they wed. Told with humor and charming detail, here were Black people via a Black gaze.

Cyclist killed in collision with auto.

Wilson Daily Times, 1 September 1948.

——

In the 1940 census of Gardners township, Wilson County: widow Winnie Mitchell, 72; nephew Robert Barnes, 44; son Lonnie Barnes, 36; and lodgers Beulah, 13, Jimmie, 11, Reby, 8, and S.D. Ellis, 7.

In 1946, Jimmie Lee Ellis registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 28 March 1928 in Wilson County; lived at Route 1, Wilson; his contact was Winnie Mitchell; and he worked for Ronie Williams.

Jimmie Lee Ellis died 31 August 1928 at Mercy Hospital, Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was born 27 March 1928 in Wilson County to Jim Ellis and Sellie Hines; worked as a day laborer; lived on Route 1, Stantonsburg; and was buried in a family cemetery.

The Ellises sell Ellis Chapel a parcel of land.

Hilliard and Feraby Rountree Ellis sold Ellis Chapel for the nominal sum of $7.50 the half-acre parcel of land upon which Ellis Chapel Free Will Baptist Church was eventually built. Ellis Chapel’s cornerstone cites the church’s founding as 1882. This deed, however, is dated 26 April 1881 and shows the church had already formed at that time.

Deed book 18, pages 559-560, Wilson County Register of Deeds office.

The confusion may stem from the registration date of the deed —  16 June 1882.

Hat tip to Melanie Nelson Ellis for this copy of the deed.

The apprenticeship of Jesse Ellis.

On 20 January 1870, a Wilson County Superior Court judge ordered 14 year-old Jesse Ellis bound as an apprentice to Guilford Ellis until he reached 21 years of age.

——

In the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: farm laborer Guilford Ellis, 40; wife Pleasance, 29; and Ned, 16, Cherry, 14, Jesse, 12, Arabella, 11, and Sarah, 4.

In the 1880 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: common laborer Guilford Ellis, 55; wife Penny, 55; and children Sarah E., 16, Mary E., 10, and Layfaytte, 8.

United States Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939, database at https://familysearch.org.

The Wilson County roots of Bishop J. Delano Ellis.

Bishop Jesse Delano Ellis II of the Pentecostal Church of Christ was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Jesse Lee Ellis, a migrant from Wilson County, North Carolina, and Lucy Mae Harris Ellis.

——

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 508 East Walnut Street, ice plant laborer Calvin Ellis, 33; wife Matha, 29; and son Jessie L., 10; plus roomers Wilson Webb, 47, a Contentnea Guano laborer, wife Victoria, 40, and daughter Minnie Webb, 2.

In the 1940 census 0f Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: domestic Martha Ellis, 39, widow; sister Lucy Lucas, 33; and son Jessie, 20, coal yard laborer. In 1935, Martha Ellis had lived in Atlantic City, New Jersey; Lucas, in Philadelphia; and Jesse Ellis in Wilson, North Carolina.

In 1940, Jesse Lee Ellis registered for the World War II draft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Per his registration card, he was born 18 August 1919 in Wilson, N.C.; his contact was mother Martha Ellis; and he worked for the 1355th Company, Civilian Conservation Corps, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Jesse and Lucy Mae Ellis, presumably at their 1943 wedding in Philadelphia.

In the 1950 census of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Martha Ellis, 49, widow; son Jesse L. 30, stevedore on docks; daughter-in-law Lucy Mae, 21; and grandsons Jesse D., 5, James B., 1, and John C., born in November [1949].

In 1950, Jesse L. Ellis applied for World War II compensation in Pennsylvania. Per his application, he was born 18 August 1919 in Wilson; lived at 616 Mercy Street, Philadelphia; and his dates of service were 22 June 1942 to 26 March 1943.

Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com user Dawn Speaks.