Ellis

The sale of Mima and Lewis.

State North Carolina Edgecombe County} Know all by these presents that I Ephraim Daniel of the County and State aforesaid, for and in consideration of the sum of Three Hundred and Fifty dollars, to me in hand paid by Coffield Ellis of the same County and State afore said, at or before the sealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof I the said Ephraim Daniel do hereby acknowledge, have granted bargined and sold, and by these presents do grant, bargin and sell unto the said Coffield Ellis, his heirs, Executors, Adm. and assigns, one Negro Woman by the name of Mima, also one Boy Child named Lewis; the woman about forty years of age, the Boy between one & two years of age. To have and to hold the above bargained negroes, to him the said Coffield Ellis his heirs, Executors, Adm’rs, and assigns for ever, and I the said Ephraim Daniel my heirs, Executors, Admr’s, and assigns doth and will for ever Warrant & defend, unto the said Coffield Ellis, his heirs, Executors, Adm’rs, and assigns the right title, claim or demand, of the above bargained negroes from all or any person or persons lawfully claiming the same, In witness of which I have hereunto set my hand and seal the 9th day of January 1823 Ephraim Daniel   Witness Reddick Barnes

Edgecombe County February Court 1823 The within Bill of Sale was duly exhibited in open Court _ proved by the oath of Reddick Barnes _ ordered to be Recorded   Test. M’l Hearn Clk.

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Coffield Ellis’ 1854 will contained a bequest to his wife Penninah of enslaved people named Miney and Lewis, among others. Miney was described as “old” and a “faithful servant” and may have been Mima, who would have been about 70 years old at the time. 

However, the 1812 will of Coffield Ellis’ father William Ellis Sr. also contained, among others, a Mimah, who bequeathed to wife Unity Ellis, but was eventually distributed to son Jonathan Ellis. William Ellis Sr. also owned Isham, who had a son circa 1834 named Lewis. 

Deed book 17, page 559, Edgecombe County Register of Deeds, Tarboro, North Carolina.

Lane Street Project: season 4, workday 1.

I pulled up at Odd Fellows a couple of minutes late; I had not anticipated the line at Wilson Doughnuts.

Senior Force members Castonoble Hooks and Briggs Sherwood were unpacking Briggs’ trunk while chatting with our photographer Chris Facey and two newcomers, John Kirk and Thomas Ramirez, who arrived bearing boxes of Bojangles biscuits. Shortly after, Barton College professor Lydia Walker and Raven Farmer, a LSP season-one original, pulled up. Rev. H. Maurice Barnes stopped through on his way to another engagement, and then again in time to pray over the work done and yet to do.

Today there were just these few at Odd Fellows. And we were enough. Whether nine or ninety, however many show up always will be enough.

We tackled the short ditch between Odd Fellows and Rountree, which has been choked with dog fennel and wisteria and privet and cherry saplings. It appears in early aerials of the land, but its purpose isn’t clear. However, given the high bank on which the front edge of Rountree Cemetery sits, however, it seems likely that it was cut as a passageway for wagons to gain access into the cemetery.

Just beyond where Cass Hooks is walking above, the ground slopes up gently to grade level. With the right equipment — a little Bobcat? — we could carefully scrape this out, but I’m getting ahead of ourselves.

The wild overgrowth along the first couple of feet at the top of the bank has been chopped. I thought at first that maybe Wilson Energy was cleaning up around the base of the power pole it rammed into Rountree Cemetery in 1997, but no — the pole is just as enwreathed in gnarly wisteria as ever.

Still there is evidence that someone fairly recently did some rough chopping of some of the larger saplings just behind the pole — and it wasn’t LSP. None of the brush was cleared out, it was simply pushed over — including this log on top of the pile of Ellis headstones I photographed during my initial solo foray into Rountree in December 2019.

We gently pulled the fallen sapling off the pile and cleared vines from ten year-old Buster Ellis‘ headstone.

The Ellis headstones, almost all shattered or snapped, are evidence of some earlier clean-up — or cleanout — conducted with little regard for the memory or graves of those whose graves they mark.

For now, we leave them as they are.

Nearby, Daniel Marlow‘s handsome headstone marks his 1910 burial. The vines are relentless; we cut them back.

We hope, with the blessing of Rountree Missionary Baptist Church, to do more in Rountree Cemetery this season.

Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson, December 2023. 

The last will and testament of Reuben E. Ellis.

Three weeks after his wife’s death, Reuben Ellis made out a will that left all his property to his step-grandchildren. The land had been Mary Lynch Rhodes Ellis‘, and Ellis returned it to her descendants.

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In the 1920 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Stantonsburg Road, farmer Reuben Ellis, 45; wife Mary, 42; and stepson John Hardy Rhoades, 21, widower.

In the 1930 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: on Old Stantonsburg Road, Ruben Ellis, 57; wife Mary, 52; and grandchildren Hattie M., 12, Carrie, 9, James, 6, and Charlie Rhodes, 5, and Cora B. Wynn, newborn.

In the 1940 census of Wilson township, Wilson County: Ruben Ellis, 60, farmer; wife Mary, 62; grandsons James R., 17,  and Charlie Rhodes, 15; and granddaughter Cora Bell Ellis, 11.

In 1942, James Rhoades registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his draft card, he was born 4 January 1923 in Wilson County; lived at Route 3, Wilson; his nearest relative was Ruebin Ellis; and he worked on Isaac Jones’ farm.

Mary Wyatt Ellis died 10 October 1943 in Wilson township, Wilson County. Per her death certificate, she was born 16 May 1876 in Wilson County to Wyatt Lynch and Nicie [no maiden name listed]; was married to Rubin Ellis; was engaged in farming; and was buried on “Lynch Farm.”

Rubin Ellis died 11 March 1944 in Wilson township, Wilson County. Per his death certificate, he was 67 years old; was a widower; was born in Wilson County to Rubin Ellis and Clara Atkinson; worked as a farmer; and was buried on the home place. Charlie Rhodes was informant.

Will of Reuben E. Ellis (1943), North Carolina, U.S. Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998, http://www.ancestry.com.

The toll.

The Spanish flu pandemic decimated families within days.

Between October 23 and 28, 1918, Daniel and Celia Lewis Ellis lost sons Sam, 20, Jackson, 17, and Orran Ellis, 8. 

Sam Ellis died 23 October 1918.

His brother Jackson Ellis had passed three hours earlier. 

Their little brother Orran Ellis died five days later on 28 October 1918. Will Artis buried all three on the E.C. Exum place in Wayne County.

Austin and Clara Lawrence Dawes lost sons Rosevelt, 8, Handy, 1, and Thomas Dawes, 4, over a four-day span.

Rosevelt Handy died 19 October 1918.

Handy Dawes died the next day. 

Thomas Dawes died on the 23rd. 

And then their father Austin died.

Austin Dawes, 49, tenant farmer. 

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In the 1910 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County: on Stantonsburg Road, farmer Daniel Ellis, 50; wife Celia, 35; and children Maeliza, 13, Willie, 14, Samson, 11, Harry, 10, Robert, 7, and Jackson, 8.

In the 1910 census of Toisnot township, Wilson County: farmer Austin Daws, 37; wife Clara, 26; and children Hazel M., 9, Annah M., 4, Lara L., 2, and Theodore R., newborn.

Take notice: my wife and daughter left.

Wilson Daily Times, 11 August 1911.

This notice concerning a wife and daughter reads an awful lot like a runaway slave ad.

A Hannah Ellis is listed in the 1916 Hill’s Wilson, N.C., city directory, at 624 Darden Alley. No other Ellis is listed at that address. I have not found a mother-daughter combination named Hannah and Ida Ellis, nor the name of the man who published this notice anonymously.

Happy birthday to a daughter of East Wilson!

My uncles moved North; my father and his sister cast their lots in Wilson. Both had two daughters, born in age-matched pairs. Monica Ellis Barnes was born exactly nine months before I was and was my very first bestie. Here we are, with her little sister, in front of their house on Faison Street. Happy milestone birthday, cousin! May it be filled with laughter and all the love your heart can hold!

Nurse Ellis speaks at graded school graduation.

In 1949, nurse Mable W. Ellis delivered a graduation speech to the 7th grade class of Lucama School.

Wilson Daily Times, 26 May 1949.

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  • Sadie Vick Singletary — in the 1950 census of Beulah township, Johnston County: in the “section known as Macedonia,” widower John Singletary, 59, farmer, children Christine, 34, day laborer, Fannie, 31, farm helper, Sadie, 24, 4th grade public school teacher; and granddaughter Edna E. Lucas, 9.
  • Janice Edwards — in the 1950 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Jacob Edwards, 48; wife Alice P., 38; children Janice L., 16, Robert A., 15, Adell G., 14, Ray C., 9, and Ellen G., 6; and mother-in-law Melvina Thompson, 82, widow.
  • Margaret Richardson — in the 1940 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Frank Richardson, 51; wife James, 16, Tobey W., 14, Roosevelt, 12, Odell, 10, Udell, 8, Haselwood, 6, Marvin, 4, Dorthy, 2, and Emlydelous, 11 months.
  • Mary L. Webb — in the 1950 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Ernest Sauls, 37; wife Ester, 39, farm helper; sons Wilbert, 17, and Bobby A., 7; widower Cornelus Cheeks, 85; and niece Mary L. Webb, 15.
  • Alice Mae Daniel — in the 1940 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: school janitor Benajah Daniel, 49; wife Aldonia, 34; and children Cecil R., 18, James I., 16, Bennie L., 13, Beulah, 11, Myrtle Lee, 8, Alice Mae and Allie Gray, 6, Eula Rebecca, 5, and Joseph Lee, 2.
  • Martha L. Simms — in the 1950 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Johnny Simms, 57; wife Bessie, 42; son James, 18, and daughter Martha Lee, 15.
  • Dorothy Baines — in the 1940 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: Maggie Bains, 21, and children Dorthy M., 5, Virgina, 4, and Lillie M., 5 months.
  • Adell Edwards — see above.
  • Dewese Williamson
  • Allie Gray Daniel — see above.
  • Grady Sutton Jr. — in the 1950 census of Cross Roads township, Wilson County: farmer Grady Sutton, 37; wife Prevella, 37; and children Grady Jr., 13, Oliva, 12, Kellon, 10, Helen, 9, Jimmy, 12, Willie G., 7, Joseph, 5, Clophes, 3, and Margret, 1.
  • Robert Edwards — see above.
  • Udell Richardson — see above.
  • William Swinson — perhaps, in the 1940 census of Black Creek township, Wilson County: farmer Willie Swinson, 47; wife Lonnie, 36; and children Ethel Mae, 17, Julia E., 15, Addie O., 13, Daniel G., 12, Lonnie R., 10, Virginia, 8, Willie L., 7, William D.H., 5, and Charles S., 2.
  • L.E. Barfield

The apprenticeship of Sovid Applewhite.

On 20 October 1869, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered three year-old Sovid Applewhite bound as an apprentice to Lewis Ellis until he reached 21 years of age.

[The spelling of this unusual name is difficult to decipher. Though “Lovid,” as in Lovett, seems more logical, the capital letter does not match the consistently double-looped L in “Lewis.”]

Sovid Applewhite (or no one with any approximation of his name) is not listed in the household of Lewis and Milly Ellis in the 1870 census of Stantonsburg township, Wilson County.

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

The apprenticeship of John Ellis (1871).

On 6 January 1871, a Wilson County Probate Court judge ordered 14 year-old John Ellis bound as an apprentice to Francis R. Ellis until he reached 21 years of age.

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In the 1870 census of Saratoga township, Wilson County, 14 year-old John Ellis is listed as a “farmer’s apprentice” in the household of William and Rebecca F. Ellis.

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