by Rocky Macy
Matilda J. COOK was born in July of 1842 in Washington County, Arkansas. to Thomas and Sinai (LEWIS) COOK. She was the fifth of eleven children. Matilda married William J. ELLIS in 1860 or 1861, sometime after the 1860 US Census had been taken. She passed away on May 9th, 1904, in Madison County, Arkansas.
Matilda J. COOK ELLIS was my great-great-grandmother.
According to the four available census records, Matilda was living in the home of her parents in 1850 at White River in Washington County, Arkansas. In1860 she was still in the home of her birth family and living at Brush Creek in Washington County, Arkansas. By 1870 Matilda was married to William J. ELLIS and their home was at Clear Creek in Washington County, Arkansas. At that time they had four children: Elizabeth (age 9), Josephine (7), Mary (5), and Jesse (age not given). At the time of the 1880 US Census, Matilda and William and seven children were living at War Eagle in Madison County, Arkansas. The three oldest children were daughters: Elizabeth (19), Josephine (17), and Mary J. (13). The four younger children were sons: Jessey R. (11), Ward ((9), Isaac (7), and Thomas (3).
It now looks as though the couple had no other children. Of the seven, Elizabeth was “Sarah Elizabeth” who was probably named for her paternal grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth KELLY ELLIS. She, young Elizabeth, was born in 1861 and went on to marry Miles Franklin PHELAN. Josephine was born around 1863. At this time the name of her spouse, if she married, is unknown. Mary Jane COOK was born in 1866 and passed away in 1936. She married Alexander SREAVES and they were my great-grandparents.
Of the sons, Jessie Richard was bon in 1868 and died in 1917. He married a woman named “Orpha” whose last name is unknown. Jacob “Ward” was born in 1870 and died in 1941. He married Nancy Adeline BYNUM. They relocated to Kansas where they were living when Ward passed away. Isaac Nut ELLIS was born in1871 and died in 1935. His wife was Ella Hannah DRAKE. William Thomas “Tommy” ELLIS, the youngest of the family, was born in 1876 and passed away in 1938. Tommy married Florence DRAKE.
Three of the children relocated to southwest Missouri as adults and are all buried at the same cemetery (Swars Prairie Baptist) in Newton County, Missouri. Mary Jane and Alex SREAVES and their family moved to McDonald County, Missouri, in 1901 after a dispute with an unstable neighbor at their home in Huntsville, Arkansas. That arduous journey took two full days on the road in two covered wagons and two nights of camping out. (Tommy ELLIS drove the second wagon.) The trip is recounted in the journal that one of the children, Fanny SREAVES ULMER, wrote nearly eighty years later. (The journal is posted elsewhere within this blog under the title “Recollections of Fanny Sreaves Ulmer.”)
Jessie and Tommy ELLIS and their families later migrated to southwest Missouri as well and lived close to Alex and Mary Jane ELLIS SREAVES,
According to the. “Recollections of Fanny SREAVES ULMER, her grandmother, Matilda, came to visit their family one time in Missouri, and after she had spent a few days, Grandmother ELLIS went back to Arkansas in a wagon driven by her son-in-law, Alex SRREAVES.
Matilda J. (COOK) ELLIS has special significance in my family because it was her entry into the family that connected it with the six of the ten original white settlers of Nantucket Island off of the Massachusetts coast, at one time dubbed the “Whaling Capital of the World.” Two of Matilda’s great-grandparents were actually born on Nantucket.
Matilda J. ( COOK) ELLIS assed away on May 9th, 1904, and her obituary ran in the "Huntsville Democrat" newspaper. It stated:
"Mrs. M.J. Ellis, age 67 years, mother of our townsman, Ward Elis, died of paralysis at her home west of town Monday night and her remains were interred in the Hindsville cemetery Tuesday."
Other than one long and hard wagon trip to southwest Missouri to visit her children and grandchildren, it is entirely possible that Matilda never traveled beyond the Arkansas state line at any other time.
Matilda J. COOK ELLIS raised seven children to maturity under what were undoubtedly harsh circumstances. That was no insignificant feat.
No comments:
Post a Comment