Bio: Ellis, Stillman & Henrietta

Contact: Stan

----Source: Federal Census, Land Records & Newspaper Obituaries, Family Records - Cynthia Stanley (family member), Anonymous Family Member & The Clark Co., WI History Buff Researchers

Surnames: Ellis, Pickering, Sparks, Stilman, Stillman, Lawson, Hedge, Hodge

Stilllman & Henrietta (Spade) Ellis

Sherwood, Clark Co., Wisconsin

Stillman Ellis was one of the first settlers of Clark County in Township 23 N, Range 1 E which was initially known as Sherwood Forest and later just "Sherwood".  He homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres on April 20, 1882 at the Federal Land Office in La Crosse, Wisconsin in section 14 of the township.  At the time, Chester A. Arthur was president of the United States and the recorder at the general land office was S. W. Clark.  That same year, Thomas Edison turned on the lights in the New York City offices of financier, J. P. Morgan, inaugurating commercially supplied electricity.  But, rural Clark County, Wisconsin would not see that progress until after 1930.  The new home of Stillman and Henrietta would have to be built by their own hands, lit by candles and/or oil lamps and their land would have to be developed with lots of hard work before it would be productive.  These early pioneers were brave people with calloused hands and strong spirits.

Stillman and Henrietta were both natives of the Empire State and were skilled farmers.  He was born in during March 7, 1828 to Bradner and Elizabeth "Betsy"  (Hodge) Ellis who also began life in New York.  Henrietta Spade and her parents were also born there and having been born Nov. 7, 1830, she was fifty years of age when the 1880 Federal Census was taken.  At that time, their two-year-old granddaughter, Susie Hammond, was under their care and must have been quite a joy for them.  Susie's mother, Susannah had died November 26, 1877, when she was just twenty years old, shortly after giving her birth.  She was the youngest daughter and fourth child of Stillman and Henrietta.  That year, Christmas was over-shadowed with sadness for this pioneer family.  Susie's father was Eugene Hammond and her parents had married in March of 1877.

Stillman and Henrietta's first daughter, Bloomy Ann was born August 22, 1850 while the family was living in Winnebago Co., Wisconsin.  August 22, 1869, Bloomy married Thomas Sparks, a neighboring farmer.  They had six children: Elnora (b. 9 Jun 1870, m. Gilbert Ellis July 5, 1888 in Waushara Co., WI), William Dexter, Emily, Jesse T., George and Arthur.

Their second daughter was born January 17, 1852 and was named her for her mother, Henrietta.  She married Joseph Alonzo Hanes in the heat of July, 1868.  This couple presented Stillman and Henrietta with seven grandchildren: Flora (b. 21 Feb 1884), Edward, David Freeman, Sarah, Henrietta, Henry and Stilman (Stillman?).

Their only son, Charles, was born October 3, 1854 and is buried in the Sherwood Township Cemetery.

Their closest neighbors were Andrew and Acenith Lawson who also farmed the land along with John and James Sparks who lived with them.  The Pickerings also lived nearby and it is almost certain their son, David and daughter Sylvia became close friends with Susie.   

Henrietta died June 11, 1899 and is buried in the Sherwood Cemetery in Clark County, Wisconsin.

Stillman died March 1, 1919 in Bancroft, Portage Co., Wisconsin at the age of ninety-one.

Census

1860-Pine Grove, Portage Co., Wisconsin

1900-Sherwood, Clark Co., Wisconsin--Stillman Ellis, widowed, living with Thomas & Bloomy Ann (Ellis) Sparks

1910-Sherwood, Clark Co., Wisconsin--owned 38.5 Acres in Section 15 and still residing in his daughter, Bloomy's home.

Land Records

Plat Maps

1880 Sherwood Township

1906 Sherwood Township

1915 Sherwood Township & Property Owners.

Henrietta's Tombstone

Sherwood Township, Clark Co., WI

Note: In the articles the maiden name of the wife of Bradner Ellis was HEDGE, rather than Hodge, as reported in the biography above.


ROCHESTER, NY, DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE, MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1904.

OLD MT. MORRIS RESIDENT
REACHES HER NINETY-FIFTH
BIRTHDAY IN GOOD HEALTH

Mt. Morris, Oct. 10.--At her home on South Main street, Mrs. Miriam Ellis, the oldest resident of the village and town of Mount Morris, last week reached the 95th anniversary of her birth. Alert to the significance of the occasion, the bright old lady smiled a cheery welcome to her daughters and friends, as they congratulated her on her continued good health. Her hearing and memory are excellent and she speaks of bygone times with the briskness of one many years her junior.

Mrs. Ellis has lived in this village fifty-two years, and during the half-century has viewed the lives and varying fortunes of its people with the interest of personal acquaintance. She has known the old families and has seen their sons and daughters play their parts in the humble drama by the Genesee, has witnessed the prouder achievements of those who have sought to pluck the laurels of fame from dizzier heights, has heard the echoes of the worlds applause and noted the homecoming of co____ed remains, whose clay has long mingled with the dust of the countless hosts of those who sleep in the city of the dead.

She has been a widow forty-six years, has known the joys of living and supped with sorrow at the last sacrament of dear ones, has survived five of her nine children--and is 95.

Miriam Hedge was born in the good old Massachusetts town of New Salem, October 13, 1809. After the death of her father, Daniel Hedge, her mother, Phylania King, was [forced?] to find homes for her three sons and two daughters. At the age of 9 Miriam became an inmate of the household of Joseph and Sarah Powers, in the little village of Greenwich, Mass. There she attended district school until she was 17 and in her 18th year left the Bay state, accompanied by her eldest brother, Stillman, and drove in an open buggy to Tyrone, Steuben county, where her mother was then living with her reunited family and her second husband, Samuel Prentice. The trip occupied ten days.

At her mother's house two years later she was married to Levi Ellis, whose brother, Bradner Ellis was the husband of her elder sister, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Ellis died many years ago at Howard, Steuben county. After a short time Levi Ellis, who was a miller, moved to Dundee. Later the family lived at Hornellsville. After that, during their prolonged residence at Cohocton, the boys and girls were growing up, and in 1852 the family left Cohocton and came to Mount Morris. Their first home was a small house which stood on the site of the present residence of R. H. Moses, on Murray street. After that for quite a number of years the family lived in the house now owned by John Van Dorn. Mr. Ellis died in 1858 and is buried in the old cemetery.

The n__agenarian has three daughters, Two, Mrs. J. B. Kellogg and Mrs. Erasmus Mead, live in the village. with the latter she has made her home during the last nineteen years, living in the same house on South Main street during that period. Her eldest daughter, Mrs. Hannah Crawford, of Coldwater, Mich., who is 63 years old, visited her last year.

Her only surviving son, Eugene Ellis, lives at Tuscarora. Her eldest son, Augustus Ellis, died recently at his home in [Cu?]ylerville. Another son, Oscar Ellis, who was a miller, died over forty years ago, and is buried at Mount Morris. Addie, wife of Stephen _. Fisher, died in Mount Morris, and Delia died at the age of 5 years. Elizabeth, wife of John Reese, died about ten years ago at her home in Dansville, and is buried there. Mrs. Ellis's three brothers, Stillman, Samuel and Asa were all killed in the Civil war.

Of the early presidential campaigns the aged woman remembers many incidents. The picturesque features of the Log Cabin and Hard Cider campaign of 18[40?], when William Henry Harrison was elected president, impressed her most forcibly. She was living in Cohocton at that time.

Mrs. Ellis is the oldest member of the first Presbyterian Church of Mount Morris, having joined the church during __-second year of the pastorate of the late Dr. Parsons, in 1857. When she first came to Mount Morris Rev. Mr. Chichester was pastor of the church. In those years Deacon Allen and Deacon Conkey were the senior guardians of the faith. Of late years, through the infirmities of age, Mrs. Ellis has been kept away from church services. Her last attendance was in 1[900?]

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Rochester, NY Democrat and Chronicle. Thursday, April 27, 1905

DEATH OF MRS. ELLIS OCCURRED YESTERDAY.

ATTAINED RIPE AGE OF 96

Had lived in the Genesee Valley for Seventy-Eight Years and in Mt. Morris Over Fifty Years--Oldest Member of Presbyterian Church

Mt. Morris, April 26[?] -- Burdened by the heavy weight of her 96 years, Mrs. Miriam Ellis, the oldest resident of the village and town of Mt. Morris, passed away at her home on South Main street at noon today. She was one of the oldest residents of the Genesee Valley, which had been her home for seventy-eight years. She had lived in this village fifty-three years. She had been a widow nearly forty-seven years. Only four of her nine children survive her.

Miriam Hedge was born in New Salem, Massachusetts, October 13th, 18[09?]. After the death of her father, Daniel Hedge, her mother, Phylania King, was forced to find homes for her three sons and two daughters....
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Regards,

Cynthia Stanley