ELLIS, Ida (1855-1940)

ELLIS

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 4/2/2020 at 23:11:50

Ida Ellis
(February 28, 1855 – November 30, 1940)

Ida Grove Pioneer Record, Ida Grove, IA, Thurs., Dec 5, 1940, p.1, col.5
Funeral Monday For Mrs. Ellis; Passed Away Saturday at the Age of 85; Was Pioneer Ida Co. Resident
Final rites for Mrs. Wm. (Ida) Ellis, 89, who passed away Saturday morning in the home of her daughter, Mrs. George Kessler, Odebolt, were held Monday afternoon from the Presbyterian church in Ida Grove, Rev. Wilbur F. Swan, pastor, officiated. Burial was made in the Ida Grove cemetery.
Born In 1855
Mrs. Ellis was born on a farm near Clinton, Ill, February 28, 1855, the daughter of John E. and Mary C. Brittin. She grew to womanhood in the period of our greatest national movement of westward expansion just before and after the Civil War. Those were often rough days, the bush whacker was one of the social problems of the day. Men and women needed to be strong to meet the rigorous life of the times. There was need not only for physical strength, but for spiritual power to meet the challenges of the day. Clinton is not far from Springfield, Ill, where Abraham Lincoln was then gaining fame as a lawyer, and among the people of the community he was generally loved for his warm and kindly personality. “And I listened with interest when Mrs. Ellis told me how, one day, when he was a visitor in her father’s home, Abraham Lincoln took her up, a little child of three, to set her on his knee,” said Rev. Swan.
Life History
Her father was one of the crowd present when Lincoln paid the famous horse bet and he was one of the criminal Lincoln Republicans, the newly organized political party. Thus was her family tied into our nation’s life history, even as was Mr. Ellis’ family by the fact that his father was a soldier in the Civil War. The farm was home those early days. But when Ida Brittin as 17 she turned school teacher and taught until she was 21. Then, December 28, 1876, she became the bride of William Ellis, at Waynesville, Ill. Six years later, they moved to their own farm near Early where they remained six years.
Home Place
In 1890, they settled upon the home place, a short distance east of Galva, where they lived for 18 years, after which they came to Ida Grove to live in the old home on Court Street. In this Court street home the Ellises celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, Dec. 28, 1926, shortly after, February 24, 1927, Mr. Ellis was removed by death. Mrs. Ellis cared for her mother the last six years of her life, and her sister, Mrs. Emma Samuels, lived with her, there, the last six years of her life, until just before her death in 1936. Then, three years ago, Mrs. Ellis, after a siege of illness, gave up her Court street home to go to live with her daughter, Mrs. George Kessler, in Odebolt, where she died, peacefully, last Saturday morning at seven o’clock, at an age of 85 years, 9 months, 2 days.
Last of Her Family
Mrs. Ellis was the oldest and last of her family. Her sister, Mrs. Emma Samuels, died July 5, 1936, her brother, John W. Brittin of Clinton, Ill, died May 12, 1911, and Charles T. Brittin died in Waynesville, Ill, Sept 9, 1939. Mrs. Ellis is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Bertha Kessler, Odebolt, two sons, Fred and John of Ida Grove, and a foster daughter, Mrs. Margaret Woolridge for Silver Creek township, and by two grandchildren.
Staunch Presbyterian
Mr. and Mrs. Ellis were both staunch Presbyterians. Mr. Ellis’ father had been a Presbyterian elder, and Mr. Ellis, in his turn, became a Presbyterian elder. Mr. Ellis was the first elder of the Early Presbyterian church, organized in 1888, and Mrs. Ellis had a part in the recent fiftieth anniversary of the Early church. Mrs. Ellis has been a member of this church since 1908, faithful to it as long as she could attend, and generous in her contributions to its program to the end. This church lost a loyal friend. Mrs. Ellis lived deeply, loved her family; they were never long from her thoughts. They were often the subjects of her prayers. In her last illness, as always, she was deeply appreciative for everything that was done for her. She was not the complaining kind, but patient, and cooperative with the person who ministered to her need. The spirit of her life was positively Christian. Pall bearers were Carle Cunningham, Ray Miller, Ray Yousling, Harry Kessler, James Woolridge and Elmer Kessler, Music furnished by Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ford and Mrs. Will Lorenzan accompanied by Mrs. Stanley J. Mead.