Guy Cameron Ellis (1885 - 1973)

Born 8 Apr 1885 in Putnam County, WV

Ancestors

Husband of Aimee Ernest (Shawver) Ellis — married 28 Jun 1908 in Lock Seven,

Descendants

Died 19 Feb 1973 at age 87 in Newport News, VA

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Biography

Guy Cameron Ellis was baptized in Feb 1903 in the Coalsmouth Baptist Church, which was known in 1955 as the First Baptist Church of St. Albans, West Virginia. Guy Cameron Ellis married Aimee Ernest Shawver on June 28, 1908 in Lock Seven, Putnam County, West Virginia. The Charleston Gazette of 1 July 1908 reported the wedding: “Lock Seven, July 1. - A very pretty wedding was solemnized at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Shawver Sunday promptly at 3 o’clock, when their daughter, Aimee, became the bride of Mr. G. C. Ellis, of St. Albans, the Rev. Mr. Reynolds, of Buffalo, officiating. ...Miss Cora Cartnell, of Pt. Pleasant, and Miss May Mason, of Lock Seven, were maids of honor...”

While I do not know how or when they met, Guy was sending postcards to Aimee on a regular basis by 1907. Many of the post cards were unsigned, but in my grandfather’s handwriting. The postcards continued after they were married. The postcards show that for a while Guy worked in McCorkle, not all that far from St. Albans, while Aimee stayed with her parents and her in-laws. Guy wrote to her at both Lock Seven and St. Albans, during the first year of their marriage.

By July 1909, Guy had traveled eastward, back to the area where his ancestors started, and took a job in Lee Hall. The 1910 census has the whole family – both my grandparents and my father, in Warwick County, Virginia. Guy was listed as a salesman in a retail store, and Aimee was listed as a housewife. The postcards indicate that Aimee spent some time in Lee Hall but also returned to West Virginia several times in 1909 and 1910, however.

Guy and Aimee had three more children after they moved to Lee Hall: Joseph Bradley, who married Virginia Margaret McClung; Elizabeth Ann, who married Benjamin Maydian; Elsie Langley, who married Joseph Garnett Gilliam; and Guy Cameron, Jr., who married and divorced Elsie Martin Hamma.

As far as I know, my grandfather had but one serious romance after my grandmother died. As Aunt Elsie tells the story, my grandfather presented her with an engagement ring. In discussing their future, the woman told my grandfather that Elsie would have to raise my uncle Cameron because she did not want to be around children. Supposedly, my grandfather told her that if his children are not good enough for her, then she was not good enough for him, and took back the ring.

Guy continued to work at Clements store until he retired. He was the store’s butcher as well as general clerk.

In 1954, Guy made the newspapers in a way no one wishes -- he was shot during a robbery of the store. The story appeared in the 8 December 1954 issue of The Times-Herald. I recall being told that the probable reason he was shot was that he recognized one or more of the robbers, and as they were leaving said something to the effect: “I know who you are and you aren’t getting away with this.” One of the men shoved him down and fired his shotgun, the shot pellets striking him in the shoulders, neck and head. The reason he survived, I was told, was that he was falling away from the shotgun blast. In any event, it took the doctors a few hours to pick all the shot out of him. The robbers were caught. The men got life in prison, the woman got 50 years.

I recall that Granddad Ellis was a Baptist and he attended church every Sunday he could. He read his Bible and other religious materials often.

I also remember that he used to eat a lot of boiled chicken. I can recall him saying red meat was not good for people-this coming from a butcher!

Guy Cameron Ellis died on 19 Feb 1973 in Newport News, Virginia following a stroke. He was 89 years old. He is buried next to Aimee in Peninsula Memorial Cemetery, Newport News.

Sources

• "Our Ellis-Shawver Ancestors," prepared by Robert L. Ellis in 2004, updated 2015, and again in 2019.