Ann (Downing) Ellis (1761 - 1851)

Born 16 Nov 1761 in Pennsylvania [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Isaac Ellis — married 18 May 1779 in Washington, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 28 Jun 1851 at age 89 in Lincoln County, Missouri

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Ann Claire Baber [send private message]

Biography

Ann Downing was born on 16 Nov 1761^[1], in Virginia [possibly Cumberland County]. She was sometimes referred to as "Nancy". She married Isaac Ellis on 18 May 1779, in Washington County, Pennsylvania at a place known then as "Catfish Camp". Question regarding the birthplace of Ann: she said she was born in VA, the fact that Susanna (Ann's mother) must have been pregnant and almost due with Ann when she married Joseph Wells and the fact that she was married in her father's house. Joseph was the only father she knew and he had owned land in VA. Ann's first memory was of living in VA, but if she was born in VA, it likely was in the District of W. Augusta, but it is likely she misstated her place of birth and actually was born in Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania.

Catfish Camp Station was in what became Washington, Pennsylvania. The town was named Catfish Camp from 1770 - 1781.^[2]

She and Isaac moved their family to Jefferson County, Kentucky in 1784. Then in 1792, the part of Jefferson County, Kentucky where they lived became part of the newly established Shelby County. They moved a final time to Owen County, Kentucky in 1829. It was here in 1833, that Ann's husband Isaac died.

Ann then moved with her youngest son, Duncan Ellis, to Lincoln County, Missouri. She applied for a Pension Transfer from Kentucky to Missouri on 22 Sep 1846, so it's reasonable to conclude that they probably came to Missouri in the spring or summer of 1846. She passed away on 28 June 1851, and is buried in the Ellis Family Cemetery in Union Township of Lincoln County, Missouri.

Nickname: There is considerable confusion about her given name. The 1850 Census and documents related to Isaac's pension list her as Ann Ellis or Ann (Downing) Ellis; this includes document applications made by her. These are the only contemporary hard evidence I've found documenting her name. During this period of history, "Nancy" was a common nickname used for Ann. This is where the confusion lies. She was often called "Nancy" even though her real name was Ann. Since she herself said her name was Ann, that should be used as her given name.

The affidavit of Ann Ellis, wife of Isaac Ellis taken at their house in the County of Owen Kentucky on the 14th day of May 183...states that her maiden name was Ann Downing and that at the commencement of the revolutionary War she was living with her father (step) in Washington Co., PA. About the year 1775 old Mr. Ellis (Ellis Ellis) the father of Isaac Ellis moved his family to the neighborhood where my father lived and settled about one mile or mile and half from him. I was then a girl grown and we were often in each others company all the fall of the year 1779 when we got married. The settlements at that time were thin and the Indians very troublesome..In the year 1782 he served as a Lieutenant under my brother, Timothy Downing during the principal part of the time he was out and the balance of the time, he served as a lieutenant under Captain Biggs.^[3]

On 14 Feb 1833, JANE DOWNING, wife of Robert Downing, gave a deposition at the house of her son ROBERT DOWNING in Mason Co, KY. She was 77 at the time and states "that she is the sister of ANN ELLIS, widow of ISAAC ELLIS. She further states that she was present at the marriage of her sister, the said ANN ELLIS, which took place at the house of their father in the now county of Washington, PA. near to a place called Catfish Camp, on the 18th day of May, 1779". This Ann Ellis was Nancy (Ann) Downing, the sister of Robert. (Ref Rev. War pension #W10013)

On 22 Sep 1846, Ann appeared before William Hall, JP for Lincoln Co., MO and attested that her name was placed on the Pension roll of the State of Kentucky from whence she has lately removed; that she now resides in the State of Missouri where she intends to remain and wishes her pension to be payable there in the future. She was living with her son Duncan Ellis and they moved to Missouri. The census 1850 of Lincoln Co., MO included Ann Ellis, age 89.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Gone But Not Forgotten, Vol 1, Pg 22, Douglas, William L., 1980, DOB calculated from transcribed inscription.
2. ↑ https://sites.google.com/site/westsylvania/colonial-era/settlers-and-forts/pennsylvania-forts
3. ↑ https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/t/h/o/Pennie-L-Thompson/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0235.html
4. ↑ https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/t/h/o/Pennie-L-Thompson/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0235.html

• Application for Pension Transfer Ann (Downing) Ellis, 22 Sep 1846, from Kentucky to Missouri.
• U.S., Revolutionary War Pensioners, 1801-1815, 1818-1872 for Ann Ellis
• U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900