John Millot Ellis DD (1831 - 1894)

Born 27 Mar 1831 in Jaffrey, Cheshire, New Hampshire, United States

Ancestors

Son of Seth Britton Ellis and Lucy (Joslin) Ellis

Descendants

Died 29 Mar 1894 at age 63 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States

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Biography

John Ellis DD was an early pioneer in Ohio.

This profile is part of the Ellis Name Study.

John Millott Ellis, educator, was born in Jaffrey, New Hampshire on March 27, 1831. He was the son of Seth Britton Ellis and Lucy (Joslin) Ellis; grandson of Millet and Rebekah (Ranstead) Ellis; and great grandson of Col. Timothy Ellis of Dedham, Massachusetts then Keene, New Hampshire.

In 1840 he moved with his parents to Oberlin, Ohio as the community and college were just taking shape. As he approached adulthood, he worked in his father's planing mill to earn money for college tuition. He graduated from Oberlin in 1851, started his career as a professor of languages at Mississippi college, Clinton, Miss., 1852- 55, and then graduated from the Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1857. He was a professor of:

• Greek language and literature in Oberlin, 1858-66;
• intellectual and moral philosophy, 1866-82;
• rhetoric, 1866-94;
• and intellectual philosophy, 1882-94.

He also served a short term as the college's president, but missed the classroom too much to stay in the role.

He did not eschew leadership altogether, as he served as Oberlin's Fire Chief and even its Mayor in 1861-62. After his ordination in 1865, he served as a Civil War Chaplain, and associate pastor of Oberlin's Second Congregational church from 1867 to 1874. In 1891 he was sent abroad as a commissioner for the World's Columbian Exposition and visited the major European Capitals, securing valuable exhibits of art and commercial innovation.

In 1893 he received the first honorary D.D. that Oberlin had ever conferred. After an unsuccessful trip to California to improve his health, he died in Chicago, Illinois, March 29, 1894, en route by train back to Oberlin, his final resting place.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ * Family Search: "Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F66L-RJ7 : 1 March 2021), John M. Ellis, 29 Mar 1894; citing Death, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, source ID p 856-857, County courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 447,511.

   Death:

   Name:	John M. Ellis
   Sex:	Male
   Age:	63
   Death Date:	29 Mar 1894
   Death Place:	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States
   Death Place -Original-:	Chicago, Cook, Illinois
   Marital Status:	Married
   Occupation:	Professor
   Race:	White
   Residence Place:	Oberlin
   Birth Year -Estimated-:	1830
   Birthplace:	Jeffrey, N. H.

• The Maryland Society Sons of the American Revolution; National number 24272

• Johnson, Rossiter and Brown, John Howard. The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans Volume 3 , Boston, MA: Bigoraphcal Society, January 1, 1904, P. 443. 2019. Google Books. Accessed May 13 2019. P. 1924 [1]

• * A Tribute to the Memory of John Millott Ellis, D. D. "A Tribute To The Memory Of John Millott Ellis, D. D.". 2019. P 5. Google Books. Accessed April 6 2019. [2], A Tribute to the Memory of John Millott Ellis, D. D.: Professor of Philosophy in Oberlin College. Oberlin College Faculty, Publisher Pearce & Randolph, printers, 1894, Original From The Ohio State University, Digitized Jan 24, 2014.

• "Oberlin College Archives | Published Resources | Photographic Building Guide | 54. Ellis Cottage (1914-1965)". 2019. Web.Archive.Org. Accessed March 13 2019. [3]

DNA

• His paternal relationship is confirmed through Y-chromosome DNA testing. His second great grandson Bernard D. Ellis, FTDNA Kit 905985, Tester Don Ellis, Kit 393923, and Tester Ernest Ellis, Kit 633535 all match, confirming their direct paternal lines back to their most recent common ancestor, Richard Ellis/Ellice, 1621-1694.