Letter from T.O. Ellis to his son-in-law, 7 August 1863

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: San Luis Obispo, California, United States
Surnames/tags: Ellis Davis

After the death of Sarah Jane (Ellis) Davis (1838-1930), a collection of family letters, including the following letter, was found in a trunk. The original is held by members of the Davis family. The index to the complete collection is found at The Letters of Rev. T.O. Ellis, M.D.. The letters are all written by Reverend Thomas Oliver Ellis, MD (1808-1879), and almost all of them were to his daughter, Sarah Jane, and/or her husband, William Hale Davis (1828-1871). Ellis wrote from various locations in central California to family members also in that area.

Biographical and Historical Context

By August of 1863, Rev. Thomas Oliver Ellis, MD relocated his family to San Luis Obispo County, California. San Luis Obispo is 100 miles southwest of Visalia in Tulare County. Ellis' eldest son, William Josiah Ellis apparently settled there in 1859. San Luis Obispo was the site of one of the original California ranchos. Large cattle ranches, including some dairy farms, dominated the economy. A wharf was constructed at the port of San Luis in 1855. San Luis Obispo was regarded as a "sleepy backwater" between 1860 and the arrival of the railroads in the 1880's.^[1]

The letter below to his son-in-law, William Hale Davis, describes the overland journey to San Luis Obispo. Ellis and family likely traveled on the new road, described in the 18 Feb 1860 edition of the "Visalia Delta" newspaper.^[2] The prior road was passable only to wagons with light loads. Since the California Steamboat Navigation Company regularly served the San Luis Obispo wharf, efforts were being made to establish a road which could handle heavy wagons and trade. The sheepmen of Tulare County advocated for the road and it was completed in 1862.^[3]

California was hit by drought from 1862 to 1865. The Visalia papers published news of hardships in the coast counties.^[4] Over 300,000 cattle and 100,000 sheep were destroyed in the drought years and visitors to San Luis Obispo remarked that “the sun-bleached bones of dead cattle were strewn over every hill and gully.”^[1] Land may have been easy to come by in San Luis Obispo due to the drought, prompting the move. The move created financial hardship and T.O. Ellis apparently held mining claims near William Hale Davis which he inquired about in the letter.

This letter suggests that the extended family of T.O. Ellis was considering settling together in San Luis Obispo County. Ellis refers to William Hale Davis moving to San Luis Obispo along with another Ellis son-in-law, A.O. Miller, husband of his daughter Lucinda. The elder Ellis daughters were living with their married sisters. Daughter Malinda "Sophia" was staying with William Hale Davis and Sarah Jane (Ellis) Davis, whom T.O, refers to as Jane in this letter, and daughter Martha (referred to as Mattie in the letter) was staying with Lucinda Agnes and A.O. Miller. A later letter (26 Nov 1863) suggests that at least William Davis had visited San Luis Obispo. The chain migration was never complete. Only T.O. and family followed Josiah to the coast, a situation that caused turmoil in the family, as described in the letter of 26 November 1863.

The Civil War remained a concern, and efforts were made to keep the family intact. Since the Ellis family were southerners and Democrats, William Josiah did not want to serve as a Union soldier. T.O. Ellis may have been relying on his status as a minister to prevent his arrest and forced service in the Union army.

Note: spelling and line breaks preserved from the original. Transcriber's additions or interpretations in [square brackets].

The Letter

San Luis Obispo, Cal. Aug. 7/63.
fathe W.H.Davis Esq,
My dear son, I
wrote Sophia a long Letter yesterday, &, to day,
I wish to talk to you in person. The 3rd of Aug. I
wrote you & Jane from this place. This makes
my second. My Letters to you & Wife, & Sophia
will give you the particulars of our Journey
to San Luis Obispo. I need not repeat them.
We are all well, except, Geo. L. Ellis, who
is slowly mending but cannot walk yet
without help. W.J. Ellis's family are well.
Josiah [W.J. Ellis] has a pretty home, &, the Sacket place
I like still better. It lies East of, & Joining
this, & contains 160 Acres, 30 in cultiva-
tion, house & 3 rooms neatly papered.
I am not able to buy it without help.
I believe it would be a safe investment,
& I would buy it if I were certain
you & Miller [son-in-law] would settle here. I woul
d not be afraid of losing on it if I should
wish to leave. I can stay on it as long as
I wish gratis. I am very awkwardly sit-
uated, not knowing what to do. My int-
erest is where you live, but, really, I
don't know that, my interest is worth
any thing in the mines. I wrote to you
to be in readiness to come
[page 2]
for me at the proper signal, but,
I dread to leave W.J. here, for, there
is no doubt a well laid, secret Plot
is laid against his life, &, if I leave
him they will get him. My presence
makes, at least, a stand off. They know
me, &, the company I keep, &, the weight
I carry. I fear as it is, they will way-
lay him, but, there is know danger op-
enly. There is considerable difference
between a brave man & a coward.
I am making the impression, I will
settle here on his account, still the
idea of doing so is horrifying unless
we could have, at least, one Relig-
ious society, &, besides have my Chil-
dren with me. The 10th Inst. we ex-
pect to move, &, positively every thing
is to buy & nothing to buy with. Nearly
the last red [cent] is gone. I need Bread,
Meat, a stove, &, almost every thing
Josiah has been at immense expense
on my account, &, I cannot think
of calling on him. Be so good as to
write, frankly, all your mind about
every thing & tell me about my
claims, their real situation,
[page 3]
their probable worth, whether Record
ed, or are they jumped. How are
your claims progressing? which
is estimated the highest. I heard
from Mattie [daughter], that, it was reported,
one of your claims was worth twenty
or thirty thousand dollars. Is it so?
Have you got over your Sacrifice
occasioned by your Tulare trip?
How are you getting along tempo-
rally, &, above all, is it well with you
Spiritually? Let us live by the Bible.
Let us make a good Out-fit for the
Heavenly journey! How are Capt.
Hunter [possibly William Wilkin Hunter] & Mr. Crockett getting along?
How is Jane, &, my two Boys [William and Sarah's two sons, William and Jefferson]? How
is Miss M.S. [Malinda Sophia] pleased. What does
she & Jane think about my visit, &,
about my settling. Has Frank King
returned, &, is he well? I have not
heard from Mr. G. [likely Samuel Garrison, mentioned in his letter of 19 January 1863] since I left. Is Bell
with you? Tell her to be smart & take
good advice & be happy. Should I
not move what time will Sophia
& Jane & you visit us? And should
I conclude to move up where you
live, still, you all are expected
on a visit.
[page 4]
No backing out My Son. A man
reported at $2000. certainly can
come. Tell us all about every thing.
Write munchos. My Family &
W.J. join in love & compliments
to you & yours, Sophia & Bell, &
Capt. W. & Mr. Crockett.

		Your Father
Wm. H Davis Esq			T.O. Ellis Sr.

The next surviving letter was written on 21 August 1863.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Daniel E. Krieger, "San Luis Obispo: Looking Backward into the Middle Kingdom," (San Luis Obispo, CA: Windsor Publications), 1988, page 66.
2. ↑ "Road to San Luis Obispo," The Visalia Delta, Visalia, California, 18 February 1860, page 2, column 1; digital image, California Digital Newspaper Collection (image link : accessed 19 August 2023).
3. ↑ Annie R. Mitchell, "The Way It Was: The Colorful History of Tulare County," (self-published), 1976, page 92.
4. ↑ “In the Coast Counties...,” The Visalia Delta, Visalia, California, 23 July 1863, page 2.