Memorials › William Ellis Brown

William Ellis Brown

6 Sep 1843 – 28 Sep 1890

Birth6 Sep 1843
Death28 Sep 1890
CemeteryBedford Cemetery
Howe , Nemaha County , Nebraska , USA
Added byKatwoman76 on 06 Nov 2011
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80002313

Bio

***DIRECT MAYFLOWER DESCENDANT (See notes below)*** William Ellis Brown was known by his friends & family as "Ellis Brown." He was a farmer and Civil War veteran who was imprisoned during the war for 9 months at the infamous Andersonville Prison (Camp Sumter). Ellis was the son of Polly Mary (Ellis) Brown who was born Feb 24, 1823 in Pompey, Onodaga County, NY, [Poly Mary's father was Clark Ellis and her mother was Thirza Ellwell Benson.] Ellis' father was Judson Brown who was born Feb 10, 1819 in Smithfield, NY and died without a will in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin at age 29 during an epidemic when Ellis was only 4 years old. Judson owned land in Wisconsin which later became subject of a lawsuit between his and his wife, Poly's, descendants in 1907. On 15 Aug 1862 Ellis joined the war effort and enlisted as a private in Company C of the First Wisconsin Cavalry. On 30 June 1863 William Ellis Brown was hospitalized in Nashville, TN for several months through October of 1863. On 13 Nov 1863 William Ellis Brown married his first cousin Maria R. Brown (Ellis' father, Judson Brown, & Maria's father, Jerome Brown, were brothers). They were married by Justice of the Peace, David Stoll in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. William Ellis Brown was taken prisoner during The Battle of Brown's Mill/McCook's Raid south of Atlanta, GA on 30 July 1863 in Newnan, Coweta, Georgia. There was an "Ellis Brown" and "William Ellis Brown," both living in Beaver Dam, WI, who served as Privates in the same Cavalry company. The other Ellis Brown perished in battle the same day when William Ellis Brown was taken prisoner. Ironically Brigadier General McCook had intended to free the 30,000 Union soldiers taken prisoner at Camp Sumter, Andersonville, GA yet that is exactly where William Ellis Brown wound up and spent the rest of the war. He was paroled after 9 months on 28 April 1865 in Jacksonville, FL. When Ellis returned from the war he and his wife first lived with her parents and then moved with them to New Lisbon, Wisconsin. Ellis and Maria later moved their family to Craig, Missouri circa 1872 and by 1880 we can see Ellis and his family living in Bedford Precinct, Nemaha County, Nebraska next to Ellis' mother, Polly Randall & her second husband, Nathan Gorham Randall, and some of their children. Ellis suffered from his injuries from the war and imprisonment as a POW yet was able to farm with the help of neighbors. He unsuccessfully applied for an invalid pension in 1888, 1889 and 1890 before his early death at age 47 on 28 Sept 1890. Affidavits by relatives (including his daughter, Mamie Kennell), neighbors and friends to prove his wife's and his youngest son's identity for the pension described Ellis as a warm personal friend who suffered greatly from his war injuries. ***PLEASE NOTE: There is a Nebraska Court Case from 1907 "Mamie Kennell et. al., Appellants, v. Myron G. Randall, Appellee" which provides evidence for how the family members were related as follows: Judson Brown is Poly Mary Randall's 1st husband and they had one son, Ellis Brown (who is Mamie Kennell's father). Poly Mary Brown married Nathan Gordon Randall and they are Myron G. Randall's parents.*** *********************************************************** William Ellis Brown was a direct descendant to several Mayflower passengers through his father, Judson Brown's, maternal lineage. His Mayflower ancestors included John Howland and his wife, Elizabeth Tilley, Elizabeth's parent's John Tilley and Joan Hurst Tilley who both perished the first winter in the New World, John Cooke, John's father Francis Cooke and Richard Warren. William Ellis Brown is also related to John Tilley's brother, Edward (Elizabeth Tilly's uncle) & his wife Ann Cooper Tilley both of whom also perished the first winter leaving Elizabeth an orphan at age 14. John Howland, John Tilley and his brother, Edward Tilley, Francis Cooke, and Richard Warren all signed the Mayflower Compact. Through Ellis' mother's line, Poly Mary Ellis (Poly Mary's paternal grandmother was Catherine Pearce) we can trace the family back to the Pearce family of Prudence Island, Rhode Island (descendants of John Pearce who was a mason who came to America from Wales circa 1660).

Inscription

ELLIS BROWN DIED SEP. 28 1890 AGED 47 Years, 22 Days

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