NINTH GENERATION

416. Lieut. John ELLIS ⁽⁸⁾ was born on 23 Jan 1742 in Deerfield,Franklin,MA. He died on 17 Aug 1827 in Ashfield,Franklin,MA. Per Ellis Genealogy (1888):

"Lieut. John ELLIS, seventh child of Richard Ellis, was born in Deerfield, Mass., Jan. 23rd, 1742, and died in Ashfield, Aug. 17th, 1827, aged 85 years.

He said his father moved from Deerfield to Ashfield when he was three years old. July 19th, 1763 (records of Ashfield) he married Mary Dimick. About this date he bought the farm 100 rods west of the corners where his father first settled. He built a log house about 15 rods west of where the present farmhouse now stands, in which all his family were raised. Remains of this log house were visible up to 40 years ago. About 1795 the present house was built, in which he resided until his death. He was a man of quite large business capacity for his time. Besides farming he engaged in the milling business. On Bear river, which runs through the north part of his farm, he had a saw mill, and lower down the stream, about 20 rods below the roadway bridge, was the old grist mill erected by his father and the Smiths, which was later - about the time of the Revolutionary war - in his charge. He was one of the first to declare for the Independence of the Colonies and to take up arms in behalf of the cause. At this day we can hardly appreciate the moral heroism required of the Colonists to break away from and resort to arms against the mother country. At first many of the old and influential residents of Ashfield were opposed to the rebellion, as they called it. Families were divided and near and dear relatives opposed each other in the early part of the conflict. Some of the most noted and outspoken tories in Ashfield had sons who had already gone to the front in the patriot army, and had laid down their lives in its service.

Lieut. John Ellis was commissioned an officer in the war of the Revolution and did service during the whole conflict. He was in several engagements in Eastern New York about Saratoga and Lakes George and Champlain. From 1777 to 1780 he was, a portion of the time, detailed for home duty in raising recruits and provisions to carry on the war. He was said to have been a man of good judgement and large influence, which he exerted most judiciously in the support of the cause of independence. He understood and acted upon the highest principles of liberty. At various times irresponsible but over-zealous patriots proposed violence toward some of the leading tories. Lieut. Ellis condemned this vigorously and declared that every man's liberty was sacred so long as he committed no overt acts of hostility to the cause of independence. About 1800 he visited Central New York, where he bought tracts of land on which two of his sons settled. About this time there was quite an emigration from Ashfield, many of the residents seeking new homes in Cayuga and Onondaga Counties, N.Y. Among these were several of the Ellises, Annables, Bartletts, Phillipses and others from the Ellis neighborhood in Ashfield. Lieut. John Ellis in personal appearance was rather short in stature, thick set and of a hardy and vigorous constitution. He was a Methodist in religious belief and a class leader, so called, among the members. Headstones in the Ellis burying ground mark the graves of himself and his wife."

Text of Commission of John Ellis:

"COLONY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY} The Major Part of the COUNCIL in the Massachusetts Bay in New England, To John Allis, Gentleman, Greeting:

You being appointed Second Lieutenant of the Sixth Company, whereof Benjamin Phillips is Captain, in the Fifth Regiment of Militia, in the County of Hampshire, whereof David Field, Esq., is Colonel, By Virtue of the Power vested in us, We do by these Presents (reposing special Trust and Confidence in your Loyalty, Courage and good Conduct) Commission you accordingly. You are therefore carefully and dilligently to discharge the Duty of a second Lieut. in leading, ordering and exercising said company in Arms, both inferior officers and soldiers, and to keep them in good Order and Discipline. And they are hereby commanded to obey you as their second Lieut., and you are yourself to observe and follow such Orders and Instructions as you shall from time to time receive from the major part of the Council and your Superior Officers.

Given under our Hands and Seal of the said Colony, at Watertown, the Third day of May, in the year of our Lord 1776. By the command of the Major Part of the Council.
JOHN LOWELL, Dep'y Sec'y.
[Seal] James Otis, W. Spooner, Caleb Cushing, J. Winthrop, B. Chadbourn, T. Cushing, John Whitcomb, James Prescott, D. Taylor, S. Hatten, Jabez Fisher, B. White, Moses Gill" He was married to Molly DIMMOCK on 19 Jul 1763 in Ashfield,Franklin,MA.

417. Molly DIMMOCK ⁽⁸⁾ was born on 6 Dec 1738 in Barnstable,,MA. She died on 8 Sep 1827 in Ashfield,Franklin,MA. Per Ellis Genealogy (1888):
"At what time she came to Ashfield does not appear, but probably about a year before her marriage, for her brother-in-law, Samuel Annable Jr., who married her older sister Desiah, settled in Ashfield about 1762. It is probable that Molly or Mary Dimick came at the same time. She was from "the Cape" as Barnstable Co. was called. Old letters from relatives there indicate that she had brothers, Edward, Charles, and Constant Dimick in or near Barnstable, and an older sister, who married an Agry, who lived in Hollowell, Maine. Mrs. Ellis was a very devoted mother, a respected and beloved neighbor, and a sincere Christian woman." Children were:

i. Hannah ELLIS⁽⁸⁾ was born on 1 May 1764 in Ashfield,Franklin,MA. She died on 4 Mar 1839 in Westport,Essex,NY. Per Ellis Genealogy (1888):
"About 1789 she married Apollos Williams of Ashfield, where they lived for many years, when they settled in Westport, which is on the western shore of Lake Champlain, where they lived many years."
ii. Dimick ELLIS⁽⁸⁾ was born in 1766 in Ashfield,Franklin,MA. He died in 1773.
iii. Jane ELLIS⁽⁸⁾ was born in 1769 in Ashfield,Franklin,MA. She died in 1812.
208 iv. John ELLIS.
v. Edward ELLIS⁽⁸⁾ was born in 1773 in Ashfield,Franklin,MA. He died in 1801.
vi. Dimick ELLIS⁽⁸⁾ was born in 1776 in Ashfield,Franklin,MA. He died in 1857.
vii. Sylvia ELLIS was born in 1779 in Ashfield,Franklin,MA. She died [1831].

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