Jennie Ellison: broke through the brickwall

Well, I came across a huge finding today, using the information I found earlier this week about my Jennie Ellison having a brother named Jay who died in 1909.  I was able to (I believe) sort through the three Jennie Ellisons of Upstate New York.

Jennie V. Ellison

• born Nov 1866 in Greece, Monroe, New York
• died 15 Jul 1901 in South Greece, Monroe, New York

This Jennie Ellison is almost certainly unrelated.  She was apparently very bright and was often in the newspaper while she was in school for her academics.  She was still involved in the school in 1894.

Jennie Ellison was the daughter of Gon Ellison, who was born in Ireland around 1835.  He settled in Greece, NY and married an Eleanore (Langdon?) before 1863.  Gon enlisted in the military and fought in the Civil War for the Union.  Gon and Eleanore Ellison had at least the following children:

• Matilda (1863-)
• Jennie V (1866-1901)
• Mary (1868-)
• Buell W (1871-)
• Nellie (1873-)
• Eliza (1877-)
• William (1879-)

This is according to census records I found.  There seems to have been a good deal of research done by Matilda’s descendants that can be found around the web.

Jennie Ellison married Francis A Spear, also of Greece, NY in 1890.  In the 1900 census, they had no children.  Jennie died 15 Jul 1901 at the age of 35.  Her death notice can be found in the Rochester (NY) Democrat Chronicle of July 16, 1901.  Photos of Jennie and her husband can be found here.

Jennie M Ellison

• born May 1855
• died after 1920

This Jennie Ellison was frequently in the newspapers of Utica with her sister, Ella.  In my earlier post, when I said that Jennie Ellison of Utica had a sister Ella Ellison Cresson, that was an error.  Though this Jennie did have a sister named Ella, it was not the sister who married Clinton Cresson.  This Jennie and Ella Ellison were spinsters who lived together in Utica into their old age.

Jennie was born probably in Herkimer County, NY to George Ellison (b abt 1816, d abt 1870) and Jane E Hildreth (b abt 1823, d 22 Apr 1899 in Utica). In Jane Hildreth Ellison’s obituary, it mentions the following children:

• Gertrude E Ellison (1843 – ), m. Daniel W. Green
• Henry Hildreth Ellison (1847 – ), m. Ella Matilda Averill
• Ella Ellison (1850 – )
• Jennie M Ellison (1855 – )
• George P Ellison (1859 – bef 1899)

And finally…

Jennie Ellison

• born Feb 1864
• died after 1910

Using the fact that Jennie Ellison had a brother named Jay who died in Pennsylvania in 1909, I conducted a search, and lo and behold, I found her mother’s obituary in the Wellsboro (PA) Agitator of Nov 7, 1906.

Jennie Ellison was one of thirteen children.  She was born in Steuben County, NY, probably in Greenwood, to Joseph H Ellison (b abt 1820 in New York, d aft 1880 prob in PA) and Mary Conrad (b Jun 1827 in NY, d 27 Oct 1906 in Knoxville, Tioga, PA). Their thirteen children were:

• Frank (Franklin, Francis) A Ellison (1848 – bef 1906), m Minnie bef 1894
• George Ellison (1850 – ), m Amelia abt 1880
• Adalaide Adeline Ellison (1854 – )
• Josephine Ellison (1856 – )
• Fred Ellison (1859 – ), married and widowed between 1880 & 1900
• Ward Ellison (1860 – )
• William D. Ellison (1862 – ), m abt 1896
• Douglas Ellison (1862 – bef 1906)
• Jennie Ellison (1864 – ), m Isaac R Moore abt 1886
• Elizabeth Ellison (1868 – ), m Joel H Chase abt 1898
• Jay Ellison (1869 – ), single in 1900
• Ella Ellison (1870 – ), m Clinton Cresson abt 1890
• Bertie Ellison (1875 – ), m Jacob E Costley abt 1899

For Josephine or Adalaide/Adeline, one of them had died by 1906 and the other had married a Waldo Wade and lived (in 1906) in Dixon, Illinois.

The Ellison family moved from Greenwood, NY to Knoxville, PA between 1870 & 1880. In the 1880 census, William and Jennie show up living with Daniel G. Ellison and his wife Roxy Palmer. William is listed again in the 1900 census as living with Daniel, Roxy, Jennie, and Jennie’s son. It seems that when Joseph & family moved to Knoxville, PA, they left William and Jennie to live with Daniel and Roxy in Genoa, Cayuga County, NY. Daniel and Roxy never had children of their own.  Because William and Jennie are always listed as nephew and niece, I’m assuming that Daniel G and Joseph Ellison are brothers, but I’m not too sure about that–they could be cousins and it was just easiest to refer to the children as their niece and nephew.

Something that needs more investigating is the following:

Blacksmiths.–Peter Roberts engaged in blacksmithing at Knoxville in 1824. He was succeeded by John E. White, who came to Knoxville from Windham county, Conn., in 1833, and labored at his trade most of the time until 1853. Joseph Weaver ran a shop from 1836 to 1844. Josiah Welsh succeeded him. John Hogencamp came from Ludley, N. Y., and opened a shop September 9th 1855, and still follows the trade. Joseph Ellison and E. F. Mott, who located in the town in 1866, are practical blacksmiths, still in business. J. G. Plaisted, who makes and repairs wagons, located in town in 1867.

from History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, (W. W. Munsell & Co., New York : 1883) PP 313-326

The dates are early for the family having moved to Knoxville, so it could be that a) Joseph Ellison partnered with EF Mott’s existing business, b) a family member also named Joseph set up shop in Knoxville before my Joseph moved, or c) it’s pure coincidence and the blacksmith is unrelated.

And that’s where I stand at the moment. There could be a relation between Joseph H, Daniel G, and George Ellison: a Jabez Ellison was living in Urbana, Steuben County, NY from 1840-1860. In 1850, a Daniel Ellison is living with Jabez and his wife Cinderella Ellison (yes, that was really her name). The would explain both George and Joseph H having daughters named Ella–their daughters would be named after their mother, (Cinder)Ella.

The Many Jennie Ellisons of Upstate New York

Oh geez. Last night I stayed up until about 3:30 am because I got on a tangent. I thought I had made a huge breakthrough! But I didn’t. I did find some useful information, but it’s not nearly as useful as I had thought at one point last night.

I started out working on my To Do item “Fill out all data that I have for generations 3-5.” The Jennie Ellison I’m interested in was born in February 1864 in either Pennsylvania or New York. She lived with her uncle Daniel G. Ellison and aunt Roxy in Genoa, Cayuga County, New York from 1880 on. She married (and later divorced and reverted to her maiden name) Isaac R. Moore of Lansing, Tompkins County, New York, son of William H. and Julia Moore. On census records, her relationship to the head of the house (Daniel G. Ellison) was “niece.”

Looking through my grandmother’s genealogy file, I found a copy of the obituary of Daniel G. Ellison from 1916, but there was no source information. I was able to search on fultonhistory.com for the obituary, and found the issue and date, yay!  Contained in the obituary was Roxy’s maiden name (Palmer), Daniel’s birthplace (Urbana, Steuben County, New York), that Daniel was the last of eight children, the year he moved to Genoa (1858), and that Daniel and Roxy did not have children of their own.  I also learned that Daniel & Roxy were among the largest stockholders of the bank of Genoa, and that Daniel was one of the original directors until he fell ill.  Also interesting were his last words: “Good-bye, I am going, tell everybody good-bye.”

Emboldened by this information, I tried searching Fulton History for more information.  I thought I had found some records of Jennie–however, it seems that there were three Jennie Ellisons in upstate New York at this time: one in Rochester, one in Genoa (my Jennie), and one in Utica.  I have a feeling that they are all related, but I’m also pretty confident that these are three separate women.

But, I did find some useful information.  One bit is posting in the local newspapers summoning people for the settlement of Daniel G. Ellison’s estate, and they are all Ellisons–presumably relatives and some of the “number of nephews and nieces” mentioned in his obituary.  Among them are Ella Ellison Cresson, the sister of Jennie Ellison of Utica and daughter of George and Jane E (Hildreth) Ellison.  Looking up the relationship between the Ellisons mentioned in the summons and Daniel G. Ellison will hopefully bring some successful results.

Not only that, but there was an entry in the Genoa (NY) Tribune, Friday Morning, May 14, 1909: “Miss Jennie Ellison was called to Pennsylvania recently by the death of her brother, Jay Ellison.”  Fingers crossed, I hope this especially will result in something…but I don’t want to get my hopes up.