Abraham Ellis

Abolitionist. He was the son of Henry (1782-1857) and Charity (Harper) Ellis (1791-1875). On 15 March 1843, he was married to a Elizabeth Haughy (1824-1885) in Greene County Ohio. . In September 1857 he and his family moved from Ohio to Kansas, settling in Miami County. He arrived in Kansas when it was seething with divided and violent feelings about slavery. His mind and heart were deeply bound to the cause of abolition. It was only natural for him to become friends with John Brown, a zealot for abolitionist movement. For a year he was a co-worker with Brown in the Border War. This was a year of tense turbulent action. So bloody and desperate were the struggles that Ellis and his younger brother, John Harbeson Ellis always slept away from the house. Or, if at home, his wife or daughter stood guard all night. In 1858, Ellis was elected a member of the territorial legislature of 1859. On December 6, 1859, he was elected to the first Kansas State Legislature of 1861. Before being elected to these offices, he had served as county commissioner and superintendent of public instruction. In 1860, while serving in this capacity, he gave William C. Quantrill a certificate to teach school at Stanton. As he issued the certificate, with each stroke of the pen, destiny was written. For Quantrill later became the infamous Civil War raider. March 7, 1862, in the line of duty, he was making a trip from Fort Scott to Fort Leavenworth. He stopped over night at Arbrey, a small town three miles south of the Missouri state line. At day break, the landloard roused all in the house with the cry, "The bushwhackers are coming." Hearing the alarm, Ellis sprang out of bed, placed a fur cap on his head and looked out the window. Quantrill took a shot at him. The ball passed through the sash and fur cap, leaving the mark as indicated in the picture herewith. Ellis had fallen victim to one of his barbarous raids. Through he survived, he was marked for life-a mark which gave him his nick name, "Bullet Hole". Quantrill came into the house and recognizing Ellis, said "You are not the kind of man I was looking for, I'm damned sorry." He saved the life of Ellis from his blood-thirsty followers, but overlooked the fact that his followers had already taken two hundred and fifty dollars from him. He did, however, leave him some groceries and a wagon and team. The wound in Ellis' head was most unusual-the most remarkable on record. The ball had crushed both plates of the skull and lodged against the inner lining, and lay buried in the wound for seventy hours. The ball and twenty-seven pieces of bone are now in the Army and Navy Medical Museaum, at Washington. It is said the open wound showed the brain as it throbbed with each pulsation of the heart. He was five months recovering.

On October 9, 1861, occurred the first annual meeting of the Kansas State Temperance Society and he was introduced as a new officer of the Chamber.

In 1870, five years after the close of the war, Ellis and his family moved from Miami County to homestead 5 miles west of Elk City on what is now known as the Phillip Osborn farm. He became an enthusiastic horticulturist, planting many acres of fine orchard. (bio by: [fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46579167" target="_blank Dave Jones)]

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Feb 16 2017, 0:23:47 UTC