Alec Merrifield Ellis

ALEC MERRIFIELD ELLIS (1894-1933)

Alec Ellis was born at Phoenix Park, Brunswick, on 12 January 1894, the son of Thomas Ellis and Eliza Horswood. His full birth name was Alec Merrifield Phoenix Ellis. Between 1896 and 1902 the Ellis family moved from Brunswick to Tungamah in Northern Victoria. Alec attended the local school on the hill and it appears he was not a good student and found it difficult to attend – something which he regretted later in life. The family appeared to be dysfunctional and Thomas Ellis, the father, abandoned the family around 1910.

Eliza Ellis and the four children then moved back to Melbourne and lived at 16 Rupert St, Collingwood. Alec, then aged 16, tired of hunting for a job, decided to “clear out” and seek adventure elsewhere. He left a note with a younger sister (either Rose or Isabel) saying he was leaving and would be back in 3 months. He didn’t return and after decades passed the family had given him up for dead.

Throughout his life Alec Ellis seldom told the whole truth. He developed a narrative to show that he had led a life of excitement and adventure and in order to fit in with this narrative he always lied about his age. He always made out that he was about 10 years older than he actually was.

In all probability, when he ran away from home, he got a job as a merchant seaman and spent most of the next decade working on freighters.

The first documented proof of Alec Ellis is in the 1920 U.S. Census which was taken in January 1920. He was working as a miner in Ray, Arizona. He gave his age as 34 instead of 26 and lied about his year of immigration – saying 1906 although he was still living in Australia in 1910. The township of Ray was the centre of copper mining in Arizona.

On 15 November 1920 Alec Ellis married Susan Poor Perkins in Tucson, Arizona. She sometimes used the name Althea Perkins. Susan was the daughter of Henry Poor Perkins and Estelle Lille Ackers. She was born 17 June 1893 in Massachusetts but grew up in China where her parents were missionaries. When the Boxer rebellion broke out in 1900 they had to flee China and sought refuge in Japan. In 1910 they returned to Massachusetts and later moved to Claremont, California. Susan then took up nursing training at the Los Angeles General Hospital and graduated as a Registered Nurse under the name Althea Perkins on 5 June 1919. It is speculated that after graduation she took a job as a nurse in Arizona although she doesn’t appear in the 1920 Census to confirm this. In 1920 the Tucson-Arizona Hospital and Sanitorium (also known as Public Health Service Hospital No 51) was rapidly expanding to cope with an influx of tuburculosis patients from the nearby mines and no doubt would have been recruitng more nurses. Later in life Alec mentioned his “gassed constitution from his war service didn’t mix with mining” so he moved to California after marriage. It is possible that Alec suffered from tuburculosis and met Susan in hospital in Tucson.

Alec and Sue then moved to California and moved in with Sue’s parents at 1102 Princeton Ave, Claremont. On 16 November 1921 Robert Horswood Ellis was born in County Los Angeles. On the birth certificate Alec said he was born in Fiji, was a mining engineer and was 38 years old instead of 27.

In 1921 Alec started a business in Claremont with a partner H.A. Dorsey. On 10 November 1920 they placed an advertisement “Clear Vision Service Station now open for business. Opposite First National Bank, Claremont. Dorsey and Ellis Proprietors. Our motto is Good service and a good square deal”.

On 21 May 1922 an article appeared in the Bulletin on Alec Ellis and his previous “fabricated” life. The article was titled “Soldier of Fortune and Veteran of Four Wars now Peaceful Claremont Man”. Alexander Ellis of the Clear Vision Service Station came here less than a year ago after having tried mining in Arizona following his return from France, but the Arizona mining industry became null and void following the war and so A.T. Ellis with hundreds of other Arizonians trecked to Southern California which continued to be a white spot on the industrial map of these United States.

Born in the Solomon Islands, schooled in England, a gold digger in Africa, a veteran of the Boxer Uprising, the Spanish-American War, the after Villa expedition into Mexico and over two years active participation in the World War - that’s a part of the world travels and achievements of Alexander Ellis.

Money in Africa: He hasn’t nearly as much now as he had when he returned from South Africa where as an engineer he was successful in securing valuable leases which netted him and a partner many thousands of dollars. Those were more youthful days when money spent as quickly and easily as away back in the Solomon Islands, where his American parents owned an extensive sugar beet plantation where he was born. At the age of sixteen he was sent to England to be schooled. He didn’t take the job so seriously, but he made frequent trips to the Continent, Paris and elsewhere. When he went home his family moved to Australia. From there he drifted to the Phillipines and became a member of the American Marines. He served in such capacity in China during the Boxer Rebellion, sailed around Cape Horn and was later with the American Marines who landed at Vera Cruz in order to make Huerta tip his hat to the American flag.

Hunted for Villa: When Pershing was sent into Mexico to find a needle in a haystack or to capture Villa Ellis was enlisted with the Arizona Apache Scouts and spent some eight months in the Villa search. From Arizona he also enlisted for the World War, went to France as Sergeant, served with an American detachment under British command in Belgium - In fact was in France two years accumulating several mishaps including ten gunshot wounds from all of which nicely recovered. He also attained the rank of Captain having charge of an evacuation camp after the Armistice. This is some travelling and war record for a man who does not seem to be very old yet. But now he has a family and the wanderlust is not so keen as of yore. At present with his partner he is busily engaged in the business of making a living running a taxi and service station.

By 1923 it appears he was expanding the business by hiring out cars. On 2 April 1923 it was reported that the Glee Club Singers had decided to take their Spring trip north to Stockton and had hired three new Cadillac cars from Alexander Ellis. On 17 June 1923 it was reported that “Soldier of fortune” and owner of the Clear Vision Petrol Station in Claremont will leave next Saturday noon for Lake Tahoe, where he conducts a large and thriving taxi business among the various camps on the lake’s edge. On his trip north he will take with him four loads of students who are going to many of the camps to spend their vacation while many of them will work there during the summer months. Mr Ellis will take with him 14 drivers and 14 men and comparitely new Studebaker Big Sixes which he says are kept busy with traffic during the summer. Four of his Studebakers he keeps at his Claremont station where he handles the various trips made by the college athletic teams and orginizations. He will return to Clearmont during the first week of the new semester next Fall in order to once again handle the student trade in time for the football trips.

Alec may have expanded the business too rapidly or took on too much debt because by September 1923 Fred D Krenz was running the Clear Vision Service Station and by mid 1925 H.A. Dorsey had sold the business and no mention was made of Alec Ellis.

Susan Ellis had a sister who had married a wealthy man named Frank Alonzo Wetherell and they lived in Massachusetts. In September/October 1924 Anne and Frank Wetherell came to California for a holiday. The purpose of this trip was no doubt to meet up with Anne’s parents and to meet Alec and Sue and Robert.

After the Clear Vision Service Station venture failed it appears Alec and Sue moved back to Arizona and lived in the town of Florence. On 9 July 1925 Susan and Robert spent the Summer with her parents in Claremont and Alec remained in Arizona. As Susan was pregnant it was possible she had returned to have the baby. On 29 October 1925 Marjorie Ellis was born in San Bernardino County, California. By December 1925 the whole family were back together in Arizona.

Around 1928 Susan had covinced Alec to try and contact his family back in Australia. Fortunately his mother was still living at the same address in Rupert St, Collingwood and contact was made. In a way this created some problems for Alec because he had told Sue a few “untruths” about his early years. Alec wrote to his sister Ida allerting her to this fact and explained he had told her he had a twin brother that was kill during the war. He tried to cover up this lie by creating a new one. He explained to Ida that his “twin brother” was actually Tom Carrick who he knew from Tungamah. He said they left Australia together and looked alike so they travelled as twins under the name Ellis. “He was more than a brother to me and carried me out of a shell hole and saved my life when the gas was bad and I was helpless, and then got his the next day. I never saw him again but my friends after speak of him so I have never told her the difference so please don’t say anything about it”.

Again they were staying with Susan’s parents in Claremont and it appears he wasn’t working but was hoping to go back into the car business because he knew the game and was a good salesman but didn’t like working for others and wanted to work for himself. By 1930 the Depression had taken hold and it appears Alec had decided to go back to working as a Merchant Seaman and hope that he could get a ship that docked in Melbourne.

The 1930 U.S. Census was conducted on 1 April 1930 and they were living with Henry Perkins at 538 Berkely Ave, Claremont. Strangely enough he gave his correct age of 36 but lied about the year of immigration as 1907 and interestingly answed “No” to the question of whether he was a U.S. War veteran. He gave his occupation as Salesman – Accessory automobile.

Alec had to wait until 1931 before he got a chance to work on a freighter that was going to dock in Melbourne. He got a job as bo’sun on the SS ”Golden Harvest” which was a freighter of the Oceanic and Oriental Line which had loaded 4000 tons of case and drum oil for Australia. She departed San Pedro (San Francisco) on 17 April 1931 and arrived in Melbourne at 4.15 pm on 19 May 1931.

A Herald photographer took photos of Alec on board the “Golden Harvest” and at Eliza Ellis’ house in Rupert St, Collingwood. Rupert Collins also took photos of the Ellis’ at his home in Hoddle St, Richmond. Alec spent a week with his family and had to leave Melbourne on 28 May 1931. Once again he couldn’t resist “spinning a yarn” about his life to the Herald reporter. In the published story he said that when the war broke out he joined up with the Canadians and was wounded and after he regained his health he had joined up with the Americans in 1917 and had the distinction of being blown up on Armistice Day. A check of the Canadian Service Registers shows he did not serve with them. Also, no record of his “twin” brother Thomas Carrick/Thomas Ellis serving or dying with the Canadians.

The “Golden Harvest” left Melbourne on 28 May 1931, Sydney (4 June), Honolulu (3 July) and arrived back in San Pedro (San Francisco) at 6.30 am on 12 July 1931. He rejoined his family who were still living with Sue’s father Henry Perkins who was now becoming old and frail. Henry Perkins died on 5th January 1933 at his house at 538 Berkely Ave, Claremont.

On the 21st February 1933 Alec, Sue and family moved to 290 East 12th St, Pomona. Sue described Alec after arriving back from Australia. “You can scarcely imagine Alec’s high elation and happiness when he first returned. He was like a jolly young boy over the moving (to Pomona). Seemed to enjoy every bit of of the curtain buying, picture hanging, repainting and fixing this that and the other thing. When I said he ‘walked on air’ it truly described the way he looked and acted. Before moving from Claremont we went together to a small bible study class.”

They had some money saved and Alec bought two trucks and threw himself into turning them into a paying business. He was under a lot of stress and his heart and nerves started playing up. He took up smoking again and started drinking to sooth his nerves, but this seemed to make things worse. In April he was in bed for a week but recovered sufficiently to go back to work but by 26 June his condition became critical. In the afternoon of 10 July 1933 Alec died.

Strangely enough his obituary was published under the name of Thomas Ellis. It incorrectly stated that he was born on 12 January 1883 rather than 1894 and again claimed he was a war veteran. Also, his official death index was under the name of Thomas Ellis. His funeral service was held at the Todd and Reeves Chapel by the Rev. Truman B Douglas, Pastor of the Pilgrim Congregational Church. Following the service he was cremated at the Pomona Mausoleum.

In the week following Alec’s death Sue still wasn’t sure what to do. The two truck drivers were dependable men and if they were able to secure their own contracts then she was happy for them to continue driving. She also knew her sister in West Newton, Massachusetts would insist on them moving in with her. In the end, on 1 September 1933 she and the children moved in with Ethel B Verrill at 1260 Indian Hill Boulevard, Claremont. Ethel Verrill had moved into the house a year earlier to care for her ailing uncle Herbert Patton and also lived there with her daughter Florence. Perhaps Sue Ellis was to help with the care of Herbert Patton. Ethel’s son Kenneth and his wife Vera were living elsewhere with their daughter but that marriage was falling apart.

Kenneth Herbert Verrill was an early pioneer of motorbike racing. He was born 5 October 1893 in Maine and his family later moved to 325 Union Ave, Los Angeles. His racing career started in September 1909 when only 16 years old and he was riding “Thor” motorcycles. Later he moved to riding Indian motorcycles and the bulk of his riding was done between 1913 and 1919. He must have lived briefly in Chicago and Massachusetts during this period. On 25 May 1913 he captained the Chicago team and won the intercity team race of six miles. On New Years Day 1914 he competed in the La Vern motorcycle 3 mile event at Lordsburg, California and came 2nd. By this stage he had been given the name “Crazy Horse Verrill”. In November 1914 at Savannah he crashed in a 300 mile race and was injured. Two other riders were killed in this race. By June 1917 Kenneth was living at 28 Rutland St, Springfield and was working as a machinist at the Hendee Manufacturing Company (later becoming the Indian Motorcycle Company). He then moved back to Los Angeles and competed mainly in 5 mile races.

On 17 August 1915 Kenneth married Vera Cobb (maiden name Detray) in Lucus, Ohio. By 1920 they were living at South Flower St, Los Angeles and Kenneth was working as a streetcar conductor with the Pacific Electric Railway Company. By 1930 they were living at 5945 W Main Ave.

By 1933 Kenneth made a comeback to motorcycle racing. Between June and September he made a tour of the eastern states riding in a least four race meetings. When he returned to California he served divorce papers on Vera and on 2 December 1933 put a notice in the newspaper saying he will not be liable for any debts contracted by his wife. She countered on 20 December 1933 with a divorce suit of her own. She claimed that she was forced to do all her shopping at 5 and 10 cent stores because her husband, Kenneth H Verrill spent all his earnings buying racing motorcycles. In addition she claimed her husband kept calling her a “10 cent bum”.

Things came to a head on the afternoon on 12 January 1934 when Vera turned up at her mother-in-law’s house at 1260 Indian Hill Boulevard, Claremont, and started arguing. This argument developed into a fight during which a gun Vera had been carrying for about a month fell onto the floor. Vera then bashed Ethel’s head with the gun and shot her in the chest killing her.

Florence Verrill, Ethel’s daughter, arrived home around 3.30 pm after shopping. After depositing the shopping in the pantry she opened the sliding doors into the living room to find her mother dead. She then saw Vera with gun in hand who said “you’ve deserved this for a long time” as she fired the gun at Florence. The shot grazed Florence’s right side and she fled for the front door when Vera fired a second shot which also grazed her. At this stage Robert Ellis became aware of the situation – he heard and had seen the second shot fired. Vera, still holding the gun told Robert to go and tell the police but he fled into the dining room and hid in a corner terrified until police arrived.

Vera was charged with 2nd degree murder and assault with intent to kill and the trial took place in January 1934. Vera pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 5 years to life. In February the divorce case proceeded. It denied a request for temporary alimony for Mrs Verrill but awarded her $50 for attorney’s fees and $2 for court costs. Kenneth Verrill was to pay two instalments of $26 on February 15 and March 1. Vera Verrill was granted parole in June 1940 and moved back to Ohio under her maiden name Vera Detray and died there in 1982.

After the murder of Ethel Verrill it appears that Sue Ellis moved to Los Angeles. Florence Verrill had inherited the house at 1160 Indian Hill Boulevard from her mother and on 30 November 1934 Sue Ellis visited there to visit Florence, Kenneth’s daughter, Herbert Patton and Robert Ellis.

At this stage Sue Ellis and Kenneth Verrill fell in love and on 1 April 1935 they married in the Par Ecclesia Chapel of the Rosecrutian Headquarters at Oceanside with Max Helndel officiating. The chapel was decorated with white lilies and wisteria blossoms. Marjorie Ellis attended her mother and Ward Dawson was the groom’s attendant. Music included the Wedding March from “Lohengrin” and a solo “I would be true” sung by Mrs Earl James at the special request of the bride.

This marriage appears to have been short lived – perhaps less than a year. In 1936 Sue is listed in the voter registration as Susan P Verrill living at 4783 North Huntington Drive. On 17 July 1936 a news article states “Mrs Susan Ellis Verrill and daughter Marjorie of Los Angeles are visiting Mrs Mary Gilbert 471 Harrison Ave for a week”. No mention is made of Robert and the speculation is that he may be still living with Kenneth Verrill or his sister Florence Verrill. Later that year her voter registration shows her as living at 1522 Velma Ave where she remained until 1938.

Sue Verrill then took up her sister’s offer from 5 years previous to move in with them at 146 Forest Ave, West Newton, Massachusetts. Anne and Frank Wetherill did not have any children of their own and had a cook and maid so it would be a comfortable environment for Robert and Marjorie to grow up in. She moved there in 1938 but strangely enough listed herself in the Newton Directory as Althea Verrill but in the Assessed Polls for the City of Newton listed herself as Susan P. Verrill. When Anne and Frank Wetherell married, Anne was bitten by a tse tse fly on their honeymoon and ended up with a severe neurological disability. Susan, being a registered nurse, was able to care for her.

Frank and Anne Wetherell originally lived in Kendall Green and in May 1917 moved to 144 Pine Ridge Rd and owned a second house at 1580 Beacon St, Waban. In 1928 they moved into the newly built house at 146 Forest Ave, West Newton. In 1930 this house was valued at $30 000. The Wetherells frequently holidayed at Bar Harbour, Maine where they had a large summer home named “The Mariners”. The Bar Harbour Times notes their visits in 1927, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934 and 1937. In their vacation of July and August 1939 they would have been accompanied by Sue, Robert and Marjorie.

Frank Wetherell had some strange quirks. He disliked his name Frank and started calling himself Jim. He disliked Robert Ellis’ name and called him Roger and disliked Marjorie’s name and called her Toni. He also had a servant who had a gambling problem and so on payday he would play cards with her and win her wages back.

Robert and Marjorie both attended Newton High School. Robert joined the army in June 1942 and Marjorie went onto studying Commercial Art at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York. Anne Wetherell finally died on 14 January 1947 and her sister Sue applied to be the Executrix for her sister’s will on 30 January 1947. Presumably it took some time to finalize the will and then Sue Verrill left West Newton in 1948.

On 1 March 1950 Frank Wetherell liquidated the Wetherell Steel business and distributed the assets between himself, his brother Lawrence H Wetherell and his sister Helen W Barney. In 1951 he sold the house at 146 Forest Ave, West Newton and married a woman named Beatrice and spent the time on luxury voyages. Frank Wetherell eventually died on 7 November 1956.

After her sister’s death in West Newton, Massachusetts, she returned to California around 1948 and started work as a physio-therapist at the Mt Ecclesia Sanatorium at Oceanside near San Diego. The Ecclesia Sanatoriums was run by the Rosicrutian Fellowship which had New Age beliefs in religion, philosophy and astrology. Here she was using the name Althea Verrill. The Rosicrutian Fellowship held Sunday lectures and Sue participated in many of these either as a reader or as a speaker. Topics included “The struggle of good and evil”, “Death of a Christian mystic mason” and “The abundant life”. In March 1949 she was a guest at a birthday party where she played the organ.

It was here that she met Elvin Joseph Noel, who was 19 years younger than herself. Elvin was of French-Canadian descent. He spent several years in the employ of Phillp’s Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, and then moved to Oceanside where he had been in the employ of the Fellowship for 14 years, serving as office worker, secretary, book binder and shipping clerk. He also wrote many long articles for the Rosicrutian magazine “Rays from the Rose Cross”. It was a magazine of mystic light, philosophy and astrology and his articles included “Liberation through group work” and “Moving upwards in consciousness”. In Dec 1950 the Rosicrutian Fellowship held an Arts and Crafts Exhibition in the recreation room of the sanatorium. The artists were workers and residents of the sanatorium and Sue’s daughter Toni (Marjorie) Ellis exhibited two paintings. One was a self portrait in oil and an oil painting “Church of the Valley”.

At 4.30 pm on 7 September 1952 Althea Verrill married Elvin Joseph Noel outdoors at the Star in front of the library building at Mount Ecclesia. In Jan 1958 the White Pages Telephone Directory for San Diego shows them both living at 4137 46th Street, San Diego. In 1959 Althea Noel moved to 2220 Adams Ave, San Diego but Elvin is not listed. Althea is still listed at this address in 1968.

In November 1964 Elvin and Althea wrote to the Council of the City of San Diego protesting the sale and easy availability of dangerous pesticides. The following year, 1965, they wrote to Senator McGovern about publicising the dangers of aspirin.

In 1972 the Reverend Wayne Taylor set up the City of the Sun Foundation on the edge of the village of Columbus, Luna County, New Mexico. He set up a community who were preparing for the coming of the Age of Aquarius. It was a community of the utopian tradition drawing on spiritualism and transcentalism. This New Age Community provided a holistic healing centre, encompassing mental, physical and spiritual aspects. It appears that Althea and Elvin had moved to the City of the Sun by 12 July 1973 when Elvin was wanting to buy a used 8-10 foot windmill and tower in good working order. His postal address was Box 356 Columbus, New Mexico. Althea Noel died on 8 May 1984, Age 91, and Elvin Noel died in February 1992, Aged 80.