Ezekial Ellis

Ezekiel Ellis, youngest son of John Ellis, was a soldier during the war of 1812, and fought under General Andrew Jackson. For this he received a land warrant for 160 acres of land, which he afterwards sold for Forty dollars. During his old age he drew a pension in reward for the services he had rendered while in the Army... From family researcher, Karen Davis. PDL 2008

Ezekiel Ellis married Ann Matlock, who was born in Tennessee in 1785. She was a sister of Jane Matlock who married George Rinehart. The Matlocks were a strong and hearty people. One of the Matlocks, a brother of Ann, was once attacked at night by a panther (probably a mountain lion) while he lay asleep near his campfire. His weapons were not in reach, and he was hardly awake when he was in desperate hand to hand encounter with the beast. Finally, after a very hard tussle, the panther was forced into the fire and held there until it was burned to death. When Matlock's companions apeared on the scene shortly after the struggle, they found him torn and bruised from head to foot and so badly burned that they had to carry him home in a sheet. For awhile he seemed to be almost dead, but afterwards he recovered fully from his wounds... From Karen Davis. PDL 2008 Ezekiel was a soldier in the War of 1812, he enlisted 12 Sept 1814 and served as pvt. in Capt. Scott's Co. of Tennessee Militia until 20 Oct 1814, when he was transferred to Capt. Andrew Lawson's Co., and while on the march to Mobile, Alabama, he was taken sick with measles and carried in a wagon to the hospital at Fort Jackkson, Alabama. On being lifted from the wagon, he fell and received a severe injury which caused a hernia, and was dis-charged 3 May 1815. At age 65 years he was allowed a pension.Anna his wife was allowed a pension executed 7 Nov 1854, certificate No. 1688. John Ellis, grandfather of Elizabeth Ellis (who married Lewis Rinehart), was born in 1742 and early on lived in North Carolina, where his wife was tomahawked by the Indians, and all of his smaller children were massacred. The wife died a few weeks later. The older children were at work away from the house, at the time of the attack, and were spared. Shortly after this, with the survivors of his family, he moved to East Tennessee where he lived to a ripe old age. He was yet alive when Lewis Rinehart moved to Illinois in 1829. He was quite a reader, and could repeat nearly the entire New Testament from memory. He taught Sunday School in his neighborhood which was quite a new thing at that time... From the writings of Henry Rinehart dictated by his mother, Elizabeth, 1893. Rewritten by James H. Rinehart. PDL 2008

After John Ellis' first wife and younger children were tomahawked by Indians in North Carolina, he and the older children went to Pettsylvania Co., Virginia and lived with the John Crouch family. John married Jemima Lane (1756-1834), daughter of John Fuller Lane and Elizabeth (Cloud) Lane Crouch. John Ellis called himself "Sr" in 1822. He said Ezekiel, in 1834, was the youngest son of John Sr. and Jemima Lane Ellis. John died in Tennessee in 1856... From Melba Woods and Karen Davis. PDL 2008