Francis E. Ellis

First record found of him is marriage record in Rutherford Co., N.C. Within a few years they had removed to Tenn., where first record found of him shows him in Knox Co.

Knox Co. Deed Records, 15 Jan. 1804 James Heavin to Francis Ellis (both of Knox), 310 acres on Beaver Creek .. adj. Charles Bowen...wit.?----Rutherford (Recorded 3 Jan. 1822, Bk. 5, Vol. 1, p. 284).

10 June 1816 Robert Stephenson of Knox to Francis Ellis living on s. side of Tenn. River in the bounds of the Cherokee Nation 25 acres in Knox Co. on waters of Bull Run Creek on a branch known by name of Mill branch...to corner of a survey of Joseph Beard...conditional corner made by Robert Stephenson and John Higgins. wits.: James Duffield, Charles Breedlove, Wm. Zuphel (?) Quphel (?) Recorded 5 July 1817, Bk P-1, p.441.

It is clear from the above that Francis Ellis and his wife had reached the Knox Co., Tenn. area by 1804. They may have come earlier (soon after their marriage) and all their children may have been born in Tenn. 1850 census indicates as much although 1860 census shows the son, William M., as born in N.C. in 1818 (apparently an error).

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