Routt County CO Archives Biographies.....Ellis, John M. August 26, 1869 - ? ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Judy Crook jlcrook@rof.net February 18, 2006, 11:47 pm Author: Progressive Men of Western Colorado John M. Ellis, one of the early settlers on Elk river, in Routt county, and one of the most active, progressive and prominent promoters of that highly favored section of the state, became a resident of Colorado when he was but two years old, coming hither from Pettis county, Missouri, where he was born on August 26, 1869, with his parents in 1861 among the early pioneers of the state. They settled in Denver where the father wrought at his trade as a blacksmith and became an active and successful Democratic politician, filling a number of public offices with credit, at the time of his death on July 4, 1880, being treasurer of the city of Leadville, to which he had moved some years previous. He was also prominent and popular in the Masonic order. His wife survived him eighteen years, dying in February, 1898. Of their four children but two are living, John M. and Minnie, now the wife of Albert Wagner, of Denver. John M., the only living son, received a common-school education and began to make his own living at the age of fourteen. When he reached that of eighteen he formed a partnership with his brother, Curtis E. Ellis, and together they conducted a prosperous and profitable fish and oyster business, wholesale and retail, for a number of years. He was next associated with H. D. Steele & Company, Pioneer Grocery Store, and afterward devoted several years to the service of the Denver Packing Company. From 1893 to 1899 he was engaged in range riding and driving cattle from southern Colorado to Routt county, a service in which he suffered all the hardships and dangers incident to that wild life, being out in all weathers, and going without sufficient food at times for days together. In 1899 he took up a homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres on Elk river, which was unbroken land covered with wild sage brush. This he improved and sold at a good profit, and he now owns the Keller ranch of six hundred acres, of which he has three hundred acres under cultivation, on which he raises excellent crops of grain and hay and conducts a flourishing industry in raising cattle and horses of first-rate quality. The ranch is eleven miles northwest of Steamboat Springs, well located, abundantly watered and full of promise for great development and value beyond even its present condition of fruitfulness. Mr. Ellis takes an earnest interest in local affairs as an intelligent promoter of the county’s best interests, and in national and state politics as a loyal working Democrat. Fraternally he is connected with the order of Odd Fellows. On January 26, 1899, he was married to Miss Ivy May Keller, a lady of fine spirit and intelligence who has been devoted to his interest and ably seconded all his aspirations and his every effort for advancement, aiding to make his home a center of gracious hospitality to his friends and holding up before the community the ideal of an elevated American womanhood. Both are popular in social life and prominent in all the public affairs of their neighborhood. Additional Comments: From Progressive Men of Western Colorado. Chicago: A.W. Bowen & Co., 1905 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/routt/bios/ellis135gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cofiles/ File size: 3.7 Kb