CAPT. WILLIAM ELLIS, FAYETTE COUNTY, KENTUCKY Transcribed from History of Lexington Kentucky Its Early Annals and Recent Progress By George W. Ranck Publ: Cincinnati, Robert Clarke & Co, 1872 Pg. 29-30 One day, late in September, 1779, a little caravan of armed and watchful hunters, leading their loaded and tired pack-horses, stopped for a night's rest at Lexington fort. They were all up and moving bright and early the next morning, and before the week closed had established Grant's station, in what is now called the Huffman, Ingels, and Hardesty neighborhood, five miles from Bryant's, in the direction of the present town of Paris. The settlement was made under the direction and leadership of Col. John Grant, of North Carolina, and Capt. William Ellis, a native of Spottsylvania county, Virginia, and grandfather of Mrs. John Carty, of Lexington. The station was, subsequently, greatly harassed by the Indians; in 1780, they made pioneer life such a burden to the settlers, that they returned to Virginia. Capt. Ellis entered the Continental army, and commanded a company until the close of the Revolutionary war, when he and Col. Grant came again to Kentucky, and Col. Grant settled permanently at the old station. Capt. Ellis, Timothy and James Parrish, and a number of other Virginians, settled a fertile tract of country on the head waters of Boone's creek, in Fayette county, near their old neighbor from Spottsylvania, the Rev. Lewis Craig, the most prominent of the early Baptist preachers in Kentucky. In 1786, Capt. Ellis married Elizabeth Shipp. Subsequently, he was with St. Clair in the terrible "defeat", of November 4, 1791. After arriving at an advanced age, the old pioneer died, and was buried in the county he had helped to settle. He was a man of great energy, liberality, and hospitality. The strength of his mind and the integrity of his character gained for him the respect and esteem of all who knew him. ============================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format or presentation by other organizations or persons.Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for profit or any form of presentation, must obtain the written consent of the file submitter, or his legal representative and then contact the listed USGENWEB archivist with proof of this consent.