Wayne County, NC - Miscellaneous William & Emmet Robinson Collection Johnston County Heritage Center Reference Box, P.C.1.1. George Ragsdale Collection Obituary of John W. Ellis Sorrow has cast her dripping mantle over our community. A State mourns the loss of one of her best and purest sons. An incorruptible patrio has been snatched from our midst, while yet in the vigor of manhood, and ere he had scarcely reached the meridian of his useful and honorable career. His Excellency, John W. Ellis, Governor of North Carolina is no more. That great and good man is dead. At Red Sulpher Springs, Monroe county, Virginia, he breathed his last on Sunday the 7th inst. The particulars of his death or the mournful incidents of his last sad moments we have not heard; nor, if we had them, would our deeply afflicted readers consent to listen to them now. The news of his melancholy death was telegraphed to the Military Department, in the City, on Monday morning about 10 o'clock, while yet many ardent friends were indulging hopes of his ultimate recovery. Slowly and relcutantly did it pass over the City, each in his turn unwilling to become the unwelcome messenger of the sorrowful tidings. Friend and friend met and passed, unheeded and unheeding, each to the other unwilling to impart his tale of woe; and still trying to hope the news would prove untrue. But still it spread from lip to lip in accents barrely uttered and in sighs by manly hearts but half suppressed which plainly told the grief they felt was not affected. Each quaffed his bitter cup of agonizing sorrow and passed it to his neighbor who drained it to the dregs; and rubbing his forehead turned away to hide the unbidden tear. It was a mournful day; and as the certainty of the sad tidings began to dispel the last lingering doubt on which till then, his tottering hopes had leaned, mournfully and sadly did friend his friend accost and bitterly bewail his bereavement and the public loss. Long ere night the melancholy fact began to be realized and private virtues and public worth of their lamented friend whom they should see no more, was the mournful theme of every lip. In the death of Gov. Ellis, North Carolina is not left alone in her sorrow. Known and esteemed throughout the Southern Confederacy, his worth has been acknowledged and his death will be lamented by all the State composing it. To the Southern Confederacy his death is truly a national calamity; for none more ardently and few earlier than he espoused the Southern cause. The labors which it imposed upon him were faithfully performed, and the foils which those labors engendered were endured without a murmur; but they proved too much for a constitutien, moulded as he was in a delicate frame, and he sank beneath their accumulating weight. On the sanctity of the domestic sorrow which his premature death has produced, in one of the tenderest and noblest of female minds, we dare not at the present intrude. In the anguish of his last moments that loved form was beside him ministering to his wants, and pierced and pained by every pang that wrung the aching heart from which the crimson tide was ebbing fast. A brother too was with him and other manly hearts for a dying heart could feel a pang of deepest sympathy, but none could stay the shaft of death. And here the reader must be left to his own sad thoughts. We have no data at hand with which to write a biographical sketch of our beloved Governor, nor if we had would we be willing to undertake the task. We hope that some ambler pen more intimately acquainted with the salient points of his life and character will pay the just tribute to his clustering, manly, and moral virtues. What we have here said are the but gushing sentiments of a heart overwhelmed with sorrow for the loss of his best friend; and was written in to hurried a manner to do justice to ourselves or to the memory of him whose untimely death we mourn, and whose acts, public and private constitute the record of a life well spent -- whether in too service of God or man. On the announcement of his death, the following General Order was issued, which preclude the necessity of any remarks by us, relative to the order to be observed in paying the last sad tribute to the memory of one, who the people of North Carolina always delighted to honor: STATE of NORTH CAROLINA ADJUTANT GENERAL's OFFICE, RALEIGH, July 9, 1861. _________________________________________________________________________ USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Lori Price Cobb . __________________________________________________________________________