William T. Ellis Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1100-1101 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	WILLIAM T. ELLIS, postmaster at Salem, McCook county, is a native 
of the Badger state, having been born in Rock county, Wisconsin, on the 
2d of August, 1852, a son of Thomas and Mary (Davis) Ellis, of whose six 
children he is the third and the eldest of the three surviving. Of his 
brothers it may be noted that Allen B. is engaged in the grain business 
at Winnipeg, Manitoba, and that Edgar A. is engaged in the same line of 
enterprise in Assiniboine, Canada. The parents of the subject were born 
in Cardiganshire, South Wales, whence the father came to America when a 
young man, his marriage being solemnized in Ohio, where his wife had come 
with her parents when a girl. Thomas Ellis was a tailor by trade, but the 
sedentary employment made serious inroads on his health and he was thus 
led to abandon this vocation and turn his attention to agricultural 
pursuits. About 1850 he removed from the Buckeye state to Wisconsin, 
where he resided. until 1855, when he removed to Freeborn county, 
Minnesota, where he initiated his operations as a farmer, becoming one of 
the prosperous men of that county, where he continued to reside until his 
death, which occurred on the 13th of September, 1874, since which time 
his loved and devoted wife has made her home with the subject of this 
review. Thomas Ellis was a Republican in politics and his religious faith 
was that of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his widow is 
likewise a devoted member.  

	William T. Ellis was reared on the homestead farm in Minnesota, and 
after completing the curriculum of the district school he continued his 
studies in the high school at Albert Lea, that state. At the age of 
twenty-one years he engaged in teaching in the public schools, and to 
this vocation he continued to give his attention at intervals for about 
twelve years, in Minnesota and South Dakota. In May, 1880, he came to 
Salem, this state, and within the same year entered a homestead claim in 
McCook county, at a point four miles west of Salem. He proved on this 
property and there continued to reside for a period of six years, 
developing a valuable farm. In 1888 he became associated with his brother 
Allen in the erection of a store building in Salem, and in the same they 
engaged in the hardware business, in which they continued to be 
associated until May, 1901. In 1897 the subject was appointed postmaster 
at Salem, taking charge of the office on the 1st of June, and he has ever 
since remained in tenure of the position. At the initiation of his regime 
the office was one of the fourth class, but in 1899 its business had so 
increased that it was brought into the class of presidential offices, so 
that Mr. Ellis received in that year his reappointment directly from 
President McKinley. It is needless to say that he is an uncompromising 
Republican, and in the connection he has done effective service in behalf 
of the party cause in this section of the state. He served three years as 
a member of the board of county commissioners, having been incumbent of 
the office at the time of the erection of the present court house. 
Fraternally Mr. Ellis is identified with Fortitude Lodge, No. 73, Free 
and Accepted Masons; Salem Chapter, No. 34, Royal Arch Masons; Omega 
Council, No. 2, Royal and Select Masters; Constantine Commandery, No. 2, 
Knights Templar, and El Riad Temple of the Mystic Shrine, in Sioux Falls. 
He is also affiliated with the local organizations of the Knights of the 
Maccabees. He was the first eminent commander of the Constantine 
Commandery, Knights Templar, of Salem, and has ever manifested a deep 
interest in the noble fraternity of Freemasonry.