Eleazor H. Ellis

The Honorable
Eleazor H. Ellis
Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 10th Circuit
In office
January 1, 1872 – January 1879
Preceded byEzra T. Sprague
Succeeded byGeorge H. Meyers
6th Mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin
In office
April 1860 – April 1861
Preceded byNathan Goodell
Succeeded byHenry S. Baird
Personal details
Born
Eleazor Holmes Ellis

(1826-08-26)August 26, 1826
Brown County, Michigan Territory, U.S.
DiedDecember 9, 1906(1906-12-09) (aged 80)
Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting placeWoodlawn Cemetery, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
  • Harriet Sovina Gilbert
    (m. 1850; died 1854)
  • Eliza D. Chappel
    (m. 1858; died 1878)
  • Ruth K. Gillette
    (m. 1881⁠–⁠1906)
Children
  • with Harriet Gilbert
  • Albert Gallatin Ellis
  • (b. 1851; died 1888)
  • Gilbert Ellis
  • (b. 1852; died 1860)
  • with Eliza Chappel
  • Virginia Ellis
  • (b. 1859; died 1865)
  • Ruth Ellis
  • (b. 1861; died 1905)
  • Frank Holmes Ellis
  • (b. 1863; died 1884)
  • Grace Ellis
  • (b. 1865; died 1886)
  • Frederick Wolcott Ellis
  • (b. 1867; died 1867)
  • Jenny May Ellis
  • (b. 1871)
  • James Wolcott Ellis
  • (b. 1874; died 1952)
Parents
RelativesFrederick S. Ellis (brother)

Eleazor Holmes Ellis (August 26, 1826 – December 9, 1906) was an American lawyer and judge. He was the 6th mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and was a Wisconsin circuit court judge for seven years.

Family

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Eleazor Holmes Ellis was born on his father's farm in what was later known as Preble, Wisconsin, now part of Green Bay, Wisconsin. At the time of his birth, it was unorganized land of Brown County in what was then the Michigan Territory. Eleazor and his siblings were some of the earliest colonist children born within the boundaries of what would become the state of Wisconsin.[1] His father, Albert Gallatin Ellis, was the publisher of the Green Bay Intelligencer—the first newspaper published west of Lake Michigan. Albert G. Ellis was also Mayor of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, at the same time that Eleazor was Mayor of Green Bay.

Eleazor's younger brother, Frederick S. Ellis, was also active in politics, serving in the Wisconsin State Assembly and Senate, and also later serving as Mayor of Green Bay.

Eleazor married three times and had a total of nine children. In 1850, Ellis married Harriet Sovina Gilbert. They had two children before she died in 1854. Ellis then married Eliza D. Chappel in 1858. They had seven children before her death in 1878. In 1881, he married Ruth K. Gillette.[1]

Ellis died from old age in 1906 and was interred at Green Bay's Woodlawn Cemetery.[1][2]

Career

[edit]
Baird Law Office at Heritage Hill

Ellis studied law under Henry S. Baird, who had been Attorney General of the Wisconsin Territory.[3] He was admitted to practice law in the Wisconsin Territory at age 21, in 1847, and opened an office in Manitowoc. In 1851, he returned to Green Bay. Over the next twenty years he was a successful lawyer in the city forming a series of partnerships—with William H. Norris, George G. Greene, Samuel D. Hastings, W. J. Green, and H. J. Fenbee.[1]

Ellis was elected Wisconsin circuit court judge in 1871, without opposition,[4] and served seven years, resigning in 1879 due to poor health and low wages. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1868 and 1891. Ellis served as Mayor of Green Bay in 1860. Later, he was Postmaster of Green Bay from 1896 to 1900 and Register of Deeds of Brown County, Wisconsin.[5]

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Supreme Court (1868)

[edit]
Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 1868[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, April 7, 1868
Nonpartisan Byron Paine (incumbent) 71,908 52.09%
Nonpartisan E. Holmes Ellis 66,143 47.91%
Plurality 5,765 4.18%
Total votes 138,051 100.0%

Wisconsin Supreme Court (1891)

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Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, 1891[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, April 7, 1891
Nonpartisan Silas U. Pinney 96,661 54.90%
Nonpartisan Eleazor H. Ellis 77,312 43.91%
Scattering 2,082 1.18%
Plurality 19,349 10.99%
Total votes 176,055 100.0%

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "E. H. Ellis (1826 - 1906)". City of Green Bay. Archived from the original on August 29, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ "Judge E. H. Ellis Died on Sunday". Appleton Evening Crescent. December 10, 1906. p. 8. Retrieved January 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Berryman, John R. (1898). "The Tenth Circuit, Its Judges and Lawyers". History of the Bench and Bar of Wisconsin. Vol. 2. H. C. Cooper, Jr. pp. 433–434. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  4. ^ "Judicial Election - Official Canvass". Wisconsin State Journal. May 5, 1871. p. 4. Retrieved January 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Reed, Parker McCobb (1882). The Bench and Bar of Wisconsin. Milwaukee: P. M. Reed. pp. 374–375. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  6. ^ "Official Vote". Semi-Weekly Wisconsin. June 13, 1868. p. 1. Retrieved January 11, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Cunningham, Thomas J., ed. (1893). "Part III. Election statistics". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 308. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
[edit]
Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin
1860 – 1861
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge for the 10th Circuit
1872 – 1879
Succeeded by
George H. Meyers