Discovering the Ancestry and Descendants of William Ellis (1846–1924) in Sussex, England and Oswego County, NY

This is the story of three families who left southeast England between about 1849 and 1852. The first to migrate was John Burton, Jr (1829-1919) who left Kent County about 1849. He was followed by his brother Richard (1826-1919) in 1850 and his widowed father John (1803-1861) in 1852. William Hughes (1796-1869) and his wife Mary Chodred (1798-1887) left Kent County in 1852, on the same ship as Richard Burton, with five children ages 10-18 and two married children with their families. A year after their arrival, Richard Burton married their daughter Mary Elizabeth Hughes. Alfred Ellis (1818-1868) and his wife Elizabeth Mepham (1822-1863) left Sussex County in 1850 with their children, ages 3-8. All three families initially settled in Madison and Oneida Counties within a 10-15 mile radius of Oriskany Falls, NY In 1871, William Ellis (1846-1924) married Mary Elizabeth Burton (1852-1918), daughter of Richard Burton and Mary Hughes. In the early 1880s, the Ellis family moved to Oswego County where two of the Burtons already had settled; Will’s youngest brother John joined them soon after. The Ellises welcomed two more children there, including Ruth Janette Ellis (1894-1957), the author’s maternal grandmother. The book focuses on the histories of the direct line of the family, starting in England in the mid-1700s, setting their lives in the context of their times. Also included is information on the siblings and children of each generation. Genealogical charts explain relationships and photographs hint at the personalities of these families. Memories recorded by their descendants offer additional insight into their lives. (Also available as a print book.)