|
| John Willis Ellis |
|
| Courtesy state.nc.us |
John Willis Ellis
(November 23, 1820 – July 7, 1861)
John Willis Ellis (23 Nov. 1820-7 July 1861), legislator, superior
court judge, and governor, son of Anderson and Judith Bailey Ellis, was born in the section of eastern Rowan County that later
became part of Davidson County. He grew up on the plantation that his father had inherited from Ellis's grandfather, Willis,
in 1806. Young Ellis attended Randolph Macon College and was graduated from The University of North Carolina on 3 June 1841.
He spent the following year studying law under Richmond Mumford Pearson at Mocksville. This was the forerunner of Pearson's
famous law school begun in 1847 at his home, Richmond Hill, in Yadkin County. Ellis commenced the practice of law in Salisbury
in July 1842. On 1 Aug. 1844, a few months short of his twenty-fourth birthday, he was elected a member of the North Carolina
House of Commons as a Democrat from a predominantly Whig county.
Shortly after the election, on 25 Aug. 1844, Ellis was married in Philadelphia
to Mary White, the daughter of Philo and Nancy White formerly of Salisbury. White was editor of the Salisbury Western Carolinian
(1820-30) and the Raleigh North Carolina Standard (1834-36) and a member of the diplomatic corps (1849-58). Ellis and his
wife were married only a few weeks when she died of an unknown malady, possibly typhoid fever, on 19 Oct. 1844 upon their
return to North Carolina.
As soon as he took his seat in the House of Commons on 18 Nov. 1844, Ellis
began to champion internal improvements, a concern throughout his political career. He was again elected a member of the General
Assembly in 1846 and 1848. A few days into the 1848 session he was chosen by Dorothea L. Dix to present a memorial to the
house urging the construction of an asylum for the protection and care of the insane in North Carolina. As chairman of the
Joint Select Committee to study this proposal, Ellis on 8 Dec. 1848 favorably reported out a bill to provide for the establishment
of a state hospital for the insane. The bill became law on 21 December. On 16 Dec. 1848, Ellis, who a few weeks earlier had
celebrated his twenty-eighth birthday, was elected a judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina by the General Assembly.
During his tenure in the legislature and on the bench one of his most influential political mentors was William W. Holden,
the powerful editor of The North Carolina Standard. As early as January 1852, Holden was urging Ellis to run for the U.S.
Senate and the following year he tried to persuade him to run for governor, but Ellis declined both offers. Six years later
the two men would oppose each other for their party's nomination for governor.
The Democratic convention, which convened in Charlotte on 14 Apr. 1858,
nominated Ellis for governor the following day. After serving almost ten years on the bench, he resigned on 29 April. He was
elected governor on 5 Aug. 1858. Six days later the widower of fourteen years married Mary McKinley Daves, daughter of John
P. Daves, in New Bern. On 1 Jan. 1859, Ellis was inaugurated governor. In his address he acknowledged that animosity existed
toward the Northern view of slavery, but he voiced the overriding feeling in the state at that time when he said, "Grievous
as are these causes of discontent, we are not prepared for the acknowledgement that we cannot enjoy all our constitutional
rights in the Union." He continued to counsel moderation with firmness in dealing with the central government.
During his first administration, Ellis was vitally interested in internal
improvements, especially in the completion of the navigation works on the Cape Fear and Deep rivers from Fayetteville to the
coal fields in Chatham County. He also continued a progressive program of improving plank roads, navigation, turnpike roads,
and the state's educational system. Another high point during his first term was the visit of President James Buchanan to
Chapel Hill to deliver the commencement address at the university on 1 June 1859. Ellis
escorted the president on his many stops en route to Chapel Hill. The dominant theme of the president's remarks at every stop
was the preservation of the Union and the Constitution. Shortly after Buchanan's departure, the governor's wife gave birth on 8 June to a daughter, Mary Daves. A second
daughter, Jean Graham, was born on 9 Oct. 1860.
Ellis was reelected governor for a second term on 2 Aug. 1860 by a smaller
majority than he had received in 1858. There is some speculation that he lost votes because of his strong advocacy for states
rights at a time when most North Carolinians supported the central government. His message
to the General Assembly on 20 Nov. 1860 was not a call for secession, but a plea for the "prevention . . . of civil war and preservation of peace."
However, he did recommend that North Carolina consult with other Southern states on the question of secession and then let the people express their opinion in a convention. He also recommended reorganization
of the militia.
On 1 Jan. 1861, Ellis was formally installed as governor for a second term,
taking the oath before the judges of the state supreme court, there not being a quorum of the General Assembly in Raleigh
on that day. On 29 January, at the governor's bidding, the Assembly passed a convention bill; a few days earlier it had sent
a delegation to the peace conference in Washington, which Ellis had little confidence would succeed. The following day Ellis
urged the members of the Southern Convention meeting in Montgomery, Ala.—to which the Assembly had also sent a delegation—not
to delay their business by waiting for the Virginia delegates to arrive because "Va. N. Ca. and other border slave states
will much sooner join an organized government than secede without such government." The majority of North Carolinians did
not seem to agree with their governor's strong views because on 28 February they defeated the call for a convention. On 13
Apr. 1861, Fort Sumter fell to South Carolina troops. This act of aggression against the central government
caused President Lincoln to call for 75,000 troops to coerce the seceded states (Lincoln's Call For Troops). When requested on 15 April to furnish two regiments for this undertaking, Ellis replied by
telegram the same day that Lincoln would "get no troops from North Carolina."
Ellis immediately ordered state troops to seize the federal forts in North
Carolina as well as the federal arsenal at Fayetteville. On 17 April, he telegraphed Confederate President Jefferson Davis
that he was "in possession of Forts, Arsenals, etc. come as soon as you choose. We are ready to join you to a man. Strike
the blow quickly and Washington will be ours." Called into session by Ellis on 1 May, the General Assembly immediately passed
a convention bill and authorized Ellis to send troops to Virginia at once to help defend
that state. The convention was called and convened in Raleigh on 20 May 1861 and unanimously adopted an ordinance
of secession. Whereupon Ellis promptly telegraphed President Davis the news.
In delicate health for some time, Ellis was compelled during the latter
part of June to journey to Red Sulphur Springs, Va., in an attempt to regain his strength. A few days later he died at the
age of forty-one. He was buried in the family cemetery in Davidson County; sometime later he was reinterred in the Old English
Cemetery, Salisbury.
Source: From DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA BIOGRAPHY edited by William
S. Powell. Copyright (c) 1979-1996 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. uncpress.unc.edu
Recommended Reading: Confederate Military History Of North Carolina:
North Carolina In The Civil War, 1861-1865.
Description: The author, Prof. D. H. Hill, Jr., was the son of Lieutenant General
Daniel Harvey Hill (North Carolina produced only two lieutenant
generals and it was the second highest rank in the army) and his mother was the sister to General “Stonewall”
Jackson’s wife. In Confederate Military History Of North Carolina,
Hill discusses North Carolina’s massive task of preparing and mobilizing for the conflict; the many regiments and battalions
recruited from the Old North State; as well as the state's numerous contributions during the war. Continued below.
During Hill's Tar Heel State
study, the reader begins with interesting and thought-provoking statistical data regarding the 125,000 "Old North State"
soldiers that fought during the course of the war and the 40,000 that perished. Hill advances with the Tar Heels to the first
battle at Bethel, through numerous bloody campaigns and battles--including North
Carolina’s contributions at the "High Watermark" at Gettysburg--and concludes
with Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
Recommended Reading:
Encyclopedia of North Carolina (Hardcover: 1328 pages) (The University of North Carolina Press), Description: The first single-volume reference to the events, institutions,
and cultural forces that have defined the state, the Encyclopedia of North Carolina is a landmark publication that will serve
those who love and live in North Carolina for generations to come. Editor William S. Powell, whom the Raleigh News
& Observer described as a "living repository of information on all things North Carolinian," spent fifteen years developing
this volume. With contributions by more than 550 volunteer writers—including scholars, librarians, journalists, and
many others—it is a true "people's encyclopedia" of North Carolina.
Continued below.
The volume
includes more than 2,000 entries, presented alphabetically, consisting of longer essays on major subjects, briefer entries,
and short summaries and definitions. Most entries include suggestions for further reading. Centered on history and the humanities,
topics covered include agriculture; arts and architecture; business and industry; the Civil War; culture and customs; education;
geography; geology, mining, and archaeology; government, politics, and law; media; medicine, science, and technology; military
history; natural environment; organizations, clubs, and foundations; people, languages, and immigration; places and historic
preservation; precolonial and colonial history; recreation and tourism; religion; and transportation. An informative and engaging
compendium, the Encyclopedia of North Carolina is abundantly illustrated with 400 photographs and maps. It is both a celebration
and a gift—from the citizens of North Carolina, to the citizens of North Carolina.
"Truly an exhaustive and exciting view of every aspect of the Old
North State!”
Recommended
Reading: The Tar Heel
State: A History of North Carolina
(Hardcover). Description:
The Tar Heel State: A History of North Carolina constitutes the most comprehensive and inclusive single-volume chronicle of
the state’s storied past to date, culminating with an attentive look at recent events that have transformed North Carolina into a southern megastate. Integrating tales of famous
pioneers, statesmen, soldiers, farmers, captains of industry, activists, and community leaders with more marginalized voices,
including those of Native Americans, African Americans, and women, Milton Ready gives readers a view of North Carolina that
encompasses perspectives and personalities from the coast, "tobacco road," the Piedmont, and the mountains in this sweeping
history of the Tar Heel State. The first such volume in more than two decades, Ready’s work offers a distinctive view
of the state’s history built from myriad stories and episodes. The Tar Heel State is enhanced by one hundred and ninety
illustrations and five maps. Continued below...
Ready begins
with a study of the state’s geography and then invites readers to revisit dramatic struggles of the American Revolution
and Civil War, the early history of Cherokees, the impact of slavery as an institution, the rise of industrial mills, and
the changes wrought by modern information-based technologies since 1970. Mixing spirited anecdotes and illustrative statistics,
Ready describes the rich Native American culture found by John White in 1585, the chartered chaos of North Carolina’s
proprietary settlement, and the chronic distrust of government that grew out of settlement patterns and the colony’s
early political economy. He challenges the perception of relaxed intellectualism attributed to the "Rip van Winkle" state,
the notion that slavery was a relatively benign institution in North Carolina,
and the commonly accepted interpretation of Reconstruction in the state. Ready also discusses how the woman suffrage movement
pushed North Carolina into a hesitant twentieth-century
progressivism. In perhaps his most significant contribution to North Carolina’s
historical record, Ready continues his narrative past the benchmark of World War II and into the twenty-first century. From
the civil rights struggle to the building of research triangles, triads, and parks, Ready recounts the events that have fueled
North Carolina’s accelerated development in recent years and the many challenges that have accompanied such rapid growth,
especially those of population change and environmental degradation.
Recommended
Reading: Bluecoats and Tar Heels: Soldiers and Civilians
in Reconstruction North Carolina (New Directions
in Southern History) (Hardcover). Description: In Bluecoats and Tar Heels: Soldiers and Civilians in Reconstruction
North Carolina, Mark L. Bradley examines the complex relationship between U.S. Army soldiers and North Carolina civilians
after the Civil War. Postwar violence and political instability led the federal government to deploy elements of the U.S.
Army in the Tar Heel
State, but their twelve-year occupation was marked by uneven success:
it proved more adept at conciliating white ex-Confederates than at protecting the civil and political rights of black Carolinians.
Bluecoats and Tar Heels is the first book to focus on the army’s role as post-bellum conciliator, providing readers
the opportunity to discover a rich but neglected chapter in Reconstruction history.
Recommended Reading: North Carolinians in the Era of the Civil War and Reconstruction (The University of North Carolina Press). Description: Although North Carolina
was a "home front" state rather than a battlefield state for most of the Civil War, it was heavily involved in the Confederate
war effort and experienced many conflicts as a result. North Carolinians were divided over
the issue of secession, and changes in race and gender relations brought new controversy. Blacks fought for freedom, women
sought greater independence, and their aspirations for change stimulated fierce resistance from more privileged groups. Republicans
and Democrats fought over power during Reconstruction and for decades thereafter disagreed over the meaning of the war and
Reconstruction. Continued below...
With contributions
by well-known historians as well as talented younger scholars, this volume offers new insights into all the key issues of
the Civil War era that played out in pronounced ways in the Tar Heel State.
In nine fascinating essays composed specifically for this volume, contributors address themes such as ambivalent whites, freed
blacks, the political establishment, racial hopes and fears, postwar ideology, and North Carolina women. These issues of the
Civil War and Reconstruction eras were so powerful that they continue to agitate North Carolinians today.
Try the Search Engine for Related Studies: North Carolina Governor John Willis Ellis Photo,
Photos, Picture, Pictures, History, Biography, Facts, Summary, Details Secession Convention Crisis, States Rights Acts, Policy,
Policies American Civil War Democratic Convention.
|
