John Ellis

On the 1643 list of Sandwich men able to bear arms. At the General Court of 20 Aug 1644 a warrant went out “to bring in the bodies of Jonathan Fish and Mary, his wyfe, Nathaniell Fish, Jane, the wyfe of Mr Wilim Wood, Rose, the wyfe of Joseph Holly,” the wives of Richard Kerby and Michael Turner, “& Joane Swyft, widdow, to giue euedence in John Ellis & his wifes case” (PCR 2:76-77). On 4 June 1645: “John Ellis, of Sandwich, for abuseing himself wth his now wyfe by committing vncleanesse wth her before marryage, is censured to be whipt at publike post, and Elizabeth, his wyfe, to stand by whilst execucon of the sentence is pformed; wch was accordingly donn.” He was also fined £5 “for his long and tedious delayes, occasioning much trouble & charge to the countrey, for that he would not confesse the truth vntill this present” (PCR 2:85-86). Her father was then serving his last term as an Assistant (PCR 2:81).

“John Ellis approued by the Court to bee leiftenant off the millitary companie att Sandwidge” (1653, PCR 3:38). On 13 Sept 1653 the town gave Richard Chadwell, Thomas Dexter and John Ellis “all the whales that come up within the limits and bounds of Sandwich,” at £16 a whale, paid a third in oil, a third in corn and a third in cattle; a finder who “placed an oar by the whale” could give notice (Freeman, History of Cape Cod 2). Later they had “the right of all such fish” for three years. He was one of the four men engaged to build the town mill (c. 1655-57) and subscribed £1 toward it, and the town paid “the account of Lt. Ellis for drum, muskets &c. purchased,” £10 6s 7d (HCC 2). On the committee for the Sandwich-Plymouth highway (1654).

Licensed in 1659 to keep an ordinary “for the entertainment of strangers and trauellers,” with leave to sell strong waters and wine, “but is prohibited to pmitt towne dwellers to stay drinkeing vnessesaryly att his house” (PCR 3:161). On 7 Mar 1659/60 oil of his, attached “by the marshall Barlow, for the countrey,” was given back after “some controuersy”: “the Court doth remitt the said oyle vnto the said Ellice” (PCR 3:182). In June 1660 “Leiftenant Ellis hath engaged to trayne the milletary company of Sandwich for a season” (PCR 3:189). In 1665 he was ordered to pay 20 shillings “for a whale hee had” (PCR 4:99).

About December 1665, in a slander case, Ann Hoskins said that Hester Rickard was “as drunke as a bitch, and found in private companie in an ordinary with John Ellis, of Sandwich”; Ann acknowledged her fault in court (PCR 4:111-112). On 7 July 1668 Matthew Mayhew sued him “for detaining a cow sundry yeares,” and the jury gave Mayhew “a sufficient good cow, of a reasonable stature, and not exceeding eight yeares old, and three pound damage” (PCR 7:146-147). On 29 Oct 1669 he sued John Ewen “for non pformance of worke about a barne, according to agreement” (PCR 7:156-157).

His homestead was at the Plymouth end of Sandwich, near Scusset and Sagamore: about 1670 the Plymouth-Sandwich bound was set “three quarters of a mile from any pte of the fence of John Ellis his feild, between his house and the sea” (PCR 5:41). On 5 July 1670 an Indian named William, son-in-law of Cawsetan, complained that “the oxen of Leiftenant Ellis had broken in to his corne att Breake Hart Hill”; the damage was about six bushels, and the fence was judged good (PCR 5:47). In King Philip’s War a town meeting of 28 Feb 1675/6, “called … by Lt. John Ellis and Benj. Hammond the constable,” allowed families “to repair to the town garrison for safety,” and the town kept “a watch between Wayquonscott and the sea beyond Lt. John Ellis’ land” (HCC 2).

On 7 June 1677 “Mistris Elizabeth Ellis and Mordica Ellis,” his widow and their son Mordecai, were bound as administrators of “the estate of John Ellis, Junir, of Sandwich, late deceased” (PCR 5:235).

The claim that he was a son of John Ellis and Blandina Masterson of Sandwich, Kent, and Leiden goes back to J. Wingate Thornton’s speculation in Freeman Genealogy (1875) and is disproven (WikiTree, after Paulick). A baptism at St Botolph Bishopsgate, 14 Sept 1623, circulates online with no source.

Open questions

• His parents and origin are unknown. Brownson and McLean (NEHGR 119, 1965) is the authority to read.
• Why is he called “John Ellis, Junir” in the 1677 administration? The 1658 Sandwich list has both a John Ellis Sr. and Jr.
• His inventory (23 May 1677) should be in Plymouth Colony Wills vol. 3; not seen.
• The Freeman-Ellis anecdotes file dates the warrant for witnesses “early 1645”; the printed record (PCR 2:76-77) puts it at the General Court of 20 Aug 1644, and the page follows the record.