Person Sheet


Name William Ellis ANDREWS
Birth 4 Jan 1849, Barnsville OH
Death 31 Jul 1934, Ponca NE
Burial Ponca Cemetery
Occupation Farmer
Father (Richard) Ellis ANDREWS (1823-1862)
Mother Anne Elizabeth WILSON (1827-1909)
Spouses:
1 Ruby Jeanette BACON
Birth 7 Jul 1854, Trumble OH
Death 12 Apr 1912, Ponca NE
Occupation Homemaker
Father Harris Manley BACON (1816-1892)
Mother Adelia Elenora BULLFINCH (1821-1876)
Marriage 18 Nov 1872, Ponca NE
Children: Amy Estella (1873-1949)
Eugene Harris (1877-1954)
Myrtle Rose (1882-1972)
Raymond Ellis (1883-1884)
Lorenzo (Ren) Wilson (1886-1912)
Ellis Leonard (1889-1961)
Notes for William Ellis ANDREWS
He homesteaded in Nebraska in 1868 as a nineteen year old..
As an eight year old he helped drive a covered wagon with 8 head
of oxen from Barnsville, Ohio to Center Point, Iowa. His
father died when he was thirteen, his mother remarried and
evidently he didn't get along with his stepfather that well, so
he left home early. He homesteaded between Newcastle and Ponca,
Nebraska. He lived on the ranch-raised his family there-and
Ellis wanted to buy it for $65 an acre after he died, but his
brothers and sisters thought he should pay more since W.E. had
lived with him for about 12 years. He had lived with Ellis
Andrews's family from middle 1920's until he died. He was very
musical and bought instruments for each of his grandkids to play
at school. At least three nights a week after eating supper,
W.E. would say" get the Instreements out and we'll have some
music." Wilma had a clarinet, Willie a saxophone, Merle a
trumpet, and Elden an altohorn. Ellis played the mouth organ-
harmonica-strummed a guitar or could chord on the piano.
They played mostly church hymns, Bye Bye blackbirds- popular
music from the 30's.
At Uncle Will Conrad's house, they were up there for supper in
1928. The kids were playing with water at the sink and WE
slipped on wet lynolium and broke his hip. He still drove the
1924 Maxwell touring car with Izenglas curtains-canvas curtains
with plastic windows sewn into them - soft top. Goats jumped up
on top of the car and fell right through the top. WE was upset.
They had a picnic at Ponca state park and he polevaulted across
a ditch and broke his hip again. Became bedridden rest of life.
Chewed Red Man and smoked a corncob pipe with Prince Albert
tobacco.

He broke his hip three times. The first time when he was out
sheering sheep. The second time he broke it at 'Uncle' Will
Conrads by slipping on a puddle of water on an old linoleum
floor but he still got in and drove his old maxwell all around.
The third time everyone was down at the Ponca state park for a
family reunion and he put his crutches down in a ditch and
vaulted himself out into the middle of the road, breaking his
hip. He never got up from that one.
-Elden '91 reunion

W.E. used to sheer sheep with some local indians form Oaklahoma
with hand sheers. He remembers that the indians used to ride
through and break the stalks of indian hemp off and let them
hang. Latter in the fall they would come through and harvest it
as dried hemp. This stuff filled their pipes which wasn't
exactly tobacco...more like marijhuana.
-Elden '91 reunion
There was an Austin - Miller - Andrews Family Reunion held every
summer in Elkpoint or Sioux City starting in the early 1920's
until late 1940's. Check with Joe Austin in Elkpoint? -Willie
and Elsie 1993

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