Person:Esther Ellis (1)

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Esther Ellis
d.Bef 11 Nov 1818
m. 13 Jan 1740/41
  1. Timothy Ellis1742 - 1804
  2. Amos Ellis1743/44 - 1817
  3. Melethiah Ellis1745/46 - 1823
  4. Henry Ellis1747/48 - 1838
  5. Bathsheba Ellis1749/50 - 1756
  6. Abial Ellis1753 - 1756
  7. Elizabeth Ellis1755 - 1758
  8. Esther Ellis1758 - Bef 1818
  9. Lois Ellis1762 - 1843
  10. Lucretia Ellis1764 - 1796
  • HJoseph Hills1758 - 1787
  • WEsther Ellis1758 - Bef 1818
m. 7 Dec 1780
  1. Joel Hills1781 -
  2. Julia Hills1783 - 1853
  3. Nancy HILLS1785 - 1847
m. 28 May 1793
Facts and Events
Name[1] Esther Ellis
Gender Female
Birth[1] 8 Apr 1758 Wrentham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States
Marriage 7 Dec 1780 Franklin, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United Statesto Joseph Hills
Marriage 28 May 1793 Grafton, Worcester, Massachusetts, United Statesto Enoch Forbush
Death? Bef 11 Nov 1818 see narrative

Esther (Ellis) Hills name is not "Esther E. Ellis". A common mistake on our family pedigrees and family group sheets is to transfer the "E." for "Ellis" from "Esther E. Hills" back into her maiden name, making it "Esther E. Ellis". Other variants of her name in various family documents include "Ester" and "Easter". However, she was simply named "Esther Ellis" at birth. (Wrentham MA Vital Records V. 1 p.66 "Ellis, Esther, d. of Joseph and Melatiah, b. Apr. 8, 1758,")

The Ezekiel Johnson Genealogical Research Committee has accepted "Esther Ellis" as the official name to be used on our family pedigrees and group sheets. Carol Walters Chairman

Death date of Esther Ellis Hills (Julia Hills Johnson's mother) - between 1812 and 11 Nov. 1818 We have determined that Esther's death date could not be in 1801 or 1805 as indicated on many family pedigree charts. Since Joseph Hills and Enoch Forbush, her second husband, are buried in the Oak Street Cemetery in Grafton, we searched there for the gravestone of Esther. We did not find it, nor did we find any record of her death in the Grafton Vital Records or the Northborough or Uxbridge Vital Records. However in the Upton Vital Records, there are records of two deaths which are obviously the sources of the incorrect dates that have been incorporated in our pedigree charts. There is an entry on p. 164 that says: "Widow Forboush died 29 May 1801 CR." Our Esther Ellis Hills Forbush was not a widow at this time because Enoch Forbush didn't die until Nov. 16th, 1825. We do know that she was still alive on 20 April 1801 when, three months after their wedding, on 20 April, 1801, Ezekiel and Julia Hills Johnson sold six and one half acres in the town of Grafton, Worcester Co., Massachusetts to Amos Ellis, for $94.50 and Julia's mother, Esther Forbush, was a witness for this sale. This was probably land Julia inherited from her father's

There is also an entry in the death records of the Upton Vital Records that says: "FORBUSH, Miss Ester, May 27, 1805 C.R." Obviously, Esther Ellis Hills Forbush was not "Miss" at the time of her death. This could have been a copying mistake when the vital records were re-copied, however we also know that Esther's son, Joel Hills, wrote a letter from Newport, Kentucky on Feb 14, 1815 to his mother Esther Ellis Hills Forbush.

"Dear and affectionate Mother, ...Give my best respects to my sister and the rest of my kindred at Grafton,"

Julia Hills Johnson also wrote a letter from Pomfret New York to her mother Esther Ellis Hills Forbush and step-father Enoch Forbush on Feb 27, 1815 in which she said

"My dear Parents: After my love to you I will inform you that through the blessing of God, we are all in good health and hope this will find you so. I have not heard a word from you in over a year."

The implication is that Julia had heard from her parents in within the past couple of years, which would mean that Esther was still alive in 1812 or 1813. While she could have died shortly after that, both Julia and Joel certainly thought their mother was alive as they were writing in 1815.

Julia Hills Johnson wrote another letter from Pomfret to her half sister, Delcina Forbush, on Nov. 11, 1818 (if the copy we have was transcribed accurately) which said "I have heard of the death of our mother which was very heavy news to me."

That does not give an exact death date but would mean that Esther died before that time, probably sometime within the previous year. Until we have an exact date, the JGRC will record Esther Ellis Hills Forbush's death date as "between 1812 and 11 Nov. 1818". (Carol Walters, Chairman of the Ezekiel Johnson Genealogical Research Committee)

References
  1. 1.0 1.1 Baldwin, Thomas W. Vital records of Wrentham, Massachusetts, to the year 1850. (Boston: Stanhope Press, 1910)
    Vol. 1, p. 66.

    ELLIS, Esther, d. of Joseph and Melatiah, [born] Apr. 8, 1758