Person:Seth Ellis (1)

Seth Hockett Ellis, farmer, statesman, the father of the Ohio State Grange, was born on a farm in Clinton County, Ohio, January 3, 1830, and died at his home in Waynesville, Ohio, on June 23, 1904. He attended the near-by district school, and later the Springboro (Ohio) village school. At twenty-one he was married, and soon after settled on a farm near Springboro, where he spent the greater part of his life. He was always an active worker in the church and Sunday-school. He was a leader in the prohibition movement in the state and nation, and in 1895, was the Prohibition candidate for governor of Ohio. He devoted much time and energy to political and economic reform, working, especially, for the referendum and a more just system of state taxation. In 1900, he was the candidate of the Union Reform party for president of the United States.

Seth Ellis was born near Martinsville, in Clinton County, the son of Robert Ellis and Anna Hockett. He was a birth-right Friend (Quaker) and a teacher during his youth.

In August of 1851 he married Rebecca Jane Tressler, the daughter of Jacob Tressler, a farmer, and his wife, Sarah Null. Jacob Tressler had come from Virginia and settled on a farm near Springboro. There he married Sarah Null, also born in Virginia, whose family also lived on a farm in the area of Springboro.

Seth Ellis adopted farming at the time of his marriage and followed that vocation with marked success in Montgomery county until he moved to Warren County and bought Salem Farm, located on the road between Springboro and Ridgeville where the Tressler family owned a farm.

In 1869 he built the house at Salem Farm. His house still stands on that road, Lower Springboro Road, and lived there for most of the rest of his life.

He was one of the most prominent forces of his day in the field of agricultural advancement, for he was able to look ahead and see that much progress was to be made. He was an organizer of the first grange in Warren County, of which he was for years master, and was also a charter member of the original state grange. The grange was "the great work" of Seth Ellis's life. He served as state master of the Ohio grange from 1873-1878; 1889-1892; 1897-1900; and he was chaplain of the National Grange for two separate terms, and served also on the national executive committee.

For some years his services were greatly in demand as a lecturer, a capacity in which he travelled all over the state.

At some point in his life he became a Methodist, and was disowned by the Springborough Monthly Meeting for having done so. However, his obituary says that "...he was a genial, lovable, well-educated farmer of the Quaker faith." In addition, for the 1903 Centennial of Miami Monthly Meeting, he was noted for having been one of the two presiding officers in January 1851.

He was appointed a trustee of Ohio State University, originally the "Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College," just after the change of name. For eight years, and through many discouraging experiences, he worked steadfastly for the interests of agricultural education in the institution. It was very largely through his influence, within the governing board and throughout the state at large, that the college of agriculture became an important part of the University in those early years.

His transfer to the Board of Control of the Experiment Station, at the time of its reorganization under the Hatch Act, was of his own choosing, and, during his long service on that Board, his thoroughly practical knowledge of farm conditions in Ohio and his wide acquaintance with the leading farmers of the state, and with others interested in the state's prosperity, enabled him to be of the greatest service in establishing the station's work on a broad and enduring foundation.

Mr. Ellis was a man of the utmost sincerity and steadfastness, yet always tactful; one whose character and motives were absolutely free from guile; who took the kindliest interest in the welfare of all those with whom he came in contact, and who had a most remarkable memory for names, faces, and the personal interests of others.

In 1899, as Seth Ellis neared seventy years of age, he and his wife rented out Salem Farm and moved to Waynesville, in Warren County. There they lived for several years until his death in 1903, which resulted from a fall from a cherry tree.

Seth and Rebecca Ellis are buried in the Miamisburg Cemetery in Corwin, Ohio. He lies buried at Latitude 39 degrees 31.3514, Longitude 84 degrees 4.5047'. The location is in Section M, in the southeast quarter. To get there, after entering at the main entrance to the cemetery, start going uphill. Look for the chapel and park near there where you see section M on your right

Portraits of Seth and Rebecca Ellis are in the museum of the Warren County Historical Society in Lebanon, Ohio.

Seth Ellis was the uncle of prominent Quaker Ellwood O. Ellis, of Indiana.

1.   Descendants of Thomas Hutton.

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