Kenneth Eugene Ellerton, 1879-1951

Our maternal Grandfather, Kenneth Eugene Ellerton, was born in Denton, Texas on October 14, 1879 to John Hight Ellerton (1840-1907) and Nancy “Nannie” Wells (nee Dunn) Ellerton (1841-1911).

Judging from US Census records primary, it seems Kenneth grew up in a tumultuous and unstable household.

He was the youngest of four children:

1.   Lena Maude (1868-1931)

2.   Augusta Gertrude "Gertie" (1869-1941)

3.   George Clifton (Glifton) (1873-1944). George is the spouse of Pansy Ella McLeod (1883-1973), whom we knew as “Aunt Patsy.”

4.   Kenneth (1879-1951)

When he was born, the Ellerton family had just moved to north Texas from downstate Illinois (DeWitt County), where all of his three older siblings were born. When the Ellerton family settled in Texas, it did so in the same county as his John's sister,  Lenorah Jane Ellerton (1835-1916). In 1867, Lenorah married Ira Hatch (1819-1895), a widower with two daughters. In the 1880 US Census they were living in Grayson County, Texas.

There are records indicating Kenneth and his older Sister, Maude, were adopted out by the family to a couple named William B (1827-1888) and  Mariah (nee Stoner) (1831-1918) Little. Because the birth dates and names do not exactly match, this area warrants additional research. The likelihood of a second Kenneth Eugene Ellerton living in north Texas at the same time, however, is miniscule.

Obviously, the question is "Why?"

Adding to the mystery of Kenneth’s childhood is the destruction of the 1890 US Census records in Washington, DC in 1921.

Of note, in 1890, October 14, 1890 to be exact, our eleven years to the day after Kenneth's birth, Dwight Eisenhower was born in Denison.

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The 1896 City Directory for Denison, Texas lists Kenneth and two siblings as employees of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas , sometimes called the "Katy," Railway.

In the 1900 Census, with the exception of Kenneth’s Father, the entire Ellerton family was living in the household of his older sister Maude and her husband Charles (Verles) Hemingway (1863-1940) in Denison.

Kenneth’s Father, John, was a bit of a free spirit. In the 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census, he lived in the territory serving as a soldier in Company F, 2^nd Illinois. Kenneth’s older Brother, George, who at the time would have been 17, lived with him. In the 1900 US Census, John lived in Jackson County, which is between Houston and Corpus Christi. He listed his marital status as “Widowed.” Note: Nancy did not die until 1911.

Relying strictly on records, it is evident that Kenneth’s parents were estranged until they died. John died in Otero, New Mexico in 1907 and is buried on Alamogordo. When Nancy died in 1911, she was living in Jackson County, Texas, the same area where John lived in 1900; she is buried in Vinland, Kansas.

Interestingly, Kenneth’s Sister, Maude, was living in Vinland with her husband when she died in 1931. She is buried in Vinland.

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In the 1900 US Census, his occupation is listed as “At School.” Between 1900 and 1902, Kenneth attended Ohio Wesleyan College in Delaware, Ohio. (There are no records that he graduated.) While attending college there, Kenneth probably lived with relatives.

At the end of the 18^th Century, Kenneth’s great grandparents, William J (1773-1859) and Sarah (nee Phillips) (1780-1869) moved their family of four from present-day Harrison County, West Virginia to Ross County, Ohio. Here they apparently farmed and had another eight children. Starting with their oldest child, John (1797-1864), the children married and tended to have large families, many of whom settled in Ohio. Those family members who did not stay in Ohio moved to Illinois in the 1830’s and 1840’s and later on to Iowa.

In 1904, Kenneth attended Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas. Here again, he probably lived with relatives. Some members of his Mother’s family moved from Illinois to the Kansas Territory in the later 1850’s and settled in and around what is now Palmyra County. His parents, John and Nancy, married in Vinland, Kansas, 8 miles north of Baldwin City.

Baldwin City is about 400 miles from Denison.

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Throughout his adult life, Kenneth was employed in a variety of clerical and sales positions.

In 1908, he lived in Bisbee, Arizona, working as an inspector for the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad.

In 1911, he lived in Phoenix, Arizona. This is noteworthy because our parents were married in Phoenix on August 19, 1941. A newspaper account of their surprise marriage included mention that a long-time friend of Margaret’s family, C J Myers, married them. It is quite possible that Kenneth befriended Mr. Myers while living in Phoenix.

Kenneth married Louise Baker Tabb (1883-1937) on September 4, 1941 in Houston, Texas.

How these two met and where and why they married in Houston are all matters of conjecture.

Here is one possibility about how they met: Kenneth’s older Sister, Gertrude was living in Denver, Colorado in 1915. Also, from 1915 to 1916, Louise was a student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. At the time, Kenneth was employed by a railroad (Union Pacific?) in Phoenix and may have been in Denver on business or visiting Gertie. (Or, Gertie may have become acquainted with Louise and introduced her to her Brother.)

Why Jackson County, Texas? Sister Maude and Brother-in-law Charles appear in the 1910 US Census in Jackson County. [Maude was the enumerator for the US Census for the area in 1910.]

Kenneth’s wife, Louise, had a miserable childhood. Her Mother, Cora (nee Pace) (1852-1886) died when Louise was only three years old. In the 1900 US Census, when she was only sixteen, she and her older Sister, Gertrude (1875-1931) lived in a boarding house in East Saint Louis, Illinois. Their father, William Tabb (1845-1895) had died five years earlier.

Louise attended (and may have graduated from) Belmont College in Nashville, Tennessee. In the 1904 edition of the college yearbook, when she would have been nearly 21 years old, she is recorded as a member of the Kentucky Club.

How she would have been able to afford a college education without some type of parental assistance is worthy of additional research.

The 1906 City Directory for East Saint Louis, Illinois lists Louise as a teacher.

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 Kenneth and Louise moved to Alameda, California sometime between their wedding day and 12 May 1917, when our Mother was born in San Jose.

Bear in mind, World War I did not end until June 1918. So, when they moved, the outcome of the War was still very much in doubt. Yet, they relocated, found housing and Kenneth a job, had a child and settled in.

Why they moved to northern California is not clear, although Kenneth had a number of cousins living in the area.

Their address was 1209 Broadway, Alameda. Their home is still standing.

In 1921, they had a second Daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who died at birth, apparently just before they moved to Pasadena.

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Kenneth registered for the draft for both World Wars, in 1918 and again 1942, when he was 62.

In 11 August 1917, the Oakland Tribune, Kenneth Ellerton’s name appeared on a list of individuals in northern California who had been selected for the Second Officer Corps Reserve training camp to be held at the San Francisco Presidio. The camp appears to have been some type of training opportunity for older males exempted from the draft. In 1918, Kenneth was 38 years old.

Kenneth worked for a number of companies. When he registered for the draft in 1918, he listed his occupation as “Railway Station Inspector” in Oakland. 1920 US Census – Shipping Clerk.

In 1921, the Ellertons moved again, this time to Pasadena, California. At about the same time, Kenneth’s Sister, Gertrude, who had lived in Denver since 1902, moved to Los Angeles.

The next actual record of the Ellertons is a City Directory listing in 1923. Kenneth’s occupation: Clerk.

Their address is 958 Stevenson Avenue. Stevenson Avenue no longer exists. In the 1930 US Census, the family lives at 958 Mar Vista, meaning the name of the street changed sometime in the 1920’s. Louise died in 1937, but Kenneth appears in the 1940 US Census at the same address. He apparently lived there until he died in 1951.

Here is how the neighborhood looks now.

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Throughout the 1910’s, 1920’s and 1930’s, when they registered to vote, Kenneth registered as either as Republican or Prohibition Party and Louise for the obverse. They rarely registered for the same party in the same year, choosing instead to alternate their registrations; and, they NEVER registered Democratic.

Louise died on March 28, 1937. Kenneth was 57. Occupation: Solicitor.

In 1941, Gertrude, who moved back to Denver in the late 1920’s and then returned to Los Angeles in 1935, died.

When he registered for the draft in 1942 he listed his employer as The Constance Hotel, Pasadena.

In 1944, his Brother, George, a patient at the Naval Hospital in Corona California, died.

At that moment, with the exception of a very distant Ellerton (actually Elarton) relatives living in Los Angeles and his Daughter, our Mother, starting family and living 40 miles way in Chino, Kenneth was alone.

Employment records indicate he worked in the defense industry during World War II.

The 3 December 1947 edition of the Dixon (Illinois) Evening Telegraph ran an article explaining that Kenneth Ellerton of Pasadena, California unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Pasadena City Council to adopt an ordinance “prohibiting wedding ceremonies after 10 p.m.  . . . Ellerton’s argument: Late weddings are noisy and seriously interfere with the sleep of people not celebrating the event.” Note: This article ran in newspapers throughout California and across the country. Sounds like a USA Today story.

Kenneth died on October 18, 1951.

Kenneth, Louise and his sister Gertrude are buried side-by-side-side at the Valhalla Pierce Brothers Memorial Garden in Burbank, California.

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There is a pervasiveness sadness overlaying the letters and numbers in the records of Kenneth’s life. 

As a matter of sheer speculation, based on their tendencies to register to vote as members of the Prohibition Party, it is very possible that alcohol played a part in the fragmentation of their families. I also recall several instances where our Mother displayed rage and over what she regarded as alcohol abuse.

There were strong feelings about the excesses of alcohol and its impact on families in the run-up to Prohibition, roughly the early 1890’s to the approval of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919. This period coincides with the formative years of Kenneth’s and Louise’s lives. Many advocates supported prohibition out of principle, whether they were affected directly or not. Others were driven by more personal, devastating experiences. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent chronicles the damaging excesses of alcohol.

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Kenneth survived turbulent a childhood.

He was most likely a protective and proud husband and parent, and an unassuming, reserved individual. I recall reading a short letter he sent our Mother shortly after I was born. At a time when one might expect a letter of joy, the tone of the letter was stilted, formal and a bit strained, as though he wasn’t certain exactly what to say.

Next: The Migration of the Ellerton and Tabb Families from West Virginia