1 LYDIA HAINES ELLIS
This is the first of a series of biographical sketches of the 17 children born to Joseph Wingate and Mary Briggs Haines (hereinafter referred to as “J. Wingate” and “Mary”). In a few instances, such as this one, there are sufficient sources of information to help provide some reasonable context to the life of their offspring. In the case of other children, though, only scarce information of their lives has been found so far. Hopefully, readers of these stories will know something more about the subjects and share their knowledge with the researchers. Similarly, the stories of the many descendants of these children will vary in scope and depth. Notwithstanding the shortcomings, the main purpose of this series of sketches is to demonstrate the magnificent human legacies of J. Wingate and Mary’s relationship and why their descendants should be honoring these remarkable ancestors who first arrived in the 1840s in the area that would be called Fort Fairfield.
Their first child, Lydia, was born on April 19, 1829, in Hallowell, Maine. At the time, Hallowell was a busy community with nearly 70 stores along Water Street which ran parallel to the Kennebec River, the major transportation artery for the area. Lydia’s parents were age 23 and had been married only since March 4 of the prior year. The year after her birth, the Hallowell US Census count for the community was 3,961 (population density of 676 people per square mile). Her father may have provided for his family through agricultural pursuits given what is known of him in later life or he may have worked in commerce given the many stores in the community and flow of goods on the river and main roads along the riverbank. Whatever was the source of his income, J. Wingate had time for family. Lydia’s family home in Hallowell rapidly increased in occupants as her mother gave birth to 16 more children in 17 years although, sadly, three of these children died soon after birth. Lydia undoubtedly devoted much of her daily life in these early years in Hallowell to helping her mother care for her younger children and attending to other domestic duties.
After Lydia’s sister Marcella was born in Hallowell in the fall of 1846, Lydia’s home would move in several directions and in ever increasing distances. One source indicates that J. Wingate and Mary moved Lydia and the rest of their family first to Hodgdon, Maine, and then fifty miles further north to Fort Fairfield (officially named Letter D Plantation, Range 1 WELS) by 1847. In contrast to the population density of Hallowell, Letter D Plantation had fewer than 400 inhabitants spread over roughly 36 square miles (density of 19 people per square mile). Mary delivered her last babies, twins Isadore and Theodore, in their new home in Maple Grove on January 17, 1848 (Lydia age 18). At the time, the land was mostly covered with trees as new landowners were busy clearing land to grow crops in the incredibly rich soil and selling their cut timber to recently built sawmills. Landowners also volunteered to build needed roads in return for credits for paying off their indebtedness owed to the state for the land they had taken title to. Lydia would have been busy with even more work to do.
The Haines property in Maple Grove was near the property of the Freeman Ellis family, descendants of Mayflower pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Freeman’s son, Caleb Holt Ellis (1825-1911), had a reputation for being a hard working lumberman. Lydia and Caleb married on January 14, 1849, and their first child, Ada Ianthe Ellis, was born to them on October 31, 1849. The 1850 US Census for Letter D, Range Aroostook County, Maine, listed Caleb as a “laborer.” Lydia would have cared for their home and newborn baby.
Caleb had received a good high school education when his family lived in Sangerville, Maine, and he aspired to a more prominent role in society. By 1854, Caleb had earned a “local preacher license by the Fort Fairfield Quarterly Conference of the Methodist Episcopal” and soon thereafter he and his family relocated to Down East Maine to minister in Washington and Hancock Counties. Seven years later as the Civil War began, he became the Chaplain of the 11 th Maine Regiment and served with his unit in the Army of the Potomac in the vicinity of Washington, DC. He became seriously ill with typhoid fever, however, and lay sick in the Chesapeake General Hospital for many months while Lydia somehow managed the household in Maine with her family of five children (one infant died at birth in 1851). In fact, Lydia gave birth in East Machias to daughter Melvina (referred to all her life as “Mellie”) in January 1862 while Caleb was hospitalized many hundreds of miles to her south.
Caleb eventually was well enough to return to Maine but still devoted some of his energies to the Union cause. When called upon by Maine’s governor, he assisted in organizing the 31 st Maine Infantry Regiment which was activated in Augusta, Maine, in April 1864 with Caleb serving as captain of one of its companies. The regiment was soon in action starting with the Battles of the Wilderness and of Spotsylvania. On June 7 at the Battle of Cold Harbor, Caleb received a shell wound which caused paralysis of his left side. His surgeon declared that the wound would be fatal but Caleb survived. After a year and a half long recuperation period, he was discharged from his army service in October 1865, six months following the end of the rebellion.
Caleb returned to Lydia and their five surviving children but it would take another three years before he could return to the ministry. By then, they had relocated to Michigan and had their last child, Adelbert Lincoln Ellis, in 1868. Sadly, however, Adelbert lived only six months. In 1876-7, Caleb relocated for one year to the to the Gulf Coast of Texas for rest and a change of climate for further recuperation. Whether Lydia accompanied him or not is unknown but Lydia’s oldest daughter, Ada, likely accompanied her father. She died in Brazoria, Texas, in 1876. In March 1882, Caleb moved his family from Michigan to the Dakota Territory “to seek the high altitude and clear bracing atmosphere… in the far famed Dakota climate.” South and North Dakota would not enter statehood until 1889 but there were active local and broader governmental agencies providing governmental services. Caleb became involved in local and territorial politics. In April 1885, he was elected county commissioner of Faulk County in the center of the northeast quadrant of South Dakota.
Lydia had moved her family from Maine to Michigan and to South Dakota during an 18 year period. There are some signs that the family may have traveled back to Maine for brief stays during this period, also. Life was tough everywhere, but pioneering on the remote Dakota prairie was especially challenging. Lydia passed away in Ellisville, Faulk County, South Dakota on July 7, 1886, at age 57 having been predeceased by four of her seven children. Arthur, Olin, and Melvina survived her to continue her legacy.
Arthur Wingate Ellis (1852-1941)
Born in Fort Fairfield, Arthur became a farmer in Faulkton, Faulk County, South Dakota. He married and raised one daughter, Mabel Winnefred Ellis. Mabel died July 4 th , 1908, just 12 days after her marriage. Arthur’s descendant line died with Mabel.
Olin Howard Ellis (1858-1924)
Born in Fort Fairfield, Olin became a railroad engineer and lived in Chicago. He died in Coldwater, Branch County, Michigan. He and his wife raised two daughters, Maude and Anne. It appears that neither of Olin’s daughters had any children of their own.
Melvina “Mellie” May Ellis (1862-1925)
Born in East Machias, Maine, Mellie died in Vineland, Cumberland County, New Jersey. She married Howard Kipp from New York in Michigan in 1882 and they had three children, all of whom were born in South Dakota and all had children of their own:
Ray Ellis Kipp: Verna, Loretta, Doreen, and Howard Ray Kipp. Verna was born in Fort Fairfield and the other three children were born in New Brunswick, Canada.
Lynn Everett Kipp: Florence, Katherine, and Harriett, all born in Fort Fairfield.
Hazel Kipp: Olin Howard Jenkins and Thomas Jenkins, also all born in Fort Fairfield.
By 1900, Mellie and Howard lived in Bangor, Maine, with their three children. Howard worked as a grocery clerk. J. Wingate and Mary Haines’ oldest child, Lydia, lived in several different places in the country during her 57 years: Hallowell at birth and during early life, Letter D Plantation (Fort Fairfield) in late adolescence years and early adulthood, and then Down East Maine, Michigan, and South Dakota during parenthood. Nevertheless, many of her grandchildren and great grandchildren have close connections to the place where her parents settled in the 1840s, Fort Fairfield.
Thanks to the ongoing efforts of researchers and descendants of Lydia Haines, especially Steve Summerson who now lives in Presque Isle, additional search for more descendants of Lydia is underway. Steve is a fifth great grandson of J. Wingate Haines, fourth great grandson of Lydia Haines Ellis, and third great grandson of Melvina “Mellie” Ellis Kipp. Potential descendants of Lydia with surnames such as Summerson, Stevens, Yates, Brown, Seper, Ordway, Barton, Dougherty, Jenkins, Zeller, and Cary, are being checked to see if they belong on Lydia’s family chart. Those who are found and have contact information available will be invited to The Gathering.
CALEB HOLT ELLIS
Although CH Ellis was not a blood descendant of J. Wingate and Mary, Caleb’s marriage to their daughter Lydia attached his story to their descendants. One result of this is that all of Caleb and Lydia’s children and their descendants are eligible for membership in the Mayflower Society. Caleb’s personal story has been published in numerous places and is available on this website. Place your cursor over the RESOURCES tab at the top of the web page and then slide down to IMPORTANT LINKS. Open that link and scroll down to History of Fort Fairfield and click on the link thereunder. This opens the digital book which is in the Library of Congress. Caleb’s brief biography starts on page 366.
Caleb lived in Fort Fairfield from 1843 until 1854 when he began his ministry. He returned to Fort Fairfield in May 1892 and started the Northern Leader newspaper. He wrote a series of articles for the newspaper about the history of Fort Fairfield and in 1894 the Fort Fairfield Printing Company published them in book form. The Northern Leader was succeeded by the Fort Fairfield Review newspaper in 1902 which served the community as a weekly newspaper until 2004.
After Lydia’s death, Caleb married widow Francis Elizabeth Johnston Richard of Fort Fairfield in 1887. After her death, Caleb married a third time, another widow, Lottie Howard Erhlich, August 12, 1895. The wedding took place in Gray, Maine, but the record of marriage reflects Caleb’s residence as Fort Fairfield and his occupation as publisher and editor. Caleb outlived this spouse, also, and he spent more time in South Dakota where he published another history book in 1909: History of Faulk County, South Dakota: Together with Biographical Sketches of Pioneers and Prominent Citizens. He lived with his son, Arthur, in Faulkton and died there on January 12, 1911.
CH Ellis went from hard physical work as a lumberman and laborer, to work as a minister, soldier, and writer while travelling around Maine and living in Michigan, Texas, Dakota Territory and South Dakota, the District of Columbia, and Massachusetts. Fort Fairfield was a key part of his life, it seems, as he returned there a number of times. Today’s descendants of J. Wingate and Mary benefit from his history of Fort Fairfield which preserves the stories of several of their ancestors.