After having my DNA tested to confirm my Ellis origins, I have discovered that I am not an Ellis at all. My grandmother had an affair in 1916 when she was married to Oliver F Ellis (who I thought was my grandfather). Soon thereafter, she and Oliver separated, unwillingly leaving my father with Oliver. My grandmother solicited the help of two of her brothers, Felix and Chester Latson, to drive from Titus County Texas to Goliad in an effort to secure custody of my father. Oliver Ellis was killed during the scuffle. You can read the information I have pertaining to these incidents here Goliad Boy Murdered in the Streets!
From court records of my grandmother's request for custody of my father, there are statements concerning Thomas Wheeler Pettus of Goliad as the father of my father. Research continues.
| Parents | |||||
| Paternal | Maternal | ||||
| Laverne Edward Ellis (Pettus?) | m1939 Atascosa TX | Shirley Ethel Strong | |||
| b1917 Goliad TX | d1990 Bexar TX | b1916 Cook IL | 1951 Bexar TX | ||
| Identify of his father is currently unknown | < Frank <John < Dudley < Harvey < Caleb < Caleb < Josiah < John < Elder John | ||||
|
Laverne Ellis was raised primarily in Goliad TX by his Uncle Charles, but spent a short time with his Aunt Viola at Fort Stockton. He enlisted in the Army and served in the Pacific during WWII, with a short assignment in Okinawa, Japan. He received a battlefield commission to 2LT during the war. He remained in the Army after the war, attending Signal School and becoming a Signal Officer. He, his wife and first two children were stationed in Italy during the 1940's. He retired about 1962 and went to work in the Civil Service as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, 4th U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston Texas, working in the famous "Quadrangle" where Geronimo had been imprisoned. He retired from Civil Service in 1972 to a home at Canyon Lake TX where he lived the remainder of his life. |
Shirley Strong moved from Chicago IL after 1920 and was recorded in the 1930 census living with her parents in Dallas TX. She attended Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, TX and was a member of the Lariats Club. After her marriage to my father, she traveled with him while he was in the military to Italy and Washington D.C. when he was assigned to the Pentagon. She developed breast cancer here and she and my father were given a compassionate reassignment back to San Antonio where she passed away in 1951, one year and 5 months after my birth. |
||||