Ellis Eames

Ellis Eames (alt. Ellis Ames, Ellis Eamut[1]) (1809–1882) was the first mayor of Provo, Utah;[2] he was Mayor in 1851-52.[3]

Early life

Eames was born in Mentor, Ohio. He joined the Church of the Latter Day Saints in Jackson County, Missouri in 1834.[4] He married Olive Jane Gibbs Eames (1815-1902), born February 13, 1815, in Rutland, Vermont. They married in about 1835.[5] That same year, Eames took part in a mission along with Joseph Holbrook and Lyman Gibbs.[6] The couple moved to Haun's Mill in 1837, where they were part of the group of Mormon families living near Haun's Mill in Livingston County, Missouri, site of the 1838, anti-Mormon Haun's Mill massacre. Eames' coat was said to have had a bullet hole shot through it during the massacre, but he, his wife Olive, and their four children all survived.[3][5] While in the area, Eames partnered with Jacob Myers Jr. operating a grist mill upstream of Haun's Mill.[7] A collection of his writings from that period was published as Reminiscence in Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published October 30, 1838.[1]

Eames later resided in Clay County, Missouri and Nauvoo, Illinois.[4]

Utah

Eames was initially part of Brigham Young's 1847 pioneer company, but due to illness was sent back to Winter Quarters, Nebraska.[8] He subsequently arrived in Utah by 1849.[9]

Ellis, Olive and their children were living in Utah in 1850, when Ellis married a second wife, Sarah Haskell, and was listed in the United States census as a "fiddler."[5] He was mayor of Provo from 1851 to 1852.[5][3]

California and death

Eames moved to San Bernardino, California in 1854, where he became district attorney.[3] When the Latter-day Saints there were called back to Utah Territory in 1857 due to the Utah War, Eames and Olive remained in San Bernardino, while Sarah and her children returned to Utah.[3] Eames remained in contact with members of Brigham Young's army.[10] Olive joined the Reorganization in 1864 with Ellis following in 1870.[5]

In 1896 Olive wrote an account of the Haun's Mill Massacre that was published in the History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.[5]

Eames is buried at Pioneer Memorial Cemetery in San Bernardino.[11] In 1954, a photo of Eames was discovered and added to Provo's gallery of mayors.[12]

References
Citations
  1. Baugh, Alexander L. "The Hauns Mill Massacre and the Extermination Order of Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs." Religious Studies Center Newsletter 12: 1-5. 1997, p21-30
  2. "Provo: Glimpses from the Pages of History". Daily Herald (Utah). 5 August 1973.
  3. Walsh, Tad (8 November 2005). "Provo's wild bunch". Deseret News. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  4. "Eames, Ellis; Provo Mayor 1851-1852". Historical Provo Project. Provo Public Library. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  5. Romig, Ronald E. "The RLDS Church on the Pacific Slope." Journal of Mormon History 35, no. 2 (2009): 43-125 (Eames on p. 82). https://www.jstor.org/stable/23290497.
  6. Johnson, Pamela Call. Joseph Holbrook, Mormon Pioneer, a Journal: With Commentary on the Winter He Spent with the Ponca Indians. AuthorHouse, 2013. p38
  7. Baugh, Alexander L. "Jacob Hawn and the Hawn’s Mill Massacre: Missouri millwright and Oregon pioneer." Mormon Historical Studies 11, no. 1 (2010): 1-26.
  8. Jenson, Andrew. Day By Day with the Utah Pioneers. The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah) 18 Apr 1934, page 3, accessed via Newspapers.com open access
  9. Matthew McBride; James Goldberg, eds. (2017). Revelations in Context: The Stories behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. p. 337. ISBN 9781465118851.
  10. A Mormon Threat. Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, Tennessee) 14 Jan 1858, page 2, accessed via Newspapers.com open access
  11. Provo Library; Cemeteries and Memorial Sites of Politicians in San Bernardino County at The Political Graveyard
  12. Long Lost Portrait of Provo's First Mayor Discovered. The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah) 6 Jan 1954, page 6, accessed via Newspapers.com open access
Sources


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