Major Wiliam L.A. Ellis Collection

These documents represent the personal archive of Captain/Major William L.A. Ellis. Ellis' records had been discarded, but were discovered by Will Webber in Dallas, Texas, in the mid-1980's. From review of the documents, it appears that Ellis moved to the Dallas area after the war. Although we were unable to develop a full biography of Captain Ellis during his life, we have determined certain information about him from these records as well as from the Official Records of the war.

Although Captain Ellis was not a historically significant figure in the war, his documents are interesting reading, and also contribute information to the historical record, particularly regarding the 62^nd Georgia Regiment and 8^th Georgia Cavalry of which he was a part.

Many war-era documents were discovered among Captain Ellis' records. The original documents and photos have been donated to the Museum of Colquitt County in Moultrie, GA. Some of these documents are presented here, along with some analysis by Will Webber, Brad Erenberger, John Griffin, Jack Bridwell, and John Kimbrough.

William L.A. Ellis married Martha J. Polhill, the daughter of Judge James Polhill and Martha Jones in 1853 or early 1854 and likely lived in the Macon County area at that time.

A web page that discusses the Polhill family of Pulaski County, GA is: http://www.accessgenealogy.com/scripts/data/database.cgi?file=Data&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0012856

It appears that from information in this article that William L. A. Ellis went by the name “Lucius Ellis”. One of Martha (Polhill) Ellis’ brothers was Augustus Jones Polhill. We believe the envelope found in this collection was sent by Ellis to his brother-in-law Augustus (A. J. Polhill), who according to this new document, moved to Florida. Augustus then forwarded it to Mrs. Lucius Ellis (or William L. A. Ellis’ wife at that point).

Another Ellis brother-in-law, John Carter Polhill, named one of his sons Lucius Ellis Polhill, who is referred to throughout the rest of the document and died in 1914. (This can be a bit confusing when first reading it since he is referred to as “Lucius Ellis” throughout). This document states that Martha and Lucius Ellis’ grandchildren live in the Dallas area, but gives no other clues or history. Here’s an extract from the above link:

"Judge James Polhill and his wife, Martha Jones, with their family, moved from Burke County to Hawkinsville, Pulaski County, where he died April 10, 1836, at the age of forty-five. Their children were James, Thomas, Augustus Jones, William, John Carter, Mary, Martha, and Louisa. James and Augustus moved to Florida and left worthy descendants who still live in that state. Martha married Lucius Ellis and moved to Dallas, Texas, where her grandchildren now live. William and Louisa died early in life. Thomas Goldwire was a well-known teacher of his day in Hawkinsville. He died without marriage. Mary married Oliver Jelks. This union produced some of the most prominent and useful citizens of Pulaski County and the State. Their history is recorded elsewhere in this volume."

Ellis was commissioned Captain Company D, 1^st Georgia State Troops 8 October 1861 to 2 April 1862. He was then commissioned Captain in Company C, 62^nd Georgia (referred to in various accounts as Mounted Infantry, Partisan Rangers and Cavalry) 10 May 1862.

Ellis was appointed Provost Marshall of Greensville, NC, under the command of J. G. Martin's Brigade on 26 May 1863.

Captain Ellis and his company were engaged with Union forces near Tarboro during Union General Edward E. Potter’s Raid on Tarboro, late July, 1863. The following is from an extract of David A Norris’ paper “The Yankees Have Been Here – The Story of Brig. Gen. Edward E. Potter’s Raid on Greenville, Tarboro, and Rocky Mount, July 19-23, 1863”:

From his correspondence, Ellis appears to have been encamped in Murfreesboro, NC, in May, 1864. His company as well as six others from the 62^nd Georgia Cavalry and three companies from 20^th Battalion Georgia Cavalry was reorganized and designated as the 8^th Georgia Cavalry per order of 11 July 1864, but the new unit was not actually formed until some time in October, 1864. Captain Ellis was promoted to Major 25 July 1864. Major Ellis was listed as officially absent from the unit on 31 December 1864 (reason not given) with no date given for rejoining the unit.

The 8^th Georgia Cavalry was part of Dearing's Brigade, Cavalry Corps Army of Northern Virginia from October, 1864, through the Appomattox Campaign of April, 1865, and actively involved in the Siege of Petersburg. The unit did not surrender at Appomattox but left Virginia just hours before General Lee's surrender to join with the forces of General Joseph E. Johnston's army in North Carolina in April, 1865. The regiment was surrendered by General Johnston 26 April 26 1865. A majority of Company A members were actually detailed to Worth County, Georgia trying to secure more mounts for the regiment. When they learned of Johnston's surrender of forces, they traveled to Tallahassee, FL to surrender.

After the war, Ellis lived in Georgia, it appears until about the mid- to late-1870's, probably in the Hawkinsville area, at which point he appears to have moved to Dallas, Texas. Mr. Ellis appears to have been an entrepreneur in the Dallas area for the next twenty years. His records end in the mid-1890's.

⁶⁴ State Journal, August 5, 1863; Kennedy and Parker, "Seventy-fifth Regiment," in Clark, Histories of the Regiments, 4:79.) Norris’ entire paper can be found at http://web.cortland.edu/woosterk/pot_raid.html