Emmett Nathaniel ELLIS
The right of Emmett Nathaniel Ellis to the good will and esteem of his fellow citizens at Sallisaw rests upon a number of years of worthy participation in affairs as a citizen and business man no less than upon his excellent, dignified and impartial service in the capacity of justice of the peace of the Ninth District of Sequoyah County, an office which he has held since 1912. He has been a resident of Sallisaw since 1889, practically all of his career having been spent here, and the people of this community have had a chance to watch his development and to pass judgment upon his general worth and ability. He has vindicated in full degree the confidence they have placed in him.
Mr. Ellis was born September 8, 1876, at Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas, and is a son of John Wesley and Elizabeth (HOWELL) ELLIS. His father was also born at that place, a son of Nathaniel and Dr. Frances (WILBURTON) ELLIS. Nathaniel Ellis was a native of Yorkshire, England, and emigrated to the United States in 1849, shortly thereafter joining a party of adventurous spirits in search of gold in the newly-discovered fields of California. Returning from that state, this "forty-niner," settled at Van Buren, Arkansas, where he followed the trade of wheelwright during the remainder of his active life, and there passed away. During the period of the war between the states, he was a soldier in the army of the Confederacy, being principally engaged in the making of gun carriages. The grandmother of Judge Ellis, Frances Wilburton, was born at Germantown, Pennsylvania, of German parentage, and in young womanhood enjoyed excellent educational advantages. She was a woman of rare talents, early took up the study of medicine, and became the first licensed physician in Crawford County, Arkansas. For many years she practiced her profession with success and was known as one of the leading physicians of the community of Van Buren, where she died in 1895, at the age of seventy-one years. She was the first and only woman to serve on the Arkansas State Board of Health and was well and favorably known throughout a wide area of that state.
John Wesley ELLIS, father of Emmett Nathaniel Ellis, was educated in the schools of Crawford County, and as a young man adopted the trade of wheelwright, a vocation which he learned under the preceptorship of his father. Later he erected several mills and became senior partner of the well-known flouring mill firm of Hamon and Ellis, who owned mills at Van Buren and other places in Arkansas. He died in 1878, leaving three children, namely: William, who is now deceased; John W., who is a druggist of Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Emmett Nathaniel. The mother of these children was born at West Plains, Howell County, Missouri, and was a member of a prominent family of that state. Her second husband was Zeb GARRISON, who was a farmer and resident of Crawford County, Arkansas, at the time of their marriage. In 1889 Mr. and Mrs. Garrison came to Sallisaw, Oklahoma, which city Judge Ellis has claimed as his home.
Emmett Nathaniel Ellis received a fair common school education and at the age of twenty-two years began railroading for the Iron Mountain line. As a yard switchman he remained in the employ of this company for seven years and then established himself in business as a painter and paperhanger at Sallisaw in 1907. Four years later, in the early part of 1912, he was elected justice of the peace of the Ninth District, and in 1914 was reelected, his service having been so satisfactory that he encountered no opposition. In politics Mr. Ellis is an unswerving democrat and one of the strong and influential men of his party in Sequoyah County. He is also well and prominently known in fraternal circles, being a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of which last-named order he is a member of the board of directors for the state and of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma. With his family, he belongs to the Presbyterian Church.
In 1898 Mr. Ellis was married to Miss Alice PALMER, at that time a resident of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, but a native of Van Buren, Arkansas. Two children have been born to this union: Oscar W. and Emmett N., Jr."