John Ellis (Mississippi politician)

The American Natchez District, as pictured in a "Sketch of the Inhabited Parts of the Missisippi Territory Adjoining to the Great River", dated November 9, 1802, included an alligator, the White Cliffs, and the residences of J. Ellis and his brother A[bram] Ellis. (NAID 191671882)

John Ellis (d. November 12, 1808) was a planter and legislator in Mississippi Territory, United States. He was appointed by U.S. president John Adams to the Mississippi legislative council, upper house of the first territorial general assembly, and was elected council president. He later served as speaker of the lower house of the Mississippi territorial assembly.

Biography

He was a son of Richard Ellis, namesake of Ellis Cliffs, Mississippi, and a brother-in-law of Benjamin Farar Jr. and Stephen Minor. ^[1] According to a U.S. Supreme Court verdict of 1850, "In the year 1773 or 1774, Richard Ellis removed from Amelia County, Virginia, to the Mississippi country, then claimed and occupied by Spain as part of Louisiana and West Florida, where he continued to reside till his death in 1792. Richard Ellis was accompanied by two sons: John Ellis...and William Cocke Ellis. ^[2]

John Ellis was named a captain of foot in the first territorial militia organized by Winthrop Sargent, and later was commissioned a major. ^[3] Ellis was appointed to the territorial legislative council on December 23, 1800 by President Adams. ^{[4] [5]} He served on the Mississippi territorial legislative council from 1800 to 1803. ^[6] William Dunbar of Forest plantation wrote to him in his capacity as president of the council in 1802 to advise that "there is no law to authorize that slaves, running away from Spanish territory and taking refuge in free United States Northwest territory, be returned to their owners; fears that the Spanish could retaliate by adopting the same policy to the great harm of the Mississippi Territory and Louisiana; suggests remedy by law." ^[7]

He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of Mississippi Territory from 1806 to 1808. ^[8]

Ellis died in Mississippi in November 1808. ^[9]

References

1. Rothstein, Morton (1979). "The Changing Social Networks and Investment Behavior of a Slaveholding Elite in the Ante Bellum South: Some Natchez Nabobs, 1800–1860". In Greenfield, Sidney M.; Strickon, Arnold; Aubey, Robert T. (eds.). Entrepreneurs in Cultural Context. School of American Research, Advanced Seminar Series. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 65–88. ISBN   978-0-8263-0504-6. LCCN   78021433. OCLC   4859059.
2. La Roche v. Jones, 50 U.S. 155 (1850)
3. Rowland, Dunbar (1907). Encyclopedia of Mississippi History: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions and Persons. S. A. Brant. p. 240.
4. ""Resolution of the Mississippi Territory General Assembly, 21 December 1801," Founders Online, National Archives [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 36, 1 December 1801–3 March 1802, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, pp. 183–185.]". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
5. "The MHS Online Adams Catalog: record 103383". www.masshist.org. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
6. ""Mississippi Territory Legislative Council to Thomas Jefferson, 19 November 1803," Founders Online, National Archives, [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 42, 16 November 1803–10 March 1804, ed. James P. McClure. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016, pp. 17–18.]". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved 2025-12-09.
7. "488-0096-01.tif - Mississippi Territory Administration Papers, 1769, 1788-1817; n.d."
8. History, Mississippi Department of Archives and (1924). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. Department of Archives and History.
9. "Died". The Weekly Chronicle. November 16, 1808. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-12-09.

Sources

• Grant, Ethan (March 15, 2022). "Anthony Hutchins: A Pioneer of the Old Southwest". Florida Historical Quarterly. 74 (4) 4: 405–422.