William Brown ELY & Mary Frances POTTER

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Diana, Goddess of the Hunt — for Ancestors!

Every-Name Index

William Brown ELY
Mary Frances POTTER

Our subject was born Henry H. RUSSELL. He changed his name to William Brown ELY between his first marriage, to Dida Esther LORD, and his second marriage, to Mary Frances POTTER. I've used two family group sheets for him, partly because the combined page became so complicated, but mainly because of the way I file family group sheets on my web site, which is by husband's surname. This way, whichever name someone is searching on, they'll find him.

I, myself, have yet to find any paper evidence documenting that these two men are the same person, yet descendants insist he is, and Y-DNA testing has proven them correct in that a patrilineal line male descendant of William Brown ELY is a strong genetic match with other descendants of William RUSSELL (1605-1661) — see Haplogroup R1b - Lineage 04 (Kit #303111) at the FTDNA Russell Project.

Husband: William Brown ELY, a.k.a., Henry H. RUSSELL
Birth: 5 Mar 1842, Fitchburg, Worcester Co., MA
Death: 1 May 1921, Ainsworth, Brown Co., NE
Disposition: buried Ainsworth Cemetery, Ainsworth, Brown Co., NE
Education: Graduated 1878, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Dept. of Medicine and Surgery
Occupations: music teacher; physician (allopath); attorney
Talent: played a horn of some kind, sufficiently well to perform in concerts

Parents claimed to be:
Father: William H. ELY — apparently ficticious person
Mother: Mary P. WHITE

Parents actually were:
Father: Francis RUSSELL (1807-1887)
Mother: Mary P. WHITE (1805-1885)

Marriage-2: ca. 1871/2

Wife-2: Mary Frances POTTER
Birth: 6 Jul 1844, Marion, Wayne Co., NY
Death: 7 Nov 1926, Ainsworth, Brown Co., NE
Disposition: buried Ainsworth Cemetery, Ainsworth, Brown Co., NE
Occupation: homemaker
Father: Alden POTTER (1819-1889) of NY, s/o Thomas POTTER (1795- )
Mother: Lydia Ann McLOUTH (1822-1904) of NY, d/o John McLOUTH (1795-1887) & Cordelia Malvina PHELPS (1804-1895)

Children — born in Marion, Wayne Co., NY:

1. Alden Potter ELY, b. 3 Jul 1873 — said to be adopted
2. William McLouth ELY, b. 21 Sep 1875

Keywords for search engines: genealogy; USA, US, United States, Connecticut, Nebraska, New York

Sources (n.b., Wayne, Monroe, and Ontario Cos. are adjacent):

For events pre-1870, see Henry H. RUSSELL's page.

1. Marriage Record:

2a. 1870 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #7 of 183): Canandaigua P.O., Village of Canandaigua, Ontario Co., NY, Roll M593_1065, p. 36, PN 7, 46/52, enumerated 6 Jun 1870, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1870 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

Ely William B 28 M W Music Teacher Mass

One of five teachers in a large all-girls school.

2b. 1870 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com): Frances POTTER (æ 25, b. NY) is living in the Town of Marion, Wayne Co., NY (p. 306B), with her parents, Alden POTTER (æ 51, b. NY) & Lydia (æ 48, b. NY), sister, Edna (æ 23, b. NY), and others.¤-

3. 1875 New York State Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com): William & Mary not found, which suggests they are in Michigan where William is presumably attending the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1878 (see Source #15 below).

4. 1880 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #37 of 39 — indexed "Elys"): Penfield, Monroe Co., NY, Roll 861, p. 356A, PN 37, SD 10, ED 58, enumerated 30 Jun 1880, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1880 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

1880: for an explanation of the column headings, please see
What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).

1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 13 24 25 26

357 370 Ely Wm B W M 38 / M.D. Conn Mass NH

___ Mary F W F 35 Wife / Keeping House NY NY NY

___ Aldin P W M 6 Son / At Home NY Conn NY

___ Wm McLouth W M 4 Son / " " NY Conn NY

8. 1890 U.S. Census: the 1890 Census Population Schedules were destroyed.

9. 1900 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #4 of 27): Ainsworth Village, Ainsworth Pct., Brown Co., NE, Roll 917, p. 2B, SN 2B, SD 6, ED 16, enumerated 4 Jun 1900, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1900 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

1900: for an explanation of the column headings, please see
What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 19 20 22 23 24 25 26 27

34 34 Ely William B Head W M Mar 1842 68 M 28 CT MA NH Physician Y Y Y O F H

___ Mary F Wife W F Jul 1844 55 M 28 2 2 NY NY NY Y Y Y

___ William M Son W M Sep 1875 24 S NY CT NY Lawyer 0 Y Y Y

Potter Lydia A M-in-law W F Mar 1822 78 Wd 2 2 NY MA NY Y Y Y

10. 1910 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #20 of 37): East R Street, Ainsworth Village, Ainsworth Twp. (T80), Brown Co., NE, Roll T624_839, p. 10B, SN 10B, SD 170, ED 24, enumerated 20 Apr 1910, official enumeration date 15 Apr 1910 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

1910: for an explanation of the column headings, please see
What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 17 18 19 20 23 24 26 27 28

* 57 58 Ely William M Head M W 34 M1 5 NY CT NY Eng Lawyer General Pra OA Y Y O M H

___ Grace M Wife F W 28 M1 5 1 1 CO MO OH Eng None Y

___ Samual C Son M W 1/12 S NE NY CO None

___ William B Father M W 68 M2 38 CT US NY Eng Doctor Medicin OA Y

___ Mary F Mother F W 65 M1 38 2 2 NY NY NY Eng None Y

*Ea R

11. 1920 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #25-26 of 47): Maple St., Ainsworth City (Ward 2), Ainsworth Pct., Brown Co., NE, Roll T625_981, pp. 13A-13B, SN 13A-13B, SD 6, ED 28, enumerated 12 Jan 1920, official enumeration date 1 Jan 1920 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):¤•

1920: for an explanation of the column headings, please see
What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 17 18 19 21 23 25 26

* X 289 303 Ely William B Head R M W 77 M Y Y CT CT CT Y None

[next page]

* Ely Mary F Wife F W 75 M Y Y NY NY NY Y None

*Maple St.

Listed eight households from married son, William M. ELY.

12. Find-a-Grave: Entries (online at findagrave.com):

Except for the tombstone images and occasional mention of a death certificate,
this database consists of undocumented patron submissions, so caveat emptor.

Name: DR William B Ely Mary Francis (sic) Potter Ely

Birth: Mar., 1842 Jul. 6, 1844

Death: May 1, 1921 Nov. 7, 1926

Burial: Ainsworth Cemetery
Ainsworth, Brown Co., NE Ainsworth Cemetery
Ainsworth, Brown Co., NE

Inscription: w/o Wm B

Contributor: Deb; Mar 04, 2007 Deb; Mar 04, 2007

Memorial #: 18241368 18241364

13. Sara Mullin Baldwin & Robert Morton Baldwin, eds. 1932. Nebraskana: Biographical Sketches of Nebraska Men and Women of Achievement Who Have Been Awarded Life Membership in the Nebraska Society. Baldwin Co., Hebron, NE (online at the Nebraska USGenNet site; boldface added):

p. 380 A distinguished lawyer in Nebraska is William McLouth Ely, who was born at Marion, New York, September 21, 1875, the son of William Brown and Mary Frances (Potter) Ely. William Brown Ely, who was a leading

p. 381 physician, and at one time the president of Nebraska State Medical Society, was born in Connecticut, March 1842, and died at Ainsworth, Nebraska, June 23, 1921. Mary Frances (Potter) Ely was born at Marion, New York, July 6, 1844, and died at Ainsworth, November 7, 1926...

William Brown ELY's tombstone says he died May 1st, 1921, not June 23rd.

14. "Obituary: Mrs. Frances Potter Ely" (unsourced newspaper clipping in a PublicMemberTree online at Ancestry.com):

Word was received here by Miss Cora Williams of the death of Mrs. Frances Potter Ely whose death occurred November 7, 1926, at the home of her son William Ely, Ainsworth, Nebraska. Mrs. Ely was 82 years of age last August and moved from this place about 36 years ago. She was the daughter of the late Alden Potter one of the pioneer residents of Marion.

A move 36 years ago would have been in 1890, however, we know she and her family had left Marion at least by the 1880 census, when they were enumerated in Penfield, Monroe Co., NY

15. Arthur Wayne Hafner, Ed. 1993. Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929. American Medial Association, Chicago (online at Ancestry.com):

Name: William B. ELY

Birth Date: 5 Mar 1842

Birth Place: CT

Death Date: 23 Jun 1921

Death Place: Ainsworth, NE

Type Practice: Allopath

Practice Specialties: University Place, NE, 1878, Ainsworth, NE, Dec 7, 1911

Licenses: NE, 1891

Practice Dates Places: University Place, NE, 1878, Ainsworth, NE, Dec 7, 1911

Medical School: University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Department of Medicine and Surgery, 1878, (G)

Education: Common sch

JAMA Citation: 77:481

This extraction appears garbled ("Practice Specialties" being mixed up with "Practice Dates Places"). It would probably be useful to obtain the original JAMA obit (JAMA = Journal of the American Medical Association).

16. Public Member Trees (online at Ancestry.com).

17. WorldConnect / Ancestry World Trees (online at RootsWeb.com/Ancestry.com).

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