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Below is a family biography included in The Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, Illinois published by Biographical Publishing Co. in 1894.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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I. W. ELLIS, M. D., a practicing physician and surgeon of Murphysboro, was born in Franklin, Johnson County, Ind., November 23, 1858. His paternal grandfather removed in an early day from Pennsylvania, and later settled in Indiana. The father of our subject, John R. Ellis, was born in Brown County, Ohio, and was reared upon a farm in Johnson County, Ind. At the age of twenty-one he embarked in the lumber business, and for some time operated a sawmill and engaged in selling lumber, an enterprise in which he was fairly successful. Coming to Jackson County in 1883, he has since made his home in Murphysboro, and is still actively engaged in the lumber business. His wife, whose maiden name was Susan Slack, was born in Johnson County, Ind., and was a daughter of John Slack, a native of Ohio and an early settler of Johnson County, Ind.

The subject of this sketch is the eldest of five children. He was reared in Franklin, Ind., and attended the college at that place for a time, after which he conducted his medical studies under a prominent physician of Trafalgar, Ind. In 1881 he entered the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, from which he was graduated two years later. He opened an office at Mt. Comfort, Ind., and commenced the practice of his profession, remaining in that place until 1886. Meantime he was elected and served as County Coroner. From Mt. Comfort he removed to Linden, Ind., where he engaged in practice until May of 1889. Since that time he has resided in Murphysboro, where he conducts an extensive general practice. With his father, he owns eighty acres of improved farming land in Levan, and he is also the owner of an eighty acre tract in Sand Ridge.

In Spencer, Ind., in 1884, Dr. Ellis was united in marriage with Miss Mary, daughter of Chesley Acuff, a merchant and an old settler of that town. Three children have blessed the union, Cora, Callie and Edward K. In his social connections the Doctor is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is surgeon and examining physician of the Ancient Order of Foresters and the Mystic Circle; also examining physician for the Brotherhood of Firemen and the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen. In religious belief he is a Universalist. Politically, he is strong in his adherence to the principles of the Democratic party.

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This family biography is one of 679 biographies included in The Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, Illinois published in 1894.  View the complete description here: The Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, Illinois

View additional Jackson County, Illinois family biographies here: Jackson County, Illinois Biographies

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