Biographical Sketch of Jarvis ELLIS (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . *********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsyl- vania, comprising a historical sketch of the county," by Samuel T. Wiley and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Phila- delphia, PA, 1893, pp. 851-2. "JARVIS ELLIS, was one of the leading and most prominent business men of Downingtown and the great Chester valley for nearly a quarter of a cen- tury, and was highly esteemed for his sound business judgment and many good qualities. He was a son of James Ellis, and was born at the village of Oberny, in Yorkshire, England, January 29, 1829. James Ellis was born in England, where he held various positions during his life, in different large cotton factories. He married and reared a family of children: Ben- jamin, Mary, Hannah, Joseph, Jarvis and James. "Jarvis Ellis was left an orphan when a mere child. At nineteen years of age he came to Fisherville, where he was employed as a carder in the old woolen mill for nineteen years. At the end of that time he became manager of James C. Roberts' woolen mill at Barneston, and four years later, upon the death of Mr. Roberts, was made joint manager with James Mullen, of the entire business of the heirs of the Roberts estate. When the youngest heir of the estate became of age, Mr. Ellis resigned his position in the mill to engage in the woolen manufacturing business for himself. He pur- chased the site of the old woolen mill at Fisherville, which had burned down, and erected the present cotton and woolen mills of that place now owned by his heirs. He soon built up a good business, and was actively engaged in manufacturing a superior line of goods until his death in 1892. He was a republican in politics and ranked as one of the leading cotton and woolen manufacturers of southeastern Pennsylvania. In addition to his factory Mr. Ellis owned twenty-eight houses in the village of Fisherville, and a farm of one hundred and thirty-three acres. His labors of life closed on July 20, 1892, when he passed away at sixty-three years of age. His factory, now operated by his widow and children, is a well equipped structure that was recently enlarged and remodeled in order to keep up with a large and constantly increasing volume of trade from Philadelphia and other eastern cities. Seventy-five men are employed as a regular force, and of the many fine lines of woolen goods and jeans cloth one is the famous 'Beaver Valley Buckskins.' Seventy looms are in constant oper- ation and as high as sixty thousand yards of cloth have been turned out in one month. The plant ranks as one of the largest, best equipped and most prosperous of the cotton and woolen factories of the State. "Jarvis Ellis married Mary Jackson, who was born in 1830, in Yorkshire, England, and is a daughter of John Jackson, a nurseryman, who came from England to Bondsville, this county, where he died and left five children: Bessie Sharp, Mrs. Mary Ellis, Joseph, Harry and George. To Jarvis and Mary Ellis were born ten children: George, married Elizabeth King, and is the present factory manager: Martha, wife of William Fisher, loom boss; Mary McCanan, now dead; Hannah, wife of W. R. Brown, a merchant of Fisher- ville; Sarah, who is now dead; Jarvis, Jr.; Laura, wife of Harry Irwin, a dyer by trade; Emma, who married G. L. Hadfield; James, an engineer, who married Emma Clift; and Sarah, wife of F. J. Elston, of Guthriesville. "Jarvis Ellis, Jr., second son and fifth child of James and Mary (Jackson) Ellis, is a cloth finisher by trade, and married Katie, daughter of Jacob Wagoner. They have four children: Harry, Laura, Jarvis and Jacob. Mr. Ellis is a republican in politics, and a member of the Knights of the Order of Red Men, and of the Junior Order of United American Workmen."