The Conrad and Mary (Wolf) Ells family, of Oella, Maryland

by Conrad W. Terrill, last edited 8 September 2023

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  Conrad Ells was born on Christmas day in 1817, somewhere in Bavaria, which is today the southernmost and largest state in Germany. We don't know where in Bavaria he was born, and we don't know who his parents were, or anything more about him before he came to America, which was sometime between 1846 and 1848.⁴ In 1850 he married Anna Maria Christina (Mary) Wolf, and in December of this year he, age 33, a laborer, and she, age 23, were living in Shrewsbury Township, PA. We've heard that his German name was not actually "Ells;" but no one in the late 1900's who had heard this was able to remember what it was. In census records it was spelled "Ehls" (1850) and "Hiltz" (1870) before it finally settled down to "Ells."

  We know a lot more about Mary Wolf. From her 1908 death certificate, we've been informed by their son Joseph that her name was Anna Marie; she was 78 years old when she died, widow of Bernard Ells, and daughter of John A. Wolf and Christania Heiltz, both born in Germany. So this also tells us one more thing about Conrad Ells: "Bernard" was part of his name. From Conrad's Baltimore Sun obituary (he died earlier in 1908) we find that Mary was "Maria Christina Wolfe," daughter of John Arnold Wolfe, of Prussia. The 1900 census record tells us that Mary immigrated in 1850. A story passed down in the family tells of Conrad first seeing Mary when she disembarked in America (he was there to meet someone else who had just arrived), and that he remarked to a companion that she was the woman he would marry. ²

  All of that information is enough to make us pretty certain of an identification of Mary as "Anna Maria Sophia Christina Wolf" (per a Catholic Church birth record), born 31 Jan. 1828, daughter of Johann Arndt Wolf and Christina Wilhelmina Moseke, also known as Hüls, of house number 2 in Sabbenhausen, Falkenhagen Parish, Lippe, Germany. Her Lutheran Church baptism record (the civil registry record) gives her name as "Anna Maria Sophia Wilhelmina Wolf." She emigrated in 1848 as "Wilhelmina Wolf" from Bremen, Germany, on the ship "Reform," arriving in New York City on June 28th. Her one-year-younger sister Friedrica and her uncle Arend Maseke and family accompanied her. Christian Maseke, a cousin, age 19, also appears to have been part of their travel group, which probably included others from the area around Sabbenhausen.

  The only controversy concerning this identification so far is from a 26 Dec. 1902 Baltimore Sun news story entitled "His Eighty-Fifth Birthday," which tells of Conrad Ells marrying Miss Marie Wolfe of Schoenhausen, Prussia. It's proving hard to check this out. For one thing, there are at least five present-day places in Germany called "Schönhausen." Also, the 1900 federal census record gives her birth month as August; but birth dates and ages in census records are notoriously inaccurate. Enumerators were required to obtain this information, which informants often just did not know, so they guessed. It's difficult to believe that our identification given above might not be correct. There are too many things that match. Either the contradictory information is erroneous or there is some way of explaining how both it and our identification are valid. It may be that Mary moved to a place called Schönhausen before leaving for America. Johann Arndt Wolf certainly never moved away from Sabbenhausen. Records show that he lived at house no. 2 there all his life.

Click here to read more about Mary Wolf's ancestry

  We'll proceed from 1850, with more certainty. Conrad and Mary's first child, daughter Margaret, was born in October of 1851. Ten more children would follow, two of whom died too young to have made it into any federal census records. Here are all the children we know of (10 of 11):

  By 1860 the family was living in Greene Township, Pennsylania, with a Post Office address of Chambersburg. Conrad was a day laborer, Margaret (9) and Elizabeth (7) were attending school, and Kate (5), Bernard (3) and Annie (2) stayed at home. Joseph Aloysius (pronounced "al-lo-Wish-us") would come along later that year. As a day laborer Conrad did whatever anyone was willing to pay him to do—possibly factory work, farm work or carpentry. As their family grew in size their new country was heading towards civil war, which broke out officially on April 12th, 1861. It started affecting life in the Chambersburg area in October of 1862, just as their next child, Mary, came along. J.E.B. Stuart's Chambersburg Raid mainly resulted in a great deal of railroad destruction. The next year brought monumental slaughter of both Union and Confederate forces at the Battle of Gettysburg (1 to 3 July 1863). Daughter Elizabeth used to tell the story of how she had climbed a cherry tree to watch the battle. She wouldn't really have been able to see anything but clouds of smoke from the firing of the cannons far off in the distance. She also told that all the soldiers who came to the Ells household were fed, whether they were Union or Confederate.⁵

  The year after that brought another burning of Chambersburg (30 July 1864). Confederate Brig. Gen John "Tiger John" McCausland, on orders from Lt. Gen. Jubal Early, torched the town and blew up the local courthouse, destroying over 500 buildings and rendering 2000 citizens homeless, in retaliation for Union army scorched-earth tactics in the South. Each outrageous retaliatory act was bringing a yet more outrageous response. Refugees were fleeing for safety. This could have been what caused the Ells family to move to Baltimore County, Maryland, around 1865, after daughter Amelia was born.

  Son Charles Jacob, born 31 Oct. 1867, was their first child born in the place soon to become known as Oella, but Charles died before June of 1870. Rev. Thomas O'Neill spelled the family name "Ihls" in the baptism record. We know what Conrad Ells was doing there in 1870. In the St. Paul's Catholic Church (Ellicott City, Maryland) baptism record for daughter Theresa Cecelia, born 3 Sep. 1870, his residence was given as "Union Factory", a small factory town just across the Pataspco River from Ellicott City. (Rev. Wm. E. Starr spelled the name "Ells.") At the time of the 1870 federal census (1 June) six of the eight children were working in the factory, viz. Maggie, Lizzie, Kate, Bernard, Emma and Joseph, ages 19, 17, 15, 13, 12 and 10, respectively. Mary, 7, and Mena, 6, were at home. According to this record, none of the children were going to school and the five youngest (Bernard, Emma, Joseph, Mary and Amelia) could not read or write. We know from a 1915 obituary for Joseph, though, that he had attended school in Oella before going on to Rock Hill College in Ellicott City. He likely started when the small schoolhouse was built in Oella, in 1873. And certainly the other children could have gone there, too. The mill may have permitted its children employees to go to school part-time. Many children in the company town worked at the factory. It's likely that a very high percentage of the factory employees were children. A 23-year-old weaver at the company (as he recalled many years later in an interview) earned 99 cents per day in 1873. He mentioned that small children had to stand on chairs to reach the looms. In 1878 the factory folded and was taken over by W. J. Dickey, who soon did away with child labor. ⁸

  Margaret, Catherine, Mary and Emily were still working at the factory in 1880, at ages 28, 25, 18 and 16, respectively. (So, by "child," under 16 was meant.) Bernard, 23, was a gardener (he was caretaker of a large estate in Ellicott City); Joseph, 20, was a student of divinity (at Rock Hill College); Cecelia, 9, was attending school; and Conrad was still a laborer. Daughter Emma ("Annie") died sometime beween 1870 and 1880 (we know no details). Elizabeth was the first to marry (thus escaping mill work)—she married Charles Hough Atkinson on 3 Dec. 1871 in Baltimore. The federal census of 1890 was lost to fire in 1921, so we do not get a glimpse of the family at that time.

  Conrad Ells was selected to serve as one of five jurors for the 1st District of Baltimore County for the March term of Court in 1899. In 1900, from the federal census, we see that he, at 82, was no longer working (We've heard that he was a severe diabetic, and did not work much as he got old). This is the record which tells us that Mary, now 69, had given birth to eleven childen, eight of whom were still living:
  Bernard, 43, still single, was a florist, and Mary, 37, also still single, was a weaver at a wool mill.
  Elizabeth and Charles Atkinson had four children by this time: Joseph M., 23, and Aloysius, 16, who both worked at the Vindex shirt factory; Annie M., 20, a dress maker; and William E., still in school. They lived at 7 East Fort Avenue in Baltimore.
  Kate married around 1885, to George McKenzie, 47, a night watchman. She had had eight children, six of whom were still living: Regina, 12; Pauline, 11; Mildred, 9; Edith, 7; Conrad, 4; and Helen 1.
  Amelia married in 1891, to August Wallenhorst, a salesman and son of Justice Bernard H. Wallenhorst of Ellicott City. They had two childen: Marie, 8, and Bernard, 3.
  Joseph, bookkeeper at Martin & McAndrews, wholesale liquors, in Baltimore, married around 1891, to Gertrude Tate. They had two children: Gertrude, 7, and Joseph, 4.
  Cecelia married in 1895, to Charles Holden, a farmer, and had two sons: James, 3, and Charles A., 2. In 1895 Charles was the manager of the company store at Wm J. Dickey & Sons at Oella (the factory).
  Margaret married around 1899, to Alexander Jones, a machinist (probably at the factory since almost everyone else on the page worked at the cotton mill, now called Oella Mills). Three of his childen by his first marriage (of 3) were living with them: Ida Jane, 26, a school teacher; Stanley, 24, a machinist, and his wife Ella, 25; and Edgar A., 21, a grocery clerk.

  Mary Ells (Sr.) was mentioned in a Baltimore Sun news article on 18 Feb 1901, entitled "Fatal Grip," concerning an epidemic in the Baltimore area. "The grip epidemic is subsiding in this locality, but the ill effects of the disease in the cases of a number of the sufferers have become alarming. One of the most serious cases is that of Mrs. Conrad Ells, an old lady, whose home is at Oella. She is now suffering from pneumonia. Mrs. Ells is the mother of Joseph Ells, secretary of the Gentleman's Driving Park, of Baltimore."

  Conrad Ells was featured in a short Baltimore Sun news story on 26 Dec 1902, entitled "His Eighty-Fifth Birthday." He was believed to be the oldest resident of Oella. "Despite his years, Mr. Ells is still very active. He was born in Germany and came to this country in 1848, settling in Chambersburg, Pa., where he married Miss Marie Wolfe, of Schoenhausen, Prussia, who is still living. ..."

  Conrad died on 5 March 1908, at age 90, at the home of daughter Kate McKenzie on Westchester Avenue, Oella.

  Mary died 4 Dec. 1908, at age 78, also at daughter Kate McKenzie's home.

  That ends this story of Conrad and Mary Ells and family, except for a few more pieces passed down through children and gandchildren:

  Celia loved to have her brothers and sisters and their families over to the Holden house. As long as she lived, the families often got together there. Elizabeth's granddaughter Mary Atkinson remembered, upon arriving there, often being assigned by "Aunt Celie" to help the other children fill a bath tub out on the lawn with dandelions, giving the adults leisure to talk. ^2,6,8

  Bernard lost his job as a caretaker for the estate in Ellicott City and ended up losing his mind and being committed to Spring Grove Mental Hospital.⁶ He was there at the time of the 1920 census. He died at his home in 1928, leaving his wife, Ida Jones Ells (the oldest step-daughter of his sister Margaret).

  Joseph, while working at Martin & McAndrews, served as secretary and general manager of the Gentlemen's Driving Park Association in Baltimore for many years. He was instrumental in building up light-harness-racing in Maryland. His son, Joseph A. Ells Jr., who also attended Rock Hill College in Ellicott City, and went on to St. Charles College and St. Mary's Seminary, was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1922. He served as pastor of a number of churches and was named a domestic prelate in 1954.

References
  1. Daughter Elizabeth Ells Atkinson, the informant for Conrad Ells's 1908 death certificate, either did not know the names of his parents, or was considered too distraught to be asked.
  2. Margaret Atkinson Brady told us about the existence, at one time, of an Ells family chart. She also had once heard that the original name was not Ells, but sounded something like that, and she thought it may have been preceded with something, perhaps "Von." She also told the story of Conrad spotting his future wife at the dock, in New York City.
  3. Son Joseph Ells, the informant for Anna Marie Ells's 1908 death certificate, gave the names her parents as "John A. Wolf" and "Christania Heiltz." He also gave the name of her deceased husband (his father) as "Bernard Ells."
  4. 1846 is what is listed as his year of immigration in the 1900 U.S. Census.
  5. Conrad and Mary's first son was named "Bernard C. Ells." The 'C' could have stood for "Conrad."
  6. These stories were related to me by Dorothy Atkinson, who tended to Elizabeth late in her life when she was an invalid, and enjoyed her reminiscences.
  7. Mary Atkinson Terrill (my mother), who also helped take care of Elizabeth (Ells) Atkinson late in her life, told and confirmed many stories.
  8. OELLA — Its Thread of History, by John W. McGrain, Oella Community Improvement Association, Bicentennial Festival History and Heritage, Oella, Md., May 1976, p. 4.

 Comments?  Criticism?  Additional information?  Contact Conrad Terrill at cwterrill@comcast.net.