Ard H. Ellis

ARD H. ELLIS, a prominent business man of Parsons, Kansas, where he has been located since 1877, is president of the firm of Ellis & Martin, leading furniture dealers of the city. He was born at Willstown, Alabama, in 1829, and is a son of Prof. Sylvester and Sarah (Hoyt) Ellis.

Prof. Sylvester Ellis was a native of Vermont, and was born in 1798. He was a teacher by profession, and followed that occupation throughout his active business life. He went to Willstown, Alabama, as a missionary teacher among the Cherokee Indians, and in 1832 settled in Ross county, Ohio, where he resided until 1842; he then moved to Indiana, and lived near Indianapolis until 1856. He next located. at Vinton, Iowa, and resided there until a short time before his death. He died in Wabash, Indiana, in 1891. He married Sarah Hoyt, a daughter of Rev. Ard Hoyt, a native of New England. She was born in 1795 and died in 1869. They reared the following children: Charles S., deceased; Anna, deceased; Cornelius, who now resides at Vinton, Iowa; Ard H., the subject of this sketch; Levi, deceased; Milo D., deceased; and Darius H., deceased.

Ard H. Ellis received his mental training, in the schools of Ohio and Indiana, and followed the trade of a carpenter from early manhood until 1865. He was then associated with his brother, Cornelius, in a lumber yard at Vinton, Iowa, which they established and conducted until 1876. He then sold his interest to his brother, and located in Parsons, January 25, 1877. In July of the same year, he bought out the furniture store of Wilson & Scarlet, which he operated under the name of A. H. Ellis & Company, until 1882. In the last named year, he took in a Mr. Thornton, and the firm name became Ellis & Thornton, which partnership continued until 1888, when the style was again changed, to A. H. Ellis & Company. In 1890, W. H. Martin acquired an interest in the business, and since that date the firm has been Ellis & Martin. They not only conduct a large furniture establishment, but also do undertaking. They receive the patronage of the leading citizens of the community, and the concern ranks among the leading business houses of Parsons. Mr. Ellis is also a stockholder and director of the Parsons State Bank.

In 1856, Mr. Ellis was united in marriage with Miss P. P. Conant, a native of Vermont. Politically, he is a Republican. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, in which he has been an elder since his arrival in Parsons. A portrait of Mr. Ellis accompanies this mention of his life.