OHN ELLIS: He married in Plymouth, 7 Nov.
1700, Sarah Holmes, born there about 1682, died in Sandwich in
1762 "aet 84," daughter of Nathaniel and Mercy (Faunce)
Holmes of Plymouth. Sarah (Holmes) Ellis was admitted to the
Sandwich Church 16 May 1708, where she had her three oldest
children baptized 20 June 1708, as were the younger children in
due course.
As has been seen, John Ellis is described as "eldest son" and he was given the dwelling house and one third of the lands in Sandwich by court order, 20 Feb. 1709/10, at the settlement of his father's estate.
Although John Ellis lived in Sandwich and the records of his land holdings in Barnstable County were burned in the 1827 fire, he also owned real property in Plymouth County and these deeds are of genealogical interest: A deed, dated 12 March 1711, shows that "Ezekiell Joell of Monument in ye town of Sandwich ... Indian, for 7 pounds pd. by John Ellis Senr. of sd Sandwich conveyed upland at Herring Pond in Plymouth" (acknowledged in Barnstable same day; recorded 30 April 1711, Plymouth County Deeds, vol. 9, p. 44). By deed, 30 April 1711, Nathaniel Thomas of Plymouth sold for; 20 pounds three lots of land to "John Ellis of Sandwich, county Barnstable, son of Left. Mordecai Ellis, deceased." Of these, the first had formerly belonged to Josiah Wapenut, Indian, of Plymouth, deceased and contained 20 acres. The second, of eight acres, had been purchased by a deed, 4 Sept. 1707, to the grantor from another Indian, Peter Nautepum, and lay Northerly of the Great Herring Pond. The third lot, of 32 acres, had been acquired by the grantor jointly with Jonathan Morey, Sr., by act of a Plymouth Town Meeting, 19 May 1701 (acknowledged and recorded same day, ibid., p. 42). John Ellis of Sandwich by deed, 7 April 1712, bought for 5 pounds from Junkesen and Black Sachem, Indians of Mashpee, a 25-acre tract near the lower Herring Pond in Plymouth (acknowledged and recorded 21 May 1712, ibid., p. 303).
As we have seen John Ellis was appointed administrator of the estate of his deceased brother Mordecai, 29 March 1718, and on 8 April 1718 the court gave him also administration upon the estate of his mother, Sarah Ellis (Barnstable County Probate, vol. 3, p. 465, 468). On 6 April 1720 those of his siblings who had received legacies from their mother, under the terms of the settlement of their father's estate, signed a quitclaim to their brother, John, as administrator to the estates of both his parents (ibid., vol. 4, p. 417).
By deed, dated 8 June 1722, "John Ellis Senr. of Sandwich - husbandman" paid 140 pounds to Samuel Swift of Plymouth for the latter's homestead farm, including the house, bams, etc., some 80 acres (Plymouth County Deeds, vol. 16, p. 53). On 21 Jan. 1724/5 John Ellis paid 5 pounds to Aaron Pemis of Plymouth, Indian, for a two acres lot lying easterly of the Herring Pond and bounded on two sides by Ellis other lands, and by Ezekiel Joell's (ibid., vol. 18, p. 198). "John Ellis of Sandwich, gentleman," now sold for 420 pounds paid by Benjamin Morey several parcels of his Plymouth land, including "the land and house where my son John Ellis now dwelleth, lying in Plymouth which I bought of Samuel Swift, also a parcel I bought of Ezekiell Joell, Indian, of Plymouth, 20 acres, together with two-thirds of a lot of salt meadow I bought of my Uncle William Ellis, late of Rochester, deceased as by deed I took of him" (this seems not to have been recorded), 5 Feb. 1734/5 (ibid., vol. 30, p. 26). By a deed, dated 25 Feb. 1734/5, Benjamin Morey sells for the same amount the same property to John Ellis of Plymouth, husbandman (ibid., p. 40). This second grantee, John Ellis, was evidently the son, Joan Ellis, and we think the property was situated in that part of Plymouth which was established 10 July 1739 as the town of Wareham (see below).
In a deed, dated 23 Jan. 1748/9, "John Ellis of Sandwich yeoman," sold for 150 pounds paid by Ebenezer Harlow some 22 acres of land described as "that I bought of Nathaniell Thomas and Aaron Pemis" (Plymouth County Deeds, vol. 39, p. 253).
Considering the position which John Ellis held in the community it seems strange that he did not join the church until 12 Aug. 1753 at which time the scribe noted "bapt. John Ellis aet. 79." [Plymouth & Cape Cod MA Genealogy]
