| Nancy Ann Downing Ellis by Joe Downing Back to Contents Most of the information available pertaining to Ann Downing is in the Revolutionary War pension application of her husband Isaac Ellis, #W10013. According to her affadavit she was born 17 Oct 1762 in Virginia. At the commencement of the Revolutionary War she was living with her father in Washington Co., PA. About the year 1775, Mr. Ellis, the father of Isaac Ellis, moved his family to the neighborhood where Ann's father lived and settled about one mile or a mile and a half from him. Ann married Isaac Ellis 18 May 1779 at the home of her father near Catfish Camp, Washington Co.,PA. Isaac Ellis was born 29 Oct 1752 in Frederick Co., now Washington Co., MD. His birth was recorded in a family bible which he made from information given him by his mother. He states his father moved from Frederick Co., MD to Washington Co., PA. in 1775, near to a place called Catfish Camp, but now called Washington. During the war Isaac Ellis brought Ann to the fort at Joseph Wells on Cross Creek in Washington Co., where she remained each summer and would return to her home near Catfish Camp each winter when the danger from the Indians was not so great. Isaac Ellis states that about the 1st of May, 1778 he served as a militia man under the command of Captain Timothy Downing (Ann's brother) for a tour of one month, and that he was placed in the fort at Joseph Wells with some other men as a guard for it. Times in that section of the country were exceedingly difficult and the Indians were numerous and making frequent inroads upon the frontier settlements, laying them waste and butchering the inhabitants, insomuch that the settlements were in an almost constant state of alarm. He served as a militia man each summer as trouble with the Indians occured. In March 1782 he again served in Timothy Downing's company as a Lt. They were again stationed at Joseph Wells' fort but were compelled to frequently engage in scouting parties and upon several occasions were at other of the small forts in the neighborhood in expectation of attack from the Indians. In 1784 Ann and Isaac Ellis moved to Jefferson Co.,Kentucky where they lived until 1791. They then moved to another part of Jefferson Co. which was later in Shelby Co. An Owen Co. Deed Bk C, p148, 24 Oct 1827 refers to Isaac Ellis of Shelby Co. purchasing 460 acres in Gallatin Co. on the Kentucky River from Burr G Powell. In 1829 they moved to Owen Co. and were residing there when these statements were taken in 1833. Isaac Ellis died 14 May 1833 in Owen Co. and is buried in the Cane Run Church Cemetery near Port Royal. His will is recorded in Owen Co. Book A, pp468-469. References: References Contd: Isaac and Ann Downing Ellis had the following children: Isaac Ellis parents were Ellis Ellis and Nancy. Ellis Ellis will (Book 1B,p410) was proved 20 Nov 1776 in Washington Co.,PA. It mentions: wife, Ann; sons, Thomas, Isaac and Jonathan; and daughter, Ann. Thomas Ellis was killed in the Crawford Campaign in 1782. His estate papers exist in the Washington Co.,PA. Orphan's Court and name Isaac Ellis, Timothy and John Downing. Mrs. Roy Howell has done a lot of Downing\Ellis research and her papers are on file in the Powell Memorial Library, Troy,Lincoln Co.,MO. Mrs. Jean Wall and Dorothy Meyers are descendants of this family and have also done considerable research. Copyright © 1998 by Joe Downing. All Rights Reserved |