# Ellis Eames

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{{Short description|American politician (1809–1882)}}
'''Ellis Eames''' (alt. Ellis Ames, Ellis Eamut<ref name="Baugh1997">Baugh, Alexander L. "The Hauns Mill Massacre and the Extermination Order of Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs." Religious Studies Center Newsletter 12: 1-5. 1997, p21-30</ref>) (1809 – 1882) was an American politician. He served as the first mayor of [Provo, Utah](/source/Provo%2C_Utah);<ref name="PagesOfHistory">{{cite news |title=Provo: Glimpses from the Pages of History |newspaper=Daily Herald (Utah) |date=5 August 1973}}</ref> he was mayor from 1851 to 1852.<ref name="WalshBunch">{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Tad |title=Provo's wild bunch |url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/635159591/Provos-wild-bunch.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517023956/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/635159591/Provos-wild-bunch.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 17, 2014 |accessdate=4 June 2018 |newspaper=Deseret News |date=8 November 2005}}</ref>

==Early life==
Eames was born in 1809, in [Mentor, Ohio](/source/Mentor%2C_Ohio). He joined the [Church of the Latter Day Saints](/source/Church_of_Christ_(Latter_Day_Saints)) in [Jackson County, Missouri](/source/Jackson_County%2C_Missouri) in 1834.<ref name="HistoricalProvo"/> He married Olive Jane Gibbs Eames (1815–1902), born February 13, 1815, in [Rutland, Vermont](/source/Rutland_(city)%2C_Vermont). They married in about 1835.<ref name="Roming"> {{Cite journal |last=Romig |first=Ronald E. |date=2009 |title=The RLDS Church on the Pacific Slope |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23290497 |journal=Journal of Mormon History |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=43–125 |issn=0094-7342}}</ref> That same year, Eames took part in a mission along with [Joseph Holbrook](/source/Joseph_Holbrook) and Lyman Gibbs.<ref>Johnson, Pamela Call. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uybFd5006AcC&pg=PA38 Joseph Holbrook, Mormon Pioneer, a Journal: With Commentary on the Winter He Spent with the Ponca Indians]. AuthorHouse, 2013. p38</ref> The couple moved to Haun's Mill in 1837, where they were part of the group of Mormon families living near Haun's Mill in [Livingston County, Missouri](/source/Livingston_County%2C_Missouri), site of the 1838, anti-Mormon [Haun's Mill massacre](/source/Haun's_Mill_massacre). Eames' coat was said to have had a bullet hole shot through it during the massacre, but he, his wife Olive, and their four children all survived.<ref name="WalshBunch"/><ref name=Roming/> While in the area, Eames partnered with Jacob Myers Jr. operating a [grist mill](/source/grist_mill) upstream of Haun's Mill.<ref>Baugh, Alexander L. "Jacob Hawn and the Hawn’s Mill Massacre: Missouri millwright and Oregon pioneer." ''Mormon Historical Studies'' 11, no. 1 (2010): 1-26.</ref> A collection of his writings from that period was published as ''Reminiscence'' in ''Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'' published October 30, 1838.<ref name="Baugh1997"/>

Eames later resided in [Clay County, Missouri](/source/Clay_County%2C_Missouri) and [Nauvoo, Illinois](/source/Nauvoo%2C_Illinois).<ref name="HistoricalProvo">{{cite web |title=Eames, Ellis; Provo Mayor 1851-1852 |url=http://www.provolibrary.com/historical-provo-people-places/55625-eames-ellis |website=Historical Provo Project |publisher=Provo Public Library |accessdate=5 June 2018}}</ref>

==Utah==
Eames was initially part of [Brigham Young](/source/Brigham_Young)'s 1847 [pioneer](/source/Mormon_pioneer) company, but due to illness was sent back to [Winter Quarters, Nebraska](/source/Winter_Quarters%2C_Nebraska).<ref>Jenson, Andrew. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20696826/ Day By Day with the Utah Pioneers]. ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' (Salt Lake City, Utah) 18 Apr 1934, page 3, accessed via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com) {{open access}}</ref> He subsequently arrived in Utah by 1849.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Matthew McBride |editor2=James Goldberg |authorlink= |title=Revelations in Context: The Stories behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants |year=2017 |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |location= |pages=337 |quote= | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRI4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT337 |isbn=9781465118851 }}</ref>

Ellis, Olive and their children were living in Utah in 1850, when Ellis married a second wife, Sarah Haskell, and was listed in the United States census as a "fiddler".<ref name=Roming/> He was mayor of Provo from 1851 to 1852.<ref name=Roming/><ref name="WalshBunch"/>

==Later life and death==
Eames moved to [San Bernardino, California](/source/San_Bernardino%2C_California) in 1854, where he became district attorney.<ref name="WalshBunch"/> When the Latter-day Saints there were called back to [Utah Territory](/source/Utah_Territory) in 1857 due to the [Utah War](/source/Utah_War), Eames and Olive remained in San Bernardino, while Sarah and her children returned to Utah.<ref name="WalshBunch"/> Eames remained in contact with members of Brigham Young's army.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20696766/a_mormon_threat_fayetteville_observer/ A Mormon Threat]. Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, Tennessee) 14 Jan 1858, page 2, accessed via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com) {{open access}}</ref> Olive joined the Reorganization in 1864 with Ellis following in 1870.<ref name=Roming/>

In 1896, Olive wrote an account of the Haun's Mill Massacre that was published in the History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.<ref name=Roming/> Eames died in 1882, and is buried at [Pioneer Memorial Cemetery](/source/Pioneer_Memorial_Cemetery_(San_Bernardino%2C_California)) in San Bernardino.<ref>[http://www.provolibrary.com/historical-provo-people-places/55625-eames-ellis Provo Library]; [http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/CA/SB-buried.html Cemeteries and Memorial Sites of Politicians in San Bernardino County] at [The Political Graveyard](/source/The_Political_Graveyard)</ref> In 1954, a photo of Eames was discovered and added to Provo's gallery of mayors.<ref name="LongLost">[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20696572/ Long Lost Portrait of Provo's First Mayor Discovered]. The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah) 6 Jan 1954, page 6, accessed via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com) {{open access}}</ref>

==References==
;Citations
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://provohistory.pbworks.com/Ellis+Eames+(1809-1822) bio from database on Provo History]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eames, Ellis}}
Category:1809 births
Category:1882 deaths
Category:19th-century mayors of places in Utah
Category:Converts to Mormonism
Category:Mormon pioneers
Category:Mayors of Provo, Utah
Category:Former Latter Day Saints

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ellis Eames](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Eames) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Eames?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
