Ellis Children
Catherine “Kate” was born on 27 November 1871, in Granite Creek, Idaho. An early family story, as related by Catherine Breen Bengoechea, describes "Kate" as a young child:
One afternoon when she was about 3 years old she created quite a "stir" in the community. She had been playing outside their home and when her mother went out to check on her, she was nowhere to be found. Her mother looked and looked for her. Eventually the whole town was looking; even the men stopped work to join the search. They searched for her everywhere up and down the creek; she was nowhere to be found. Finally in the late afternoon a group of Indians arrived back in Granite Creek with Kate. They'd been Huckleberrying and had given her a bucket of berries. They said "Oh, we just took her with us Huckleberrying."
Kate operated the Ellis Hotel with her mother and sisters. In an interview her sister, Sara, described Kate's role at the hotel: "Kate did most of the cooking. Oh, she was a wonderful cook and a wonderful manager - or we never could have done the work that we did there."
Kate was remembered by her nieces as being sought after by Con Lehane, a local miner and resident of the hotel, who came from the area around Bantry in Ireland. It was reported by them that Con used to chase Kate around the “dish up” table. Neither of them ever married.
When the decision was made to not rebuild the Ellis Hotel after its fourth fire in 1933, Kate moved with her sister Sara to their mother's farm in Middleton, Idaho. Kate died while living at the farm on 6 December 1947. She is buried in the Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise, Idaho.
catherine ellen ellis
1871 – 1947
Mary Jane Ellis was born on 7 February 1873 in Granite Creek, Idaho. On 7 September 1910, she married David Breen(1873-1930) at St. John's Cathedral in Boise, Idaho. David Breen lived in Michigan before coming to the Boise Basin. He worked in underground mining in the winter and in the summer worked in the timber.
Mary and David were the parents of four children, Mary, Catherine, and twins Vincent, and Rodger. David took his family to live near Butte, Montana, where his brother, Dan, lived. Several months after arriving in Montana, Mary Ellis Breen and her son, Rodger, died in the influenza epidemic in December, 1918.
David returned to Placerville with his three children, where they were raised by their aunts at the Ellis Hotel. David worked in the mines in Quartzburg. Later David went to the ranch in Middleton, Idaho. He died of miner's consumption in 1928. David, Mary and their son, Rodger, are buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Placerville.
Mary Jane Ellis
1873 - 1918
Elizabeth Ellis was born on 12 April 1874 in Granite Creek, Idaho. She married William McMasters on 13 October 1897 in Boise. They were the parents of one son, Raymond. Elizabeth died at the age of 27 on 10 May, 1905. She is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Placerville, Idaho. After her death, Raymond was raised by his aunties at the Ellis Hotel. Raymond died on 17 September 1924 in San Francisco, California. He is buried beside his mother in the Pioneer Cemetery.
Raymond
Raymond and his Father
1900
Elizabeth Ellis
1874 - 1905
Annie Maria Ellis was born on 5 August 1876 in Granite Creek, Idaho. On 9 January 1909, she married John Joseph Manning in the Catholic Church in Granite Creek. They were the parents of three children: John Ellis, Agnes Cecilia, and Edward Timothy.
John J. Manning, the son of John Manning and Bridget Cronin, was born on 25 April 1869, at Glanbanoo, Bantry, County Cork, Ireland. He arrived in the Boise Basin by 1899, when he purchased a stake in the New Year Claim with John Leary Jr. and Mike Nelis.
After their marriage John and Annie moved to Boise and purchased a home. Later they purchased a farm on Lansing Lane in Middleton, Idaho, where John farmed until retirement. In 1942, they moved to Burbank, California, where their sons, John and Edward, were employed by Lockheed.
Annie Maria died on 24 June 1949 in Burbank, California. Her husband, John, died on 21 October 1946 while traveling through Fresno, California. They are buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Annie maria Ellis
1876 - 1949
Annie and john manning
WINIFRED MARGARET ELLIS was born on 28 May 1878 in Granite Creek, Idaho. She worked with her family operating the Ellis Hotel until she died of appendicitis at the age of 33 on 25 June 1911. She is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Placerville, Idaho.
From the Idaho Weekly World, June 30, 1911:
"The Idaho City people who attended the funeral of Miss Winnifred Ellis at Granite Creek Tuesday afternoon were Mrs. Kate Gorman, Mr. and Mrs. M.A. Zapp and son Kenneth, Mrs. C.W. Smith and daughters Frances and Marguerite, Mrs. J.A. Lippincott, Miss Clara Thomas, Miss Addie Maulding, John Leary, Charles Hoehne and Clarence Maulding."
Winifred ellis (right)
1878 - 1911
Sara "Aunt Sadie" was born on 24 Feb 1880 in Granite Creek, Idaho. Although Sadie never married, she and her sister, Kate, raised seven nieces and nephews as their own.
After her mother and brother moved to the farm in Middleton, Idaho, Sara ran the Ellis Hotel with her sister, Kate. After the hotel burned in 1933, she remained in Placerville until her nieces finished the school year. She moved to her mother's farm in Middleton, where her sister, Kate, and brother, John, were living. In later years she lived with her sister and brother-in-law, Agnes and Sherl Phillips, in Boise, Idaho.
Aunt Sadie loved to tell stories and had a great sense of humor. In February, 1980, she was honored on her 100th birthday with a grand celebration attended by over 200 friends and family members. She died at the age of 101 on 10 April 1981 in Boise, Idaho. Sara Ellis is buried in the Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.
Sara and Mary
Sara lucy ELliS
1880 - 1981
AGNES BRIDGET ELLIS was born on 6 August 1881 in Granite Creek, Idaho. Agnes attended St. Theresa's High School in Boise, Idaho, and then trained to be a nurse at St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise.
She married Sheryl Phillips on 10 January 1921 in Placerville. Sheryl was born on 3 November 1884 in Madison Co, Arkansas. He worked for a timber company as a scaler (estimator). Agnes and Sheryl Phillips raised their niece, Peggy Mackin, the daughter of Agnes' sister, Clara, who died a few months after giving birth to Peggy. In later years Agnes lived with her sister, Sara, in Boise. Agnes died on 14 Dec 1972 in Boise. She is buried in the Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.
Sheryl PHILLIPS (Far left)
AGNES BRIDGET ELLIS
1881 - 1972
JOHN JOSEPH ELLIS, the only son of Winifred Noone and John Ellis was born on 11 August 1883 in Granite Creek, Idaho. He never married. He lived with his family at the Ellis Hotel. In 1916 he moved with his mother to their farm in Middleton, Idaho. John Ellis died on 18 July 1954. He is buried in the Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.
JOHN JOSEPH ELLIS
1883 - 1954
After 1900 fire
CLARA CECILIA ELLIS
Clara was born on 14 August 1888 in Granite Creek, Idaho. She was a teacher and the Boise County Superintendent of Schools before her marriage. On 21 June 1919, Clara married Stephen Mackin at St. John's Cathedral in Boise, Idaho. They were the parents of three daughters: Elizabeth "Betty", Winifred "Winnie", and Margaret "Peggy".
Stephen, the son of Stephen Mackin and Elizabeth McKay was born in England on 30 August 1885. His family was from County Down, Ireland. His mother, Elizabeth, was the sister of John and James McKay Jr, of Placerville.
Clara died on 25 Feb 1926 in Portland, Oregon. Daughters, Betty and Winnie, lived at the Ellis Hotel with “Aunt Kate” and “Aunt Sadie” Ellis, until the hotel burned down in 1933. Peggy was raised by her Aunt Agnes and Sherl Phillips.
Steve Mackin owned the Mayflower Mine, which previously belonged to his uncle, James McKay. He was the Superintendent of the Gold Hill Mine at Quartzburg, Idaho. He also owned a store and barber shop in Pioneerville. He operated the Magnolia Saloon in Placerville as an ice cream parlor. He died in Portland, Oregon,1950.
Winnie, peggy, betty, aNd steve mackin
clara cecilia ELliS
1888 - 1926
•A story of the People •
