Asa Ellis (1817-1890)
Asa Ellis is the son of Benjamin Ellis and Sarah Copeland. He was born on 6 July 1870 in Montgomery, Missouri and died 20 August 1890 in Rosemead, Los Angeles County, California. He is buried in the Savannah Memorial Park Cemetery, Rosemead, Los Angeles County, California. He was married to Mary F. Wimberly Ellis (1818 - 1893).
Children of Asa Ellis and Mary F. Wimberly are:
Hon. Asa Ellis
[Los Angeles County]
Is an Assemblyman, representing Los
Angeles County, and is a native of St.
Louis, Missouri. He came to California
in 1853; is about 60 years old; married;
has a very interesting family; is a
farmer by occupation, and a staunch
Democrat. This is his third session in
the Assembly, an evidence in the itself
of his sterling worth, and the
confidence reposed in him by his
constituents. His oldest son, Frank,
aged 19, is one of the Assistant
Enrolling Clerks of the Assembly, and
his son Charlie, aged 13, is a Page of
the Senate. In his native State, Mr.
Ellis served his county as Sheriff for
years. He was also one of the Regents of
the State University of Missouri for
six years. In Los Angeles County he has
served to one term as member of the
Board of Supervisors. Mr. Ellis is large
and portly, with a smooth faced and a
genial disposition, and a voice as
musical as the rippling of the silvery
brook. In the discharge of his official
duties, he is dignified and respectful,
and could readily pass for a preacher;
but the nearest he ever approached that
profession was to serve on the Committee
on Public Morals. Divested of his
official toggery, he is the essence of
wit and dry humor, and a social
companion, and a gentleman in the full
acceptation of the term. He never bores
the Assembly with long speeches, but is
industrious and punctual, and one of the
reliable men of the session. At home he
is alike respected by Democrats and
Republicans, as, in matters of general
interest to his constituents, he knows
no party or clique, but claims to be a
representative of the whole people. He
resides in Savannah, Los Angeles County.
Source: Pen Portraits, In Sacramento
City, during the Session of the
Legislature of 1877-8, Compiled by R.R.
Parkinson. San Francisco, 1878.
---------------
Asa Ellis served one term as county
supervisor. He was elected in 1864.
Born in St. Louis, Mo., on July 6, 1817,
he was the son of Benjamin Ellis, a
lumberman. Young Ellis followed in his
father's footsteps, learning the lumber
trade and becoming a successful
businessman.
Ellis became involved in politics and
served as sheriff and assessor. In 1849
he was appointed regent of the
University of Missouri and served until
he left for California in 1852. For the
next nine years he resumed his career as
a lumberjack in Central California, and
later in the redwoods of Santa Cruz
County.
In 1861 ill health brought him to Los
Angeles County. He bought land near El
Monte and established himself as a
rancher. In 1864 he was elected county
supervisor and served until 1866. In
1867 he was elected a state assemblyman.
He also served two later terms, 1871-72
and 1877-78. In the Legislature he
pushed to protect agricultural land from
the cattle ranchers. Up until then, it
was a long established custom of
allowing cattle to roam freely over the
plains, thereby damaging the land. Ellis
spearheaded a bill on Feb.14, 1872,
protecting farmers and their land. This
bill helped change the growth of Los
Angeles County from a grazing pasture to
an agricultural and horticultural focus.
Honors included membership in the
Lexington Masonic Lodge and the San
Gabriel Valley Farmers' Club.
In 1883 he became county tax collector
and in 1885 President Cleveland
appointed him collector of Internal
Revenue in San Francisco. Upon his
retirement, Ellis moved to Fresno, where
he devoted his efforts to developing
irrigation systems and horticulture on a
large scale.
He died Aug. 20, 1890. He was survived
by a daughter, Victoria Ellis; a son,
Frank Ellis; and two grandsons.
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