San Diego County Biographies
 
THOMAS E. ELLIS

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
The pioneer doctor and druggist of Elsinore, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, 
March 20, 1839. His father, Thomas Ellis, was a native of Virginia, and his 
mother, Lydia (Thornburrough) Ellis, was from Tennessee. The whole family on 
both sides were American from the settlement of the country, but were of Scotch 
extraction. He was educated in the public schools of Indiana, and at the 
Bloomingdale Academy, and graduated at the Indiana State Medical College, and 
for twenty years practiced his profession in Plainfield, Hendricks County, 
Indiana. For two years he held a Government position in Arizona with the 
Indians, and after this, in 1885, he came to Elsinore at its commencement, and 
was the first doctor and druggist in the place. He lived in a tent the first 
year, as it was nearly impossible to get lumber, and there were no houses to 
rent. There were no drugs in the place, so he kept his own supply, which formed 
the nucleus of his present pioneer drug store of Elsinore. He has purchased 
property and built a good home, owns a herd of cattle, and is one of the stock 
holders of the Exchange Bank of Elsinore. He still continues the practice of his 
profession, and keeps such a stock of drugs and goods as are usually kept in 
such towns.
        He was married in 1865, to Miss Emma C. Talbert, of Union County, 
Indiana, by whom he has two children, both living: Mary C. married Mr. Arthur 
Jones, and they reside at Riverside. Lineaus resides with his father in 
Elsinore. Mrs. Ellis died in 1880, and in 1883 he was again united in wedlock, 
to Miss Lizzie Tomlinson, a native of Plainfield, Indiana, and they have two 
children�a boy and a girl�also both born in Elsinore: Lydia Rosa and Thomas 
Earl.
        Dr. Ellis is a man who makes it a point in life to respect his promises 
and strictly keep them. He loves his profession, and can be depended on in every 
instance to use his best judgment and experience, and is a successful 
practitioner. He is a member of the order of the Knights of Pythias, and of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and holds the office of District Deputy. He 
was born and raised in the Society of Friends.
 
SOURCE:  An Illustrated History of Southern California:  Embracing the Counties 
of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower 
California� Chicago:  The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890.  p.-  131