AMANDA JANE DRACE ELLIS (1854 – c1905)

Amanda was born Sep I854 in Missouri.  She may have been known also as Manda Farris as is indicated in a marriage certificate January 23,1871 where Manda Farris married George Ellis in Weston, Platte Co. Missouri  by Thomas Whittock, AME Minister. 

Amanda had five children according to the 1900 U S Census and had been

married 29 years.  There are only three known children, Mamie Eleanor born 1871, George Washington born 1875 and Cecil Ellis born 1877.

According to the 1880 US Census, Amanda’s mother was born in Kentucky, but the Census of 1900 states that Amanda’s mother was born in Missouri.  Amanda's father may have been born in Virginia or Missouri.

Amanda’s son George dedicated his book "Negro Culture in West Africa" to her. "To my mother AMANDA JANE ELLIS whose thrift and industry rendered me indispensable aid and assistance in all my efforts for educational advancement, and whose unsullied life and Christian character remain to me a perpetual source of inspiration to lofty thought and noble achievement, this volume is gratefully and respectfully dedicated."

Sources

1.  U S Census 1900 Platte Co. City of Weston Mo.

2.  "Platte Co. Missouri Marriages", Jan. 23, 1871, Platte County Courthouse

B-335, Filed 2/2/1871.

3.  "1870 US Census", Weston, Platte Co. Missouri, Aug. 4, 1870  Microfilm

458.

4.  1900 U.S.Census Weston Mo. Platte County E.D. 144

5.  1880 US Census Weston Missouri, Platte Co.

6.  Headstone on Grave

7.  "Negro Culture In West Africa", George Washington Ellis, K.C., F.R.G.S.

Book, The Neale Publishing Company, New York 1914, The Newberry Library Q