Two Cemeteries
Benjamin has a tombstone at Evergreen Cemetery in Leadville, but he also is shown in Delhi, Iowa at their cemetery, likewise named Evergreen Cemetery. Benjamin's Leadville gravestone is a tree stump, used for Woodmen of the World members. The WOW insignia appears above Benjamin Ellis's name, and the monument includes miner's implements. The sawed off limbs represent a life cut short. The headstones were used across the United States and Canada until about 1930.
The headstone at Delhi contains his name and three of his siblings – Charles Edgar, Hannah, and Frances M. Ellis all located in Row 15 Lot 311 as are the parents, Levi and Elizabeth Ellis.
Benjamin H. Ellis was the son of Levi and Elizabeth (Hazeltine) Ellis of Delhi, Iowa. In March 1880, Ben and others from Delhi traveled to Leadville, Colorado, to help with the freighting business. Leadville at this time was known as the greatest of all the Colorado mining regions. Benjamin is shown in the Leadville City Directories working at various smelters as a laborer. Smelting involves heating ore to extract a metal and is an extremely hot, dirty business with a lot of risk as the gases and wastewater are toxic. Laborers often reported respiratory illnesses which prevented them from continuing to perform the physical tasks demanded by their jobs. Famous people in Leadville in that era were (the Unsinkable) Molly Brown, Meyer and Benjamin Guggenheim, and Doc Holliday.
In 1890, the Leadville Herald Democrat ran an article on an apparently rabid dog that bit Benjamin in the hand. The doctor reported that the treatment for rabies bites involved administering a hot solution of corrosive sublimate for half an hour then cauterizing the wound freely with pure, undiluted carbolic acid. "If the bite is on the hand, this should be removed. No whisky or brandy should be given." It does not say whether Benjamin's hand was amputated, but he did continue to work as a laborer so likely not.
The only census record for Benjamin is from 1900 where he is shown as a Miner married to Mary, born 1859 in Pennsylvania. They have two children born in Colorado - Maud age 10 and Fanny age 2. They would have a son, Marion, early in 1903, but the paper reported he died at 8 months old on September 1, 1903. Benjamin himself would die just three months later at the age of 45 on December 8, 1903. A notice in the Leadville Herald Democrat on December 9, 1903 announced: "Attention, Woodmen! All members of Silver Camp No. 12 are requested to assemble at the hall on Thursday, December 10, at 1:30 p.m. sharp to attend the funeral of our late neighbor, Benjamin H. Ellis."
Three days later the paper published a "Card of Thanks" from Mary Ellis, Mrs. W. Frain, and P. J. McGeeney. "We desire to return our sincerest thanks to the members of Silver Camp No. 12, Woodmen of the World, and to friends and neighbors to us during the illness and death of Benjamin H. Ellis."
Two Cemeteries
Benjamin has a tombstone at Evergreen Cemetery in Leadville, but he also is shown in Delhi, Iowa at their cemetery, likewise named Evergreen Cemetery. Benjamin's Leadville gravestone is a tree stump, used for Woodmen of the World members. The WOW insignia appears above Benjamin Ellis's name, and the monument includes miner's implements. The sawed off limbs represent a life cut short. The headstones were used across the United States and Canada until about 1930.
The headstone at Delhi contains his name and three of his siblings – Charles Edgar, Hannah, and Frances M. Ellis all located in Row 15 Lot 311 as are the parents, Levi and Elizabeth Ellis.
Benjamin H. Ellis was the son of Levi and Elizabeth (Hazeltine) Ellis of Delhi, Iowa. In March 1880, Ben and others from Delhi traveled to Leadville, Colorado, to help with the freighting business. Leadville at this time was known as the greatest of all the Colorado mining regions. Benjamin is shown in the Leadville City Directories working at various smelters as a laborer. Smelting involves heating ore to extract a metal and is an extremely hot, dirty business with a lot of risk as the gases and wastewater are toxic. Laborers often reported respiratory illnesses which prevented them from continuing to perform the physical tasks demanded by their jobs. Famous people in Leadville in that era were (the Unsinkable) Molly Brown, Meyer and Benjamin Guggenheim, and Doc Holliday.
In 1890, the Leadville Herald Democrat ran an article on an apparently rabid dog that bit Benjamin in the hand. The doctor reported that the treatment for rabies bites involved administering a hot solution of corrosive sublimate for half an hour then cauterizing the wound freely with pure, undiluted carbolic acid. "If the bite is on the hand, this should be removed. No whisky or brandy should be given." It does not say whether Benjamin's hand was amputated, but he did continue to work as a laborer so likely not.
The only census record for Benjamin is from 1900 where he is shown as a Miner married to Mary, born 1859 in Pennsylvania. They have two children born in Colorado - Maud age 10 and Fanny age 2. They would have a son, Marion, early in 1903, but the paper reported he died at 8 months old on September 1, 1903. Benjamin himself would die just three months later at the age of 45 on December 8, 1903. A notice in the Leadville Herald Democrat on December 9, 1903 announced: "Attention, Woodmen! All members of Silver Camp No. 12 are requested to assemble at the hall on Thursday, December 10, at 1:30 p.m. sharp to attend the funeral of our late neighbor, Benjamin H. Ellis."
Three days later the paper published a "Card of Thanks" from Mary Ellis, Mrs. W. Frain, and P. J. McGeeney. "We desire to return our sincerest thanks to the members of Silver Camp No. 12, Woodmen of the World, and to friends and neighbors to us during the illness and death of Benjamin H. Ellis."
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