Another Person of Interest From Elk Falls

[W. Gray]

   There has been mention of Barry McGuire and Prudence Crandall as being residents of Elk Falls. There was another person of interest living in Elk Falls.

   This fellow, Abraham Ellis, arrived in or near Elk Falls in 1870 and went by the nickname of "Bullet Hole."

   Prior to moving to Howard County, he was first elected to the Kansas territorial legislature and then to the state legislature. He was a commissioned officer during the Civil War.

   Ellis had been a friend and had worked with John Brown, the abolitionist. In Stanton, Kansas (Miami County) when he was the superintendent of public instruction, he issued William C. Quantrill a certificate to teach school.

   He was on his way from Ft Scott to Ft Leavenworth when he stopped over in Aubry, Kansas (Johnson County). Quantrill and his raiders attacked the place where he was staying. Quantrill, himself, aimed at Ellis from a distance and the bullet pierced the middle of the forehead.

   Eventually, Quantrill recognized whom he had shot. He apologized and left. The ball lodged against the brain without doing any damage and stayed there for seventy hours until a doctor could operate. After the ball and splintered bone extraction, the brain could be seen throbbing in time with his heart.

   Ellis recovered within six months.  The bullet and thirty bone fragments picked out of his forehead went on exhibit in the Army and Navy Medical Museum in Washington, D.C. That museum is now apparently the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

   He lived in Elk Falls until his death at age 75 in 1885.  [One lone source says he lived in Elk City]

[kdfrawg]

If you don't object, Waldo, that is going verbatim to the Genuine Kansas Website, attributed to Waldo Gray.

[W. Gray]

No objection, Thanks

[Janet Harrington]

I believe that Mr. Ellis is buried in the Elk Falls cemetery.   Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[W. Gray]

Here is a photo of Abraham Ellis, complete with the hole in his head.

[W. Gray]

a better photo is at


http://www.kansasmemory.org/locate.php?query=abraham+ellis

[giester2]

see if this is okay

[W. Gray]

That is much better.