Biography
Lieutenant Colonel Ellis was born on December 19, 1880 in Iuka, Kansas, a small farming community. His parents, Augustus and Catherine Axline Ellis migrated from southeast Iowa to Kansas following the Homestead and Preemption Act. He is the 2nd oldest sibling out of six surviving children, Ralph Ellis being born the oldest son; Nellie Ellis who was the first born died of infantile cholera. He was interested in baseball and was an avid reader, enjoyed Rudyard Kipling's stories and poems. His inspiration of enlistment was noted by reading magazines and newspapers on the Spanish-American War. Such tales further lured him into enlisting. As a teenager, Ellis read of Robert W. Huntington commanding the First Marine Battalion (Reinforced), known as "Huntington's Battalion", the action at Cusco Well, and the Marine landing parties serving with Admiral George Dewey in the Philippines.
Read more about this topic: Earl Hancock Ellis
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