April 2008

Shirley Newcomb Ridgway is third cousin of Harry Ells and has sent me pictures and articles to update this biography of Harry Leander Ells.

Please visit the page for Maybelle Perry to view two pictures of her.

All new information is in bold type

Prologue
This is the most complete and error-riddled biography of Harry Ells that you will find on the internet. You will encounter discrepancies in dates, locations, and spelling. Although Harry Ells was a prominent member of Stege and Richmond, little information about him is available either in print or on the internet.

Harry Leander Ells, Part I

William Henry Ells and Sarah Newcomb Ells of Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, had six children. The fourth child was Harry, born on November 9, 1854. He left Nova Scotia in 1870 and traveled to the Boston area.

This move was undoubtedly for the purpose of locating work for he apparently had other plans in mind. He did find work for a short time with a local truck gardner and apparently earned sufficient for him to answer the call of the West.

Whether he worked his way, or travelled as a passenger is not known but he did go by boat to the Isthmus of Panama, across Panama by rail, and then boat to San Francisco.

Still only 20 years of age and requiring work, he signed on as a laborer in the building of the rail line in Marin County now known as the Northwestern Pacific. This apparently was not his ultimate goal for gold mining in the Dutch Flat area was still booming.

It was in Dutch Flat the he married Katie Seltzer. This marriage was short as Katie and child died at childbirth on November 29, 1881. Both are buried at the Dutch Flat cemetery.

Click image to enlarge

Harry's gold mining work was as a nozzle man for the hydraulic mining process that was used..

Sometime in 1875 Harry became a naturalized United States citizen.

The 1880 United States Census lists a Henry Ells, birthdate 1857 ,birthplace Nova Scotia, occupation miner, in the census taken at Little York, Nevada County, California. Little York was located 6 miles Northeast of Chicago Park, California and was very close to Dutch Flat. It is possible that Henry and Harry may actually be the same person. A very unhappy Harry Ells left Dutch Flat and arrived in what is now Richmond in October 1884, settling in Stege.

Possibly due to contacts made through his mining work he came to work for the Cap Works.

This year 1884 was the starting point for many developments that would take place during Harry Ells' life. One significant event was the Southern Pacific Railroad's decision to build a depot named Stege Station at what is now 47th St between Hoffman and Carlson.

Next question:

Where did Stege get its name?

A digression as we do some exploring.

Stege

Richard Stege was born August 10, 1832 (or 1831, according to the 1880 US Census), in Bremen, Germany. He was a man who did not let much grass grow under his feet and his first stop after leaving Germany was in San Francisco in 1849. Mr. Stege definitely had a business mind, for he first set up shop in Downieville during the Gold Rush years. His next stops were Carson City in 1861, British Columbia in 1863, and Victoria, BC, in 1865. In each of these last two locations he was engaged in the hotel and restaurant business. He must have become bored because he left for Siberia only to head south to Oakland where he set up a business with a furniture store.

In 1851, Victor Castro sold part of Rancho San Pablo to William T. Coleman. Caretakers on this property were Mr and Mrs Quilfelt. Sometime between 1851 and 1870, Mr Quilfelt died, leaving Mrs Quilfelt a widow.

Richard Stege married Mrs. Quilfelt around 1870 and bought 600 acres and the mansion at Cypress and Potrero near what would become Stege station and later Eastshore Park. According to an 1882 history of Contra Costa County, Richard Stege's wife had died by this year.

Stege became a successful frog farmer by damming Baxter Creek to create four ponds where he could raise the frogs purchased by restaurants. In fact, for several years he had one of the largest frog farms in California. Eventually, with increasing competition, the business begain to fail. Richard Stege died in 1898 at the age of 67.

A few pictures of Richard Stege & the mansion

Harry Ells, Part II

The land that Ells first saw that would later become the City of Richmond then consisted of hay meadows and three or four dairy farms; Stege was where industry located.

Ells' first job was at the California Cap Works where he was an assistant to the superintendent. Within five years he had risen to become superintendent, a position he held for 24 years.

As was customary in those days, many of the workmen (all Chinese) and the Superintendent lived in Company houses on the property. Harry's house was a large two story affair, newly built by the Company for him. It was here that Effie Perry came to be his housekeeper. (This house still stands but is used as a conference center on the University of California Research Station).

click to enlarge

Until 1889,there was no post office in Stege-- the closest ones were in San Pablo and Berkeley. Mail arrived by Wells Fargo Express. The post office was set up inside Stege Station and Harry Ells was appointed Post Master in 1890.

Harry Ells and the Early Schools

Jacob M. Tewksbury,MD, an early settler in the area, made Point Richmond a pivotal spot in the development of the City of Richmond. The island (Point Richmond) that he connected to the land eventually led to the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad (soon to become the Santa Fe) establishing a terminal at Point Richmond in 1899. Passengers were carried by ferry across the bay to San Francisco.

In 1900 there still was no city named Richmond; while Stege was home to industry, Richmond was just a small village. However, things began to change.

In 1901 the Pacific Coast Oil Company moved to Richmond from Alameda; in 1906 this company became a part of Standard Oil. Around the same time, the Santa Fe moved its shops from Stockton to Richmond. The arrival of workers' families created first a housing crunch and then an educational one due to lack of schools. Enter Mr. Ells and his eventually becoming a member of the school board.

His joining the school board started in an accidental way around 1900 in the 'pioneer' days of the school district. The San Pablo district voted a $10,000 bond issue for purposes of constructing one or more schools. The trustees wanted all the money spent for a new school in San Pablo; two of the trustees lived in San Pablo. The residents of Stege were a bit upset because they wanted two schools built, one of which would be in Stege. During the course of this debate, one of the trustees died.

Harry Ells was persuaded to run for the position by members of the Stege community. Every voter (the Nineteenth Amendment had not yet been passed) in the district came out and the final result was Mr Ells winning 112-74.

According to the book "Richmond-Windows to the Past" by Susan Cole, the first school superintendent was Walter T. Helms (1877-1972) who looked after the various school districts from 1904-1949. He was initially hired to be superintendent of the San Pablo School District by Harry Ells, John Nystrom, and John Peres, the three trustees, in 1901.

The first school to be built was a two room elementary school which eventually became Richmond's first high school. The influx of people into the area initially created a hodge-podge of schools for the children (one of these may have been Stege School which opened in 1903). This led to building a 6-room school on Standard Avenue and a 4-room school on 10th between Macdonald and Bissell.

Harry Ells, Assemblyman

On November 4, 1902, Harry Ells was elected to the 22nd district of the State Assembly, representing all Contra Costa County. The vote was:

Harry Ells (Stege) 2340
William F. Belding (San Pablo) 1662

The population of the entire county at this time was approximately 18,000.

Mr. Ells served in the 35th Session of the Assembly from 1903-05 and was a member of several committees:

Contested Elections
Fish & Game
Mines & Mining Interest
Roads & Highways
Manufacturers & Internal Improvements (Chairman)

Richmond becomes Richmond

According to the California Blue Book (1909), Richmond was incorporated twice. In 1905 the 2115 male citizens of the 'village' voted to incorporate their town under the General Laws. Later,in 1909, the City was incorporated under the Freeholders' Charter.

Seven years later, 1912, Richmond annexed Stege.

The impact of both the Santa Fe Railroad and Standard Oil is evident from the population surge during this time. A 1900 estimate lists 2150 people living in Richmond while in 1909 the figure jumps to 10,000. A second surge in the city's population took place during World War II when the population jumped from 23,540 in 1940 to 109,000 in 1948.

Harry Ells, Part IV

The Contra Costa Directory of 1908 lists Harry Ells as a resident of Stege with an occupation of County Sanitary Inspector. While the 1910 census does not give his address, it does list him along with three non-family members living at the same home. All three were listed as servants and their ages were 58, 35,and 6. The oldest person's name is Effie Perry. (I was not able to read the name of the 35 year old, but the case could be made that this was the future Mrs. Ells).

The 35 year old is Maybelle Perry and the 6 year old is Harold C. Carpenter who, for a few years, was raised by Harry Ells and the Perrys. He later became a physician with offices on College Avenue in Berkeley.

In January 1907 Harry retired from the Cap Works, built a home at 2632 Cutting Blvd., and became interested in real estate. A partnership (Nystrom and Ells) was formed and also the East Bay Land Company.

We can get a bit of what was happening between 1910 and 1920 from information provided by the Polk Directories and the 1920 census. The 1911-12 edition lists Harry Ells as retired and living on the corner of 27th & Cutting in Stege. The 1912-13 directory lists Harry's occupation as real estate and also lists Effie Perry and Maybelle Perry as boarders. When we get to the 1913-14 edition, Harry and Mabel (sic) are listed together living at 2632 Cutting Blvd. Effie is still listed along with the entry that she is a widow of husband John. An assumption is made that sometime between 1913 and 1914 Maybelle ( born May 6 1874 ) became the second Mrs. Ells.

Harry and Maybelle were married December 23rd, 1912.

The Polk Directory from 1920 has Mr. & Mrs. Ells still living on Cutting Blvd but the 'realtor' occupation is not present. According to the 1920 US Census, Harry's age was 65 and it is possible that he had retired from the real estate profession by then.

From a 1932 newspaper article:

His snug home he has called "Geranium Cottage". It is fronted by an attractive rock wall.

His garden is one of the oldest in the city and the years have lent a hand, making it also one of the most attractive. Soft moss carpets the entire yard, shady nooks harbor delicate ferns and exotic tropical plants.

The garden is kept cool and green by constant watering and for this purpose the Ells maintain their own water system, a 5000 gallon tank and windmill.

The home has now been converted into multiple apartments and (2008) is not in very good condition.

The residence address in the Polk Directory is not consistent with the description in the the Eagle Eye article. The Eagle Eye states that "they lived in a large house which stands today surrounded by the University of California Engineering Field Station in the south part of the city of Richmond." This large house possibly could be the mansion owned by Richard Stege and later purchased by the City of Richmond to form Eastshore Park (now Booker T. Anderson Park).

Harry Leander Ells died on March 7, 1943 at the age of 87 or 88. Maybelle continued to live in Richmond but left the house on Cutting sometime between 1943 and 1948 to set up her household at 325-28th. She died on May 16, 1967, ten days after her 93rd birthday.

Maybelle did move to another home at 2700 Grant.

In addition to his accomplishments listed above, Harry Ells was an active leader of the Richmond Industrial Commission. For many years Ells served on the Stege and Richmond school boards. Because of his service and interest, the name Harry Ells was given to this school when it opened as a junior high school in 1944.

Richmond Independent, March 8, 1943
________________________________________________________________________
Harry Ells Passes Away

One of Richmond's oldest and best known pioneers was taken by death yesterday when Harry Leander Ells, for 60 years a resident of Western Contra Costa county, passed away at his home, 2623 Cutting boulevard.

Ells, who for 24 years served as superintendent of the California Cap Works, was known as "the father of Masonry" in Richmond. He led in the organization of McKinley lodge, Richmond's first Masonic organization.

Besides being a charter member and past master of McKinley Masons, he was a charter member and past presiding officer of Richmond Knights Templar, Richmond chapter of the Royal Arch Masons, Ashmes Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Oakland, and Richmond Pyramid of Sciots.

At the time of his death, the deceased was 88 years of age. He came to California 68 years ago and for 30 years, until he was retired several years ago, was connected with the California Cap Works here.

He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Maybelle Ells.

Services, scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at the Wilson and Kratzer chapel will be conducted by McKinley lodge of Masons. A special honorary escort of Knights Templar will accompany the cortege. Committal will follow at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland.
_______________________________________________________________________
A petition was sent from Richmond, signed by sixteen Masons, to organize a lodge in that city. This resulted in the organization of McKinley Lodge No. 347, which received dispensation on April 5, 1902. The first meeting was held April 12, 1902, with Harry Ells as Master. On November 8, the lodge was regularly constituted.

Epilogue

One major question in my mind is why there is so little written about Harry Ells and his place in Richmond history. Susan Cole devotes two pages to William F. Belding, Ells' opponent in the 1902 Assembly election but barely mentions Harry Ells.

While the name Harry Ells no longer adorns a school, his name will live on in Richmond History as Harry Ells Place, a street named in his honor. Coach Ron Kamb is deserving of all credit and accolades for his efforts during this year 2002 to get this street named.

Doug Comella
October 2002