Re: Descendents of Levi Wells Ely, Ely, TX
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In reply to:
Descendents of Levi Wells Ely, Ely, TX
Jeff White 8/11/03
Mr. White, sometime in 1965 while attending then East Texas State University in Commerce, I "discovered" Ely, Texas and was curious about it as that was my last name. I stopped at the small store and was directed to a see a Marvin Ely who lived a short distance in Ector, I believe.Mr. Ely and his wife welcomed me in their home. From my notes of that visit, Mr. Ely indicated that his grandfather William A. Ely arrived from Georgia and settled the Old Robinson Farm.He indicated that his grandfather, William A. Ely, had 9 sons: Frederick, Ransom, Burr, Levi, Canyer, Walter, Arthur, Bob (who was a Methodist preacher) and 5 girls: Fina, Artie, Laura, Levata (Levada?),and Gustie. Marvin, whose father was Levi, indicated he (Marvin) had one brother and 4 sisters.Although he did not give me their names, he did say that his brother and all but two of his sisters were then deceased.Marvin Ely was about 70 years old at the time of my visit with him.He indicated that his grandfather, William A. Ely, died in 1904. I have a note "1864 Levi - Rome, Georgia". I don't know if this is the year of Levi's birth or if they left Rome, Georgia in 1864.
An interesting story he told was his recollection of how the town was named.Apparently, when an application was made for a post office in the area (which eventually had a cotton gin, a store, post office, and a blacksmith), there were competing applications/petitions for what the name of the town/post office should be.As Marvin told it, the postmaster or governmental decision maker decided that the man with the shortest name would have the town/post office named for him.Naturally "Ely" won!!!
Mr. Ely was quite charming - bore a striking resemblance to my father's branch of Elys - and was very gracious.
My abbreviated notes from long ago may be of little help but I decided to post them anyway.Some of the specifics may be incorrect after all of these years so I welcome any corrections you may have.
Carolyn Ely Trammell
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Re: Descendents of Levi Wells Ely, Ely, TX
Jeff White 8/07/05