San Diego County
Biographies
THOMAS E. ELLIS,
the pioneer doctor and druggist of Elsinore, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, March 20, 1839. His father, Thomas Ellis, was a native of Virginia, and his mother, Lydia (Thornburrough) Ellis, was from Tennessee. The whole family on both sides were American from the settlement of the country, but were of Scotch extraction. He was educated in the public schools of Indiana, and at the Bloomingdale Academy, and graduated at the Indiana State Medical College, and for twenty years practiced his profession in Plainfield, Hendricks County, Indiana. For two years he held a Government position in Arizona with the Indians, and after this, in 1885, he came to Elsinore at its commencement, and was the first doctor and druggist in the place. He lived in a tent the first year, as it was nearly impossible to get lumber, and there were no houses to rent. There were no drugs in the place, so he kept his own supply, which formed the nucleus of his present pioneer drug store of Elsinore. He has purchased property and built a good home, owns a herd of cattle, and is one of the stock holders of the Exchange Bank of Elsinore. He still continues the practice of his profession, and keeps such a stock of drugs and goods as are usually kept in such towns.
He was married in 1865, to Miss Emma C. Talbert, of Union County, Indiana, by whom he has two children, both living: Mary C. married Mr. Arthur Jones, and they reside at Riverside. Lineaus resides with his father in Elsinore. Mrs. Ellis died in 1880, and in 1883 he was again united in wedlock, to Miss Lizzie Tomlinson, a native of Plainfield, Indiana, and they have two children—a boy and a girl—also both born in Elsinore: Lydia Rosa and Thomas Earl.
Dr. Ellis is a man who makes it a point in life to respect his promises and strictly keep them. He loves his profession, and can be depended on in every instance to use his best judgment and experience, and is a successful practitioner. He is a member of the order of the Knights of Pythias, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and holds the office of District Deputy. He was born and raised in the Society of Friends.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California… Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 131
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
ALEX DeBARRA, A. M., M. D.,
one of the eminent representatives of the medical profession in Elsinore, is a Fellow of Society of Science, Letters and Art, of London, England, a society that stands at the head of all such societies in the world. The Doctor was born in the north of Norway, of Russian parents. While in his infancy his parents removed to Moscow, where he was reared and educated in the schools and colleges of that country. During the latter years of the reign of Nicholas and while the Crimean war was being vigorously carried on, the students in the colleges were in great excitement over it and the affairs then engrossing the minds of the people. The college society to which he belonged took an exciting part in the discussion, and for that, he with many other young men like himself, was exiled to Siberia for a term of six years. When in an inhospitable region they were thrown wholly upon their own resources to get a living. He resolved to try for liberty, and followed the river Lena northward through the ice and snow of that inclement climate, subsisting on what he could find that he knew was not poison until he fell in with some Esquimeaux who were kind to him, and for six months he remained with them and followed until at last they reached a trading point where he took a ship for South America. While suffering with the exposure in Siberia he contracted diseases from which he has never recovered, and in order to find relief he has traveled a good deal of his time in search of a climate in which to prolong life. After several years travel he went to Savannah, Georgia; then he tried the Bermudas, where he remained a year or so; he then went to Crystal Springs, New York, where he established a hospital and practiced his profession for fifteen years. While there he was a frequent contributor to most of the scientific papers. While in New York he was often called upon as an expert in court and before State and Senate committees to give testimony on scientific matters, and in such cases always gave his testimony without regard to consequences, or who was pleased or displeased. In the great Guiteau trial the Doctor differed from the other physicians who treated the lamented President Garfield, and believes that the facts were with him in both cases. Garfield could have been saved had the doctors not been mistaken in the location and track of the bullet. The Doctor has been obliged to battle constantly with his throat trouble and has finally brought his family to the sunny clime of southern California, but as yet has not tried the climate long enough to know how much benefit he will receive. In Elsinore he has found a congenial clime, and water loaded with mineral substances valuable for medicinal purposes to a remarkable degree. He also sees in this vicinity large quantities of mineral wealth in an unimproved and undeveloped condition, and it only remains for capital to develop to make those interested in it very satisfactory returns.
The Doctor was married to Miss Mary Flemming, of Havana, New York, and their union has been blessed with two children, a boy and a girl, viz.: Horace Phelps, now seven years old, and Mary Alma, five years old. The Doctor's connection with a college secret society caused his exile, and he has since avoided all secret societies and in his lectures has advised all men to refrain from societies that would tend to keep them from their families at night. Politically he has been a Republican, but is in favor of free trade. He lived twenty-one years in the United States before asking for naturalization papers, and is of the opinion that is as soon as a foreigner should vote. He is a believer in God and morality, and is educating his children in the way of truth and religion. Through his scientific attainments and long practice of his profession he has shown himself eminently fitted to treat the suffering and perform surgical operations that require the highest order of talent and skill. He is now largely interested in the development and prosperity of southern California.
SOURCE: An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower California… Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. p.- 131-132
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler