Ellis, E. John (Ezekiel John), 1840-1889

E. John Ellis served as a captain in the 16th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, Army of Tennessee. He was captured at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, Tenn. and imprisoned at Johnson Island Prison, Lake Erie, Ohio, from 1863 to 1865. Martina Hamilton Ellis Buck (1898-1996), great granddaughter of Ezekiel Park Ellis, John's father, was a teacher in Tangipahoa Parish, La. and a history professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, La.

Ezekiel John Ellis was born in Covington, St. Tammany Parish, La., and graduated from the law department of Louisiana State University in 1861. During the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army and was commissioned a first lieutenant. Ellis was promoted to captain in the Sixteenth Louisiana Infantry Regiment and served two years before being captured and held as a prisoner of war until the end of the war. He served as a Louisiana state senator (1866-1870) and a U.S. Representative (1875-1885). He died in Washington, D.C.

Ezekiel John and Thomas Cargill Warner Ellis were sons of Ezekiel Parke Ellis, a judge and state legislator from Amite, Louisiana. E. John and Thomas C. W. were practicing attorneys who were active in Louisiana politics.

During the Civil War E. John served as captain in the St. Helena Rebels, Co. F, 16th Louisiana Infantry. He was captured at Missionary Ridge in 1863 and imprisoned at Johnson's Island, Sandusky Ohio. Thomas C. W. enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1862 and served as captain in the 18th Battalion, Louisiana Cavalry. After the war Thomas C. W. was elected to the Louisiana State Senate and served until 1868.

E. John Ellis entered into law practice in 1867 and in 1874 was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. The following year he and Thomas Ellis formed a law partnership with John McEnery, practicing in New Orleans. E. John Ellis later practiced law in Washington. Thomas Ellis was appointed Judge of the Civil District Court of New Orleans in 1888, and in 1898 Judge Ellis was elected to the chair of Admiralty and International Law at Tulane University in New Orleans.