The Elliott Family

King Edward 1 of England tried to make Scotland a vassal state which led to centuries of border war.  The Elliots also called Ellots, moved from Angus to Liddesdale during the reign of Robert the Bruce. The Elliots settled in the upper part of the valley while their allies, the Armstrongs, occupied the lower part of the Liddel.  This migration consisted of 12 great families, led by a Baron who held a charter from the King.   By 1608, there were more than 100 “peel” towers in this region.  A peel was a fortified building. Cattle were housed in the ground floor, and the family lived above.

The Elliots were well mounted and well armed.  They raided far into  Northumberland. The Scot Kings tolerated the border war until James VI of Scotland became James I of England and Scotland.  James notified the border clans that they must stop the raids, called “summering”.

The King wrote: Whereas sundry of the Elliotts and Armstrongs in Liddisdaill--continues the old custom--in the summertime repairing to some of these bounds that belong to this kingdom, and there in hostile manner making their stay and residence they destroy the game, cut the wood and otherwise commits such insolences as could not well be borne with if those bounds were still one border, and should no way be suffered in the very middle of our Kingdom.
ref: Whitehall 12th April 1606.   Available in Washington U library, Scot Privy Council.

James continues by ordering the Elliotts and Armstrongs to desist under threat of “great pecuniall panes” or prison.
Many Elliotts ignored this order or committed other crimes that merited the death penalty.  A list of those executed on Feb. 27 1606 includes three Elliotts, Will, Johnne and Richie.  Others were permitted to leave the country (hes found caution to pas af the cuntrey).  These Elliotts included Gib, Robert, Hob, Johnne, and Willie.
ref: Scot Privy Council  1606 p719

The English waged a series of wars in Ireland during the 1600’s.  Land conquered by the English was taken by the crown and many Irish fled to Europe or to poorer land to the west. The English encouraged Protestants of Scotland and England to occupy these depopulated areas in Northern Ireland, also known as Ulster. Large parcels of land were given to men who brought a sizable group with them to Ireland.  These men were obligated to build a fortification.

Our earliest  known ancestor was Lewis Elliott, probably a descendent of one of these “Scotch-Irish”. The first reference to Lewis is in the records of the Drumholm Parish Church, Co. Donegal.  He, and his wife Jane, were listed as the parents of three children born in the 1820’s. Our ancestor, John Elliott was the first son born to Lewis and Jane. The Elliotts is Ireland were Methodists, converted possibly by John Wesley who preached in Ireland in the late 1700’s.  They were also Orangemen, strong supporters of the Protestant ascendancy.  By family tradition, Lewis or John left Ireland for Canada in the 1830’s to avoid being hanged. I suspect that one of them, probably the younger,  committed a  crime against a Catholic, possibly at a “Battle of the Boyne” celebration.  By the 1830’s the police were no longer able to ignore such crimes but often warned the guilty party to leave the country to escape prosecution. This practice is mentioned in the British Parliamentary investigation of the Orange Association.

John Elliott died in 1899 in London Twp Ontario when my father, Frederick, was 10 years old.  Dad learned the family history from an Orangeman’s point of view.  According to Grandfather John, he had been forced to leave Ireland because of Catholic persecution.  Actually, Catholics were in no position to persecute anyone.  But old John, who hated Catholics, attributed his forced emigration to Catholics.

John Elliott purchased the south half of lot 6 of London Twp for 50 pounds.  The memorial to this effect was dated Dec. 28, 1841.  The census of 1861 lists John Elliott age 41 and wife Elizabeth, age 36, and 8 children, including my grand father John Elliott, age 8.  The age given for John Sr. is incorrect.  John’s birth year given in his obituary in the London Free Press is indistinct but appears to be 1806.  Some sources give his birth date as a few years earlier. John’s wife was a Guest, and usually referred to as Jane. Her family came to Canada from Co Tipperary.

My grandfather, John Elliott, married Elizabeth Bilyea.  The Bilyeas have an interesting history.  They settled in New Amsterdam and their records are in the Dutch Reformed Church of Sleepy Hollow (now New York).  The name was spelled Bilje.  They accepted British rule and were loyalists during the American Revolution.  They were given land along the St. Johns River in New Brunswick after the war.  Elizabeth’s family later moved to Ontario.

My father, Frederick Victor Elliott, was born Dec 16, 1889 in the family home on lot 6 originally bought by John. Dad didn’t get along well with his brothers. His youngest brother, John, harbored a dislike for Dad throughout his life.  When we visited London he would not meet us or let us see the interior of the house.  His youngest sister, Irene guided us to the house and pointed to the room in which dad was born.  We were told that Dad had kicked John and this was the beginning of a lifelong feud.  Dad last visited his home when he and my mother were first married.  I never heard him speak positively about his family.  I have a vague memory that one of the family wanted to visit us when we were on the acreage in Ava, Mo.  Dad was supposed to have replied by citing vacation rates.
 
Dad’s parents encouraged him to become a teacher.  He obtained certificates in Saskatchewan and Ontario and taught from 1914 to 1918 in Canada. He disliked teaching and noted that parents should not try to dictate children’s professions.

Dad married Edith Cambridge Aug. 11, 1915.  Her obituary is in the RLDS Saints Herald of Nov. 17 1917. The family never talked about this first wife, so I don’t know the cause of death.
I suspect that Miss Cambridge may have been a factor in Dad’s becoming an RLDS. I remember a conversation with Dad in which he mentioned an early interest in Mormonism’s “Word of Wisdom, Joseph Smith’s writing on health and nutrition.  It discouraged use of tobacco, and hot drinks and limited meat eating to winter time in time of need.  Dad was a lifelong advocate of the Word of Wisdom but also advocated “natural food”, i.e., unprocessed.  He used honey rather than sugar.  He advocated whole wheat flour but Mom compromised by baking very tasty bread tainted with some white flour.  To my knowledge, Dad never took any medication, even aspirin.  Since he lived in good health till over 84 years of age, his health ideas certainly didn’t hurt him.

Dad may have been attracted to the Book of Mormon by its references to the Church of the Devil.  Dad, along with many people to this day, think this refers to the Catholic Church.  He undoubtedly remembered his Grandfathers tales of the Catholics. He said they put small children in statues of the Virgin to create tears with a wet sponge.  Dad even remembered songs belittling the Catholics he probably learned from his grandfather.

After his first wife’s death, Dad came to the United States and taught the 1918-9 school year at Graceland, the Church’s two year college at Lamoni Iowa. He married a student, May Needham July 19, 1919. The Needhams were early immigrants to the colonies, appearing in Virginia records of the early 1600’s. They subsequently lived in North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa.  Her father, Gorge W. Needham, was a civil war veteran and an RLDS Elder.
 

Dad consulted frequently with the President of the RLDS Church, F. M. Smith. He advised the president that he was considering leaving the teaching profession and turning to the business world.  President Smith responded by suggesting Dad might be better advised to take a missionary assignment. I don’t know whether President Smith was aware of prophesies addressed to Dad when he was called to be a Priest and when he was ordained to that office.
Prophecy given at Port Elgin Ont. Jan 6 1918. ”..Yea if you wilt be faithful unto me your God and Redeemer thy voice will be heard in mightiness in the declaration of my word before kindred, tongues, and people. Thy voice will yet be heard in the high councils of my Church, saith the Lord.
Note: This prophecy was also addressed to those who were concerned about the church men that were in the army in WW1.  It assures that God will provide angels to protect the church youth and even though others may fall nearby, the church youth will not be harmed.

Words spoken in prophecy during the ordination of  F. V. Elliott to the office of Priest at Port Elgin on Apr. 7, 1918. “..You shall be called upon to declare his word unto a strange people. but their language shall not be strange unto you for the Lord, your God will make it plain, and give you an understanding that you may be able to declare his  word among them, and many of them shall be brought out of darkness into light and shall be numbered among his jewels when he comes to make up his kingdom.

Dad was appointed to the South Sea Islands mission by a letter dated April 15, 1920. In a letter dated Sept. 8, 1920; Dad advised the Missionary in charge, Clyde F. Ellis that he had arrived at the mission, and had worked on three islands, baptizing 16.  Dad noted that “It is strange how close one can come to dying and not die in small boats”.

The mission was in chaos. Bishop Karlstrom advised that he did not have money to support the newly arrived missionaries. Ellis had returned to the US and placed in charge of the St. Louis District but retained his direction of the Islands mission.  He had left instructions that Alvin Christianson was to be in charge in emergencies, but the other missionaries thought that Christianson believed every problem was an emergency.

Dad and some of the other new missionaries wrote directly to President Smith or other leading men of the church. Ellis saw this as a problem and instructed them to report only to him.

Mom had been asked to organize a Women’s Department among the natives, probably by President Smith.  When she reported her activities to Ellis, he indicated he hadn’t known of the appointment, but approved of that work but said that monthly reports were not needed.

By late 1920, Christiensen had left the mission and Robert Brown had been installed as the person in charge in emergencies.  He wrote to Ellis that there will be trouble soon, and Almond and Elliott had had a tilt.  Dad’s report for November said that he had preached twice and attended 34 meetings. Some of these meetings were language lessons.  He said he had been sick.

Living conditions were crowded.  Three families shared one house; H A Merchant, Frank Almond, and the Elliotts.  My brother Frank was told that the Almond family often quarreled and Mrs. Almond sometimes locked Mr. Almond out of his living quarters.  Another newcomer was Edith Hansen, sister of Apostle Paul Hansen and a WW1 nurse. She was living with the Karlstrom family.

Dad wrote to Ellis Feb. 21, 1921 saying that things were not progressing favorably in the mission.  Matters cannot go on as they are. He also asked for Brown’s position.  Was he missionary in charge replacing Ellis or just the newly designated man to make emergency local decisions?  Dad asked for the minutes of the spring church conference, suggesting to me that he didn’t trust the information he was getting second hand. Brown recognized that the missionaries questioned his authority and he wrote to Ellis to that effect.

Brown criticized Dad and Mr. Merchant in a letter Feb. 10, 1921. He said that Merchant has made no attempt to preach and Dad writes his sermons out and then reads them. Ellis passed this on to the church presidency, noting that these two men still needed translators.

Things were looking up a bit by the fall of 1921.  Brown reported that Dad did good work at Tikahau. Dad reported that he had been blessed, considering the language problem.  He had made many native friends.

Ellis agreed to return to the mission and he reassured the Presidency that problems Dad had communicated to Sam Burgess could be straightened out when he arrives there. Ellis criticized young missionaries who reverse decisions made by senior people.  Specifically, he criticized Dad for re-baptizing a man that Ellis had excommunicated twice for adultery and drinking.  He continued with a thought that seems to me to weaken his criticism of Dad.  Ellis said we have to pretend not to know of problems or we would not have many members in some branches.  It seems to me that Dad was following this precept when he re-baptized the man in question.  I can only assume he was properly repentant and made commitment to reform.  But Ellis was offended that Dad had overridden his earlier action.

Ellis arrived back in the mission March 15, 1921.  He reported to president Smith that the charges against Bishop Karlstrom were false. He said the natives may have questioned Edith Hanson’s living with the Karlstroms. My sister, Margaret, quotes Mom as saying that the natives referred to Edith as Karlstrom’s other wife. Mom apparently accepted the natives view, because  she said  she felt an evil spirit when she was in Karlstrom’s house. When I visited the church archives in 1990, I noted that Mrs. Karlstrom was identified erroneously as Edith in Church records.  This undoubtedly came about because much correspondence from the mission refers to the activities of the Bishop and Edith.

Ellis reported that the Elliotts did not attend church regularly, even sacrament.  This suggests to me that Mom and Dad felt they could not worship with the Karlstroms.  I can’t think of another explanation, particularly in view of the fact that neither of them missed church in the years that I knew them.

Ellis reported that the mission could not support all the missionaries and felt that the Elliotts and Merchants could most easily return to non church work. He also noted that Dad still did not have the language. These charges against Dad were based on reports from others because Ellis noted that Dad was in Rairoa.

Ellis remarried while in St. Louis and the new wife accompanied him to the mission.  It appears that Mrs. Christiensen had told Mom that Ellis and his first wife, Clara had not been happy together. Ellis wrote to Emma Chrisiensen to verify the authenticity of Mom’s report.  She replied “I have heard you, brother Ellis, make remarks about the food, that had I been the cook and of a sensitive nature been offended.  I did also see Clara cry on 2 occasions, apparently because of your actions.”

The mother I knew makes this incident almost unbelievable.  Mom was not a belligerent person. She must have believed Ellis’s conduct with Clara was of such a nature that the second wife should be aware of it, and be on guard against it. In any case, it was one more black mark against the Elliotts.

Ellis wrote to Dad on May 15, 1922 to tell him to make it plain that it is Mom’s health that forces him to ask for a release from the mission. Ellis forwarded Elliott’s and Almond’s release requests May 18, 1922.  Karlstrom wrote to Ellis on May 16th about Elliotts and Almond’s departure.  He said “the cases are very similar and the reasons are obvious to all who know the circumstances.”

Further indication of the contention in the mission is hinted at in a letter from Brown to Ellis dated April 29. 1923: “When I think of things that have come to my ears that you know of, coupled with events that have transpired, in spite of my desire to think good of all, I can’t help but feel skeptical of the integrity of some.”  Ellis wrote to the Apostles April 30 1923 with additional explanation of the problems at the mission in the preceding years.  He said that he and Christensen had worked hard to weed out fornicators and adulterators in the leading roles in the Sunday School and Religio.  This was not the case during the years he was away.  He mentioned a spirit of contention between Karlstrom, Merchant and Almond.  The gentlemen would not partake of the sacrament.  He needed men who would appreciate the work of their predecessors and associates.  This explains why Ellis was so upset when Dad re-baptized a man that Ellis had excommunicated.

The information above was found in RLDS archives in the Ellis folders. Most were in package 38.

My oldest brother, Frederick John Elliott, was born in Tahiti Dec. 4 1921.  Mom’s pregnancy probably was a factor in her reported illness.  I have a feeling that if they had been happy there and if those in charge had been more agreeable, they would have stayed even with their illnesses.  In Mom’s book, The Extraordinary Blessings of an Ordinary Christian, Mom attributes Dad’s desire to come home to a desire to increase his knowledge of Christianity and its history.  He did enroll in the University of Chicago Divinity school a few years later, there may be some basis for this statement.  However, it is hard for me to think that the ministry to the natives would have required this level of sophistication.

The Elliotts arrived back in Lamoni Iowa during the early summer of 1922. Dad was hired as Principal in the Wiarton Ontario schools beginning that fall.  He continued teaching until he entered the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1926?.  Here too he was disappointed.  He felt his professors were not truly religious, for example, he felt that the teacher of public prayer was just teaching technique, but was not a true believer in prayer.  He also had difficulty when he tried to introduce ideas from Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible.  The University taught that Genesis contained two creation stories from two authors.  These could be distinguished when “God” became “Lord God” at genesis 2:4.  Dad’s understanding based on Joseph Smith’s work was that the two creations were a spiritual creation, followed by a physical creation.  Dad shifted his emphasis to language when he found that the school did not take Joseph Smith’s work seriously.  He studied Greek, Latin and Hebrew. Many years later we learned about the origin of English words from Dad as we rested under a tree on hot summer nights.  He would explain that the Roman’s used lead for plumbing, so our word is derived from the Latin for lead, plumbum.    Dad worked part time in a candy store and a garage during his studies in Chicago.

I am not sure whether Mom didn’t have glasses, or they were not the right correction.  She tells of getting confused on Chicago streets and a gentleman assisted her.  Mom felt he was one of the three Nephites who were miraculously allowed to avoid death.  Their role was to help Saints in need.

Dad and Mom expanded their interest in health while in Chicago.  A Mr. Lindlar operated a clinic there that was not based on conventional drug therapy.  They also became interested in the teachings of Bernar McFadden.  While growing up, the McFadden health encyclopedia was on prominent display at out house.  I think both gentlemen doubted the germ theory as the cause of sickness.  Natural foods and fasting were standard.

My brother, Frank, was born July 31, 1926, while Dad was at the University of Chicago.  I was born August 4, 1928 while Dad was teaching in Red Oak, Iowa.  My sister, Margaret, was born April 14, 1940 in Lamoni, Iowa.  Dad was doing menial work at a mill and on farms.  Dad didn’t really like teaching and getting a teaching job was difficult during the depression, especially for older men.

Dad was employed as a Civil Service instructor of basic electronics at Scot Airforce base and in Rapid City, South Dakota during WW2 and the Korean War.

On retirement, he operated a greenhouse and tended a large garden.  He became editor of the Herald of Health, a magazine devoted to natural health.  Before he left for his final illness in the hospital in Leon, Iowa; he prepared the editorial matter for several issues of the magazine and laid the material out on his bed.

Dad was a remarkable man with firm beliefs in his religion and in matters of health.  He preached against saturated fats long before that became politically correct.  He preferred unprocessed food and abstained from white sugar and white flour.  I have come to disagree with many of his religious convictions, but honor him for his commitment to them.

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