Genealogy Richard Remmé, The Hague, Netherlands » Egbert Smyth Ellis (1866-1897)

Personal data Egbert Smyth Ellis 

• He was born on May 3, 1866 in Kittery, York, Maine, USA.
• He died on February 22, 1897 in Harpoot, Turkey, he was 30 years old.
• A child of Thomas Long Ellis and Mary A. Hayes
• This information was last updated on December 4, 2022.

Household of Egbert Smyth Ellis

Notes about Egbert Smyth Ellis

Audrey Maxine Ellis' 4th Cousin 2 x Removed

Rev. Egbert S. Ekllis, of Harpoot.

The telegraphic announcement of the death of this young missionary was given in the last number of our magazine, and the details concening the sad event have now been received by letters.  The blow has fallen heavily upon the mission station at Harpoot, from which word had been received, prior to the death of Mr. Ellis, that the station was in instant and imperative need of "two of the very best men attainable."  And now one of the overburdened laborers who made this call God has taken, in the prime of life and in the midst of his usefulness, from the earthly service.

Mr. Ellis was the son of Rev. Thomas L. and Mrs. Mary A. Ellis, and was born in Kittery, Maine, May 3, 1866.  His academic studies were pursued at Phillips Academy, Andover, and he was graduated at Williams College in 1890, and at Andover Seminary in 1894.  His own record is that he decided to go to the heathen during his last year in college, and was led to this decision by a consideration of "the mission of Jesus Christ, especially as presented by Joseph Neesima during my academy course."  While in the theological seminary he labored with unusual acceptance in one of the churches of Lawrence, Mass., and having been ordained on June 11, at the close of his siminary course, he sailed for the Eastern Turkey Mission September 26, 1894, leaving behind him the one whom he expected after a time to return and claim as his wife.

Stationed at Harpoot, Mr. Ellis entered earnestly upon his labors and passed with the others through the sad experiences of the massacre and the subsequent months of trial.  Very tenderly did he aid in the care of Dr. Wheeler during his great feebleness, conducting him and his family as far as Constantinople on their return to the United States, hastening back to his work, in which he engaged with all ardor.  He was especially inerested in evangelistic work, which, as he gained command of the language, he had been able to take up.  Having charge of the distribution of Sunday-school books which had been detained at the capital, Mr. Ellis felt that on their arrival they must be put into the hands of the village congregations without delay.  Making up the packages, he first distrubuted them personally in the nearer villages, and subsequently decided to go on the same errand to the villages at the eastern end of the Harpoot plain.  On Wednesday, February 17, after calling at several of these villages, he was taken with a violent chill, but insisted on riding to Ichme, where he came under the care of the native preacher.  The next moring the native physician was sent from Harpoot, seven hours distant, and the next day Dr. Gates and a German physician followed.  Everything was done that was possible for his comfort and recovery, but the physicians affirmed that the attack at the outset was so severe that no human remedies could avail, and he died on the morning of February 22.  The Christian brethren at Ichme were as kind and tender as if he had been their own brother.  They watched by his bedside, brought snow from the mountain to cool his head, their hands made the coffin in which he was carried to Harpoot, and they bore him down the mountain-side to the wagon which waited on the plain.

Of the funeral services at Harpoot Dr. Gates says: "After reading the Scripture and a prayer in English, the college boys bore the coffin into the chapel, which was crowded to overflowing, and many stood outside.  There we held simple but very appropriate services, closing with the hymn 'Asleep in Jesus,' sung in English by the college students."

Shortly after the funeral, among the callers who came to express their sympathy was a Gregorain priest, who sent a message to the kindred of Mr. Ellis in behalf of his people, saying that they knew he had come to Turkey for them and that he had died in their service.  Several Gregorian priest had prepared themselves to attend the funeral in their church robes as an expressin of their sympathy and regard.

The testimonials coming from Mr. Ellis' missionary associates are most tender and affectionate.  Dr. Barnum writes:--

"One of the most marked characteristics of Mr. Ellis was his sincerity.  There was no sham in him.  He was as sincere in his spiritual life as in everything else. ; He was a true Christian.  He was also thorougnly unselfish.  Perhaps he thought too little of self. ; He was persistant in whatever he undertook.  No obstacle would turn him aside from anything which he thought to be right.  One of our best pastors said to me today, 'I have been much impressed by his life, and I am still more so by his early death.  I am sure that it has been a blessing to me, and I believe the Lord will use his death to bless us all.'"

The last letter received at the Missionary Rooms from Mr. Ellis concludes with these words: "I am waiting, working, and praying."  The sentence well illustrates his whole life.  The preacher of Ichme, where he died, reports that the moment Mr. Ellis entered his house, on that day when he was do sick, he began "to talk about the work of Christ, and he kept it up, despite his sufferings, even after his delirium set in."  Such a life, though short, has not been lived in vain.  Its results on earth will be many and blessed, and its rewards will by everlasting.

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Timeline Egbert Smyth Ellis

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