Hello "cousins"! I just joined this list (I'm a novice) in search of my ancestors. After searching countless hours over the internet, I've discovered two things: 1. There are 100s of thousands of Ellis names referenced on the internet; and, 2. THIS MAKES IT FRUSTRATING FOR ME! (And maybe you, too?!) My immediate dilemna is this (and what I know): Several forces seem to be working immediately against me and my ancestrial search: 1. My father was the baby in his family. 2. My grandfather was 45 years old when Dad was born. Dad was apparently embarrassed to have such so much older parents then the rest of his classmates on Senior night at his Covington, OH football game (at least this is what I gather from putting "stories" together). 3. My parents were divorced when I was very young, so we didn't visit my grandparents all that much. 4.Dad's father (BENJAMIN) was orphaned at a very early age. My father, CARL RICHARD ELLIS, b. 1932, Miami county, OH; s/o BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ELLIS, b. 6 NOV 1887 and MILDRED ALICE ASHER, b. 1900. BENJAMIN'S parents were: JAMES C. and EMMA HERSHEY. My grandfather was placed in the Knoop Children's Home Further info received: Marriage license #14183 here in Miami County Ohio between JAMES C. ELLIS and EMMA HERSHEY.. They were married on 14 Sept 1878, by Rev. J. P. Watson, Minister. I checked Rev. Josiah P. Watson was at the Christian Church in Troy. For one reason or another Emma Ellis is shown as The Head Of The Household on the 1880 Census of Concord Township. Kind of makes me wonder where James was at that time? I found that there was a guardianship hearing in the Miami County Probate Court, dated 29 Oct 1895, for an Emma Ellis. The hearing was because she was labeled an imbecil.Would have been a good reason for my grandfather to have been placed in the children's home, particularly, if her husband James C. Ellis was no longer around or dead? Can anyone help me in tracing this Ellis line?... seems awfully bad that I can't even get past my great-grandparents! Thanks! Carl A. Ellis