Ernest Benjamin Gillis Family History

Family: Ernest Benjamin GILLIS / Della Mae EDWARDS (F4)

m. 16 Jul 1914


Family Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All    |    PDF

  • Father | Male
    Ernest Benjamin GILLIS

    Born  11 Jul 1888  South Royalton, Windsor, Vermont, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  13 Mar 1976  Redmond, King, Washington, United States Of America Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried    Redmond, King, Washington, United States Of America Find all individuals with events at this location
    Married  16 Jul 1914  [1, 2, 3]  Walnut Grove, Redwood, Minnesota, USA  [1, 2, 3] Find all individuals with events at this location
    Father  Rev. William McNab GILLIS | F10 Group Sheet 
    Mother  Mary Elizabeth CODVILLE | F10 Group Sheet 

    Mother | Female
    Della Mae EDWARDS

    Born  23 Oct 1895  Sioux City, Woodbury, Iowa, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  1 May 1983  Snohomish, Snohomish, Washington, United States Of America Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried    Redmond, King, Washington, United States Of America Find all individuals with events at this location
    Father  Edward EDWARDS | F64 Group Sheet 
    Mother  Agnes M. JARDINE | F64 Group Sheet 

    Child 1 | Female
    Grace May GILLIS

    Born  30 Mar 1915  Balaton, Lyon, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  10 Jul 1988  Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried     

    Child 2 | Male
    William Neil GILLIS

    Born  19 Jul 1916  Tracy, Lyon, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  16 May 2013  Osakis, Douglas, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried     

    Child 3 | Female
    Mildred Elaine GILLIS

    Born  18 Feb 1918  Balaton, Lyon, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  4 Jan 2016  West Seattle, WA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried     

    Child 4 | Female
    Della Marian GILLIS

    Born  29 Jan 1920  Tracy, Lyon, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  9 Jun 2017  Redmond, King, Washington, United States Of America Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried     

    Child 5 | Female
    Marjorie Coline GILLIS

    Born  14 May 1921  Tracy, Lyon, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  26 Jul 2006  Bremerton, Kitsap, Washington, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried     

    Child 6 | Male
    Robert Ernest GILLIS

    Born  31 Aug 1923  Balaton, Lyon, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  6 Jul 1994  Ada, Norman, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried     

    Child 7 | Female
    Elizabeth Jean GILLIS

    Born  18 Apr 1925  Tracy, Lyon, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  23 May 2011  Everett, Snohomish, Washington, United States Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried     

    Child 8 | Female
    Phyllis Erma GILLIS

    Born  23 Jul 1926  Balaton, Lyon, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  25 Sep 1992  Maltby, Snohomish, Washington, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried    Bear Creek Cemetery, Maltby, Snohomish, Washington, USA Find all individuals with events at this location

    Child 9 | Female
    Mary Louise GILLIS

    Born  18 Apr 1929  Balaton, Lyon, Minnesota, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Died  1981  Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, USA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried     

    Child 10 | Female
    Living

    Born     
    Died     
    Buried     

    Child 11 | Female
    Living

    Born     
    Died     
    Buried     

  • Notes  Married:
    • Ernest Benjamin Gillis was born on 11 Jul 1888 in South Royalton, Vermont. He died on 13 Mar 1976 in Kirkland, Washington. Ernest was the son of the Reverend William McNab Gillis and Mary Elizabeth Codville. He was one of five children ?   two boys (Ernest and William Hillery) and three girls (Winifred Martha, May Gertrude, and Edith Mabel).

      Photo of Ernest
      Ernest as a young boy
      At age of 3, his family moved from Vermont to Minnesota, where they lived in the town of Plainview for 5 years, then Pine Island 6 years, Fairmont 2 years, and Rushmore 1 year. The family moved often because Ernest's father, William McNab Gillis, was a Methodist Episcopal minister, and as such, would be assigned different churches.

      Photo of Ernest
      Ernest as a young adult
      Ernest began attending Worthington High School when he was a junior and graduated from there. All his life, he loved the land and working with soil, tending crops and growing things. Ernest enrolled in the University of Minnesota Farm School to became a farmer. After graduation, in the spring of 1908, he rented and farmed the old Andrew Clay Farm northeast of Amiret, Minnesota.

      Photo of Ernest
      Della and Ernest
      shortly after their wedding
      In the spring of 1911, Ernest moved south of Amiret to a half-section that he farmed as a bachelor until he married Della May Edwards. Della was helping in a store in Amiret at the time. They married in 1914 on July 16th, and the ceremony was performed by Ernest's father, William, in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in William's home.

      Photo of Ernest
      Ernie and Della's first farm
      Della was born on 23 Oct 1895 in Sioux City, Iowa, and died at her youngest daughter's home 01 May 1983 in Snohomish, Washington. Della was the daughter of Edward Edwards, a teamster, and Agnes Elizabeth Jardine.

      Photo of Ernest
      Grace and Neil in front of new house
      In the spring of 1924, Ernest and Della moved to a farm south of Tracy, MN. That fall they moved to the Kyle Farm, north of Tracy. In the spring of 1925, they rented the Curtis Farm. Later in March 1926, they moved to Balaton, Minnesota, where they remained the next 17 years.

      Photo of Ernest
      Ernest holding Grace
      Then in the fall of 1942, Ernest moved to Washington State, making a major change in his life and that of Della and the remaining children at home. He successfully found work out West thanks in part to the War effort and the many jobs in the Seattle area (such as the Boeing plant - aircraft construction etc.); and while there, he right away bought 5 acres of land in the town of Alderwood Manor, Washington, some 15 miles north of Seattle off Highway 99. He (of course) started fruit orchards, gardens, and began some farming while building a new home for his family. By this time, Ernest and Della had had 11 wonderful children, four of whom were still living at home and in July 1943, Della and their four girls who were still at home joined him via a long train trip. Once they arrived together in Alderwood Manor, the family lived in a cabin until the new home was ready for them to occupy.

      Photo of Ernest
      Ernest and Della, in MN
      Later on, in 1966 at age 78, Ernest completed a second home on the Alderwood Manor property, adjacent to the first home. He and Della moved into it and rented out the first one. This accomplishment of building a home at a somewhat advanced age -- much of it by his own hands -- speaks to the industriousness and tenacity of Ernest and his work ethic.

      Photo of Ernest
      Ernest and Della's 25th Anniversary
      House in Balaton, MN
      Over the years, Ernest and Della's home was often the site of many large family picnics and parties. Several of their younger childrens' weddings were held in their home. Many of their numerous grandchildren - some 56 total - can vividly recall spending days and days in the fields, climbing trees and eating fruit from the trees growing all over on the land. Their home was a wonderful place of gathering and family, a tradition not lost on their descendants.

      When Ernest was unable to keep up the land and home by himself in the 1970s, both the homes and land were sold, and he and Della then lived with family members. While Ernest eventually had to be cared for in a nursing home until his death in 1976, Della was fortunate in being able to live with her daughters in the Seattle area until her death in 1983. Both Ernest and Della are still missed to this day and are fondly remembered by all. [2, 3]

  • Sources 
    1. [S2] .

    2. [S89] .

    3. [S68] .