Ellen Shaw Ames, née Greenwell, 1898-1954

Headstone GPS Coordinates:
Birth: 10 August 1898, West Weber, Utah
Death: 20 June 1954, Crosby, Kitsap County, Washington
Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Raleigh Leroy Ames
American Revolutionary War Patriots*: None Found
Disclaimer: These lines have not been officially proven by NSDAR standards.
Biography
Raleigh Leroy Ames was born on December 29, 1894, in Ogden, Weber County, Utah,
to Eldridge B. Ames and Adelia Ashley. He was the fifth of six children. His father,
Eldridge, worked as a machinist to support the family. The family were members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
At the age of twenty-two, Raleigh married Ellen Shaw Greenwell in Weber, Utah. Ellen
was born on August 10, 1898, in West Weber, Utah, to Thomas Greenwell and Isabelle
Moore. She was the eldest of their four children. Ellen’s grandparents on both sides
were early pioneers to the Utah Territory and practiced polygamy before it was outlawed
in the LDS church.
Ellen was eighteen years old when she married Raleigh Ames in the LDS church in
1917. The couple resided in Weber, Utah, through 1921, where Raleigh worked as a
tentmaker. During their time in Utah, they had three children: Raleigh (born in 1918),
Mary (born in 1921), and an unnamed baby who lived for only one day.
By 1926, Raleigh and Ellen had moved to Pocatello, Idaho, where they had three
additional children: Theon (born in 1928), Rulon (born in 1930), and Mona (born in 1930
or 1931).
In the book Seabeck and the Surrounding Area, late historian Fred Just wrote that
Raleigh had been married before Ellen and that his first two children, Raleigh and Mary,
were from that earlier union. However, Raleigh and Ellen married in 1917, more than a year before Raleigh was born, and Ellen is consistently recorded as the mother of both
Raleigh and Mary in all known records. It is possible that Fred Just confused Raleigh
Ames with Julius Hintz, who is buried near Raleigh Ames. Julius Hintz was married
twice and had his first two children with his first wife. No records have been found to
suggest that Raleigh Ames was ever married to anyone other than Ellen.
In 1930, Raleigh worked in an auto shop as an “auto trimmer.”
By 1935, the family was renting a home in Alameda, Bannock County, Idaho. The 1940
census does not list Raleigh’s occupation, but he was employed and working thirty
hours per week, possibly as a welder. His wife Ellen was also listed as employed,
working forty hours per week, as was their son Raleigh, who worked thirty hours per
week. Their daughter Mary was listed as working forty-eight hours per week.
In June 1940, Raleigh and Ellen, along with Calvin, Theon, Mona, and Rulon (Bud),
moved to Crosby after Raleigh obtained a job in the sail loft at the Navy Yard in
Bremerton. At that time, the roads in Crosby were still gravel, and the family lived in a
log house in a field near the Crosby school. A few years later, they purchased a house
near the Seabeck Highway.
By 1950, only Calvin was living in his parents’ household.
While living in Crosby, Ellen was a homemaker and also worked as a cook for the
school. She and Raleigh were active in the community and enjoyed playing cards with
their neighbors. Raleigh was known around town as “Pop Ames” and drove the school
bus from Holly to Seabeck Elementary School. Ellen often rode with him and knitted
along the way.
On June 20, 1954, Ellen died at the age of fifty-six in the family home at Camp Union
from unspecified natural causes. Fred Just wrote in his book Seabeck and the
Surrounding Area:
“Before she died she had been ill for some time. The eve of the night she
died she felt like she wasn’t sick anymore and attended the Crosby dance. It
was a Saturday evening. She danced and enjoyed herself like nothing was
wrong. That night she died in her sleep. Her husband didn’t even know she
had died until he got up in the morning.”
Her obituary was published in the Kitsap Sun:
Mrs. Ellen G. Ames
Death yesterday at her Camp Union home, Star Rte. 1, Box 366, claimed Mrs. Ellen G. Ames, 56. Mrs. Ames was born at West Weber, Utah, Aug. 10, 1898, and was a member of Latter-day Saints church.
Surviving are her husband, Raleigh L., of the family home; three sons,
Calvin L. of Bremerton, Raleigh T. of Lewiston, Idaho, and Rulon E., U.S.
army; three daughters, Mrs. Mary Stinger of Pocatello, Idaho, and Mrs.
Theon Smith and Mrs. Melvin Chipman, both of Bremerton; 11
grandchildren; a brother, Rulon Greenwell of Ogden, Utah, and two sisters,
Mrs. Edna Bealer of Ogden and Mrs. William Allison of Washington D.C.
Funeral services, directed by Miller-Reynolds chapel, will be held at 1:30
p.m. Wednesday at Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, with Bishop
Robert H. Dewey officiating. Burial will follow in Seabeck cemetery.
Raleigh remained in Crosby until 1961, when he moved to Tacoma to live with his
daughter Theon and her family. He later became a resident of the Tacoma Nursing
Home.
At the age of seventy-four, Raleigh L. Ames passed away in Tacoma. His obituary was
published in the Kitsap Sun:
Raleigh L. Ames
Raleigh L. Ames, 74, formerly a resident of Bremerton and recently of
Tacoma, died Saturday in a Tacoma Nursing Home. Mr. Ames was born in
Ogden, Utah. He worked as a sailmaker at the Puget Sound Naval Ship yard
and moved to Tacoma about six years ago. Survivors include three sons,
Raleigh T. Ames of Lewiston, Idaho, Calvin L. Ames of the Philippines and
Rulon (Bud) Ames of Puyallup; three daughters, Mrs. Mary Stinger of Idaho,
Mrs Theon Miller and Mrs. Mona Chipman, both of Tacoma; two sisters, Mrs.
Mary Wright of Salt Lake City, Utah and Mrs. Mabel Davis of Mountain View,
Calif.; 25 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the Church of Jesus
Christ of the Latter Day Saints, Fourth Ward Stake House at 11th St. and N.
Pearl St., Tacoma, under the direction of the Morley-Melinger Funeral Home.
Burial will be in Seabeck Cemetery.
Raleigh and Ellen Ames are buried near the southwestern corner of Seabeck Cemetery.
Their graves are adorned with painted rocks placed there by their descendants.