Ely Franklin Ross (1808 MS – 1883 Huntsville, Walker Co, TX) obtained 640 acres of land on the Frio River in 1847, just two years after Texas became a state. There is no evidence that he ever lived there.
Information provided by descendants indicate that Ely Ross was in Texas before the Revolution. A FamilySearch record on Ely and Mary (Scott) Ross’s daughter, Margaret, indicates that she was born about 1836 in Fort Bend, an area prominent during the infamous Runaway Scrape.
Was Ely Ross a soldier during the Revolution? Likely not. The documentation for his 2nd class grant of 640 acres states that he “emigrated to this Republic in the Month of December 1839”. Documents were dated and signed on April 5, 1845.
On the 1850 Census, Ely lived next to (the later famous) lawyer Henderson King Yoakum. Ely was a farmer with wife and three children, and the value of his real estate was listed as $1,736. The 1850 Slave Schedule of Walker County lists him as owning 10 of slaves, aged 12 to 52. Additional members of the household were Oscar and Elizabeth Gates. The Ross family seems rooted in Walker County.
By 1860, Ely’s household in Walker County has grown to 10 children, plus Mr. Thomas Valentine. The value of his land was listed as $10,126 and personal income at $22,780. The corresponding Slave Schedule listed 22 people of varying ages, born 1812 – 1859. The area where he lived was well settled, safe from Indian troubles, and he was established with a large household and financial holdings. Perhaps, he was not inclined to move to the troublesome “frontier” in Uvalde County.
In 1870, Ely was still in Walker County. The Civil War had apparently diminished his cash and perhaps property. Ely was on wife number three and still had four children at home. In 1875, the 640 acres in Uvalde had been sold apparently, and 160 acre parcels were carved out of it for William Friday and Richard Hokit.
The Ross family was still on the census for Walker County in 1880. Ely died in 1883 and was buried in Huntsville.
This is an interesting bit of information on the family of Ely Ross.