The Poundkeeper & His Family

Lot 112

Alvin L. Ellis (1819-1876)

Martha B. Dean Ellis (1822-1869)

Alfred B. Ellis (1841-1870)

Abbie Frances Ellis (1845-1872)

Caroline Ellis (1847-1871)

Anna Ellis Cowell (1849-1873)

Hannah Ellis (1851-1851)

Eva Maria Ellis (1852-1853)

Adelia Marie Ellis (1854-1854)

Alvin L. Ellis, Jr. (1855-1874)

Mabel Ellis (1858-1858)

Walter D. Ellis (1860-1860)

Malone F. Ellis (1862-1862)

Edwin Louis Cowell (1872-1872)

Typical New England Poundkeeper of 1870s

The Alvin Ellis family faced many hardships during the last half of the nineteenth century. It is a tragic story.

Alvin L. Ellis was born in South Dedham on May 15, 1819. He was the son of Isaac Ellis (1790-1844) and Abigail Fairbanks Ellis (1795-1836). He married Martha Bassett Dean on March 20, 1840. Martha was born on July 14, 1822 and was the daughter of Dexter and Martha Dean. Alvin and Martha had twelve children.

During his life, Alvin L. Ellis worked as a butcher, a packer, a teamster, and in 1870, a depot master for the railroad. When the new town of Norwood was founded in 1872, Alvin Ellis became its first official “town pound keeper.” Appointed by the town, the pound keeper would watch over stray animals, which were brought to the pound, until their owners could retrieve them—for a fee. South Dedham’s (later Norwood’s) pound was located on Nahatan Street, near the corner of today’s School Street. Between 1872 and 1875, Ellis was a constable as well.

The site of the Norwood Town Pound as it appears in 2017 near the intersection of Nahatan and School Sts.

March 2, 1875 Boston Globe Reports Norwood renames Centre St. to Washington St. and Alvin L. Ellis is named Constable.

Between 1851 and 1862, six of Alvin and Martha Ellis’ children – Hannah, Eva Maria, Adelia, Mabel, Walter, and Malone – passed away before they reached the age of one year. All were interred in this family lot.

Of their children who survived, five passed away as young adults between 1870 and 1874 and are interred here: Alfred, their eldest child, who became a minister, died on October 10, 1870; he was 29. Caroline, 24, died on August 8, 1871. Abbie Frances, a school teacher, died on January 4, 1872 at 27. Alvin Jr., 19, died on May 29, 1874. Finally, Anna, a daughter who married Edwin Cowell, passed away on May 27, 1873 at 24. All died from tuberculosis. Often referred to as consumption or phthisis, tuberculosis was a very common disease in the 19^th century and seemingly stalked entire families, like the Alvin Ellis family. Even at the turn of the 20^th century, it was the leading cause of death in the United States.  

Also interred in the family lot is Anna Ellis Cowell’s infant son, Edwin Louis Cowell, who was born on February 29, 1872, a leap year. Sadly, the baby died on March 10, 1872, only 11 days later; the cause of death was reported as abscess.

Alvin and Martha Ellis’ remaining child, Martha Emily Ellis, was born in 1843, married Alfred Ellis in 1862, and died on October 27, 1868 at 25. She too died of consumption; she is buried with her husband’s family in lot 108.

Martha B. Dean Ellis died on August 1, 1869; she was 47. Alvin L. Ellis passed away on January 8, 1876. Both died of tuberculosis. At the time of his death, Alvin Ellis was 56 and had outlived his wife, all twelve of his children, and his only grandchild.