He moved with his parents to Eaton County, Michigan, when he was still a child and received his education at the schools in Battle Creek.
Ellis was admitted to the Michigan Bar in 1872 and practiced there until 1878, when he moved to Beloit, Kansas.
[1] He continued to practice law and was active in Mitchell County politics as a Republican, serving as a delegate to the 1892 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, which nominated President Benjamin Harrison for a second term.
When the Kansas Supreme Court was expanded by a state constitutional amendment in 1900, Ellis was appointed a Justice by Governor William E.
Ellis died in Topeka, Kansas, on September 25, 1902,[1] and is buried Elmwood Cemetery in Beloit.